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Finished with the family’s personal space, we moved down the back staircase …
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To the beehive of the house…
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Past the upper level of the butler’s pantry.
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Which had some rather lovely wrought iron rails of its own.
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Down to the kitchen.
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The main kitchen had a coal fired stove and the heat was stifling. So much so, there was a completely separate “cold” kitchen with an enormous zinc topped prep table. (stainless steel wasn’t invented until 1912, the oxidized surface of zinc was naturally antibacterial)
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Naturally there was a separate service entry for deliveries and staff which was cleverly hidden from the family by a massive wisteria vine.
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Mind you the family was only here for 6 weeks in the summer so it would have been in full bloom and pretty then, not the dormant skeleton we saw.
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Exiting to the rear of the house, we strolled the grounds.
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Which retain only a fraction of their original size.
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And on the back lawn?
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The ever present Canada geese.
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My husband was impressed with the nicely trimmed shrubbery.
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As well as the art.
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These really are grand old buildings…
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And well preserved portals to the past.
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What?
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You don’t have a life size bronze sculpture of a tiger killing a crocodile on your lawn?
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Don’t feel bad.
Neither do we.
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An elm tree, from whence the house was named.
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River's world..... 
Beautiful surroundings. The house is grand looking from the outside too.
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I can only imagine what the grounds looked like in its heyday. Must have been something.
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An elm tree? That’s still alive and never succumbed to Dutch elm disease? That’s the most impressive thing on the tour!
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I know. And there were quite a few grand old specimens on the property…
🌳
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It would be awesome to see that wisteria in full bloom!!
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I live wisteria. Tried some here but it never took…
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My neighbors have a small one. This will be its first summer and I don’t expect it to survive.
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That’s the statue that caught my eye with your photo looking at it from a window. Tiger killing a croc.
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It makes a statement, for sure.
🥴
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👍🏼
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There’s a joke in there about your husband appreciating a good bush but I refuse to make it.
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I appreciate your restraint.
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You should. It wasn’t easy.
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