Monday, October 26, 2009

Autumn Showcase of Elegant Virginia Homes....Maybe


Saturday was a warm, blustery and very rainy day here in Northern Virginia. It was the kind of day for napping in your favorite chair. Today however, was a gloriously sunny fall day, perfect for an outing. I have a friend from my high school days that I have just rediscovered thanks to Facebook. Turns out she lives only 60 minutes from me. Small world isn't it? Well we have been trying to get together for a while now and we finally did it Sunday. I met her in the lovely old historic town of Leesburg. We had a long very chatty lunch and then wandered through an antique shop. On the way back I stopped to take some photos to capture the beauty of some of the great Civil War era homes in my town. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.



This is a lovely red brick home with a fabulous wraparound porch and great manicured yard. I love the stonewall and the black wrought iron gate. I can almost picture Judy Garland sitting in one of the porch rocking chairs, singing 'In the Good Old Summertime' all decked out in her period clothing. This home was white when I first moved here...so happy they restored it to it's prior brick splendor.


Another beautiful home on the same street is a lovely pale yellow. The owners did a wonderful job restoring this house. You can't see it, but behind the tree on the right is a cool terraced patio with pretty white trim. I love imagining all the great family parties that have been held in these homes over the last 100 years or so.


This is my personal favorite..I can almost picture the proud Civil War era family all posed on the wide front steps waiting for the photographer to capture their image forever. The stone work on the house is incredible  and in pristine condition. I would love to get inside! Maybe someday I will knock on their door and profess my undying passion for their home and they will take pity on me and let me in.... Or call the police to have me escorted off the property.
And now for the final home I would like to showcase I give you...the grand estate of Blowup Land !

 


I have to give you some close-ups!


Oh...Yeah!!!!! When my boys were little they would have LOVED this house. Me...not so much. But hey, you have to give these people credit...they have guts. I pulled into their neighbors drive way to get my shot. The homeowner neighbor saw me and I yelled to him that I was trying to get a good shot. He shook his head and said "no problem...we are used to it".  The neighbors must be very understanding because this display is lit up (big time) at night AND they have spooky Halloween music piped to the outside. If he was my neighbor I would seriously think about an after dark wire snipping excursion. Gee BOB, I have no idea why your blowups won't inflate ;-) did you pay your electric bill?
They have a large side yard that is also filled with blow-ups...I decided to spare you guys and did not photograph them...you can thank me in your comments.

Oh, and did I mention....they decorate for Christmas too! That will be a whole other blog post.
I do have one final home to showcase....................


MINE!!!!  Yes I know, I could use some decorating lessons from our blow up house. I'm sure they would snivel with laughter at my pitiful little pumpkins. Lucky for me they don't know where I live.
Until next time..be kind and stay creative.

8 comments:

Gretel said...

The town houses are beautiful - so elegant...the blowups are frankly, if I may say so, hideous, but my favourite is your pretty little porch and I can see one of your folk paintings hanging out. :)
BTW, in answer to a Twitter question you posed a few days ago, no, we don't really go in for Halloween over here - there is a bit of stuff on TV, and a few things in shops, but in general there is none of the major house decorating that I see on American blogs. Just not really a Brit thing.

audreyscountrycrafts said...

Great photos!! I love big old brick houses too. I'm with you on the Halloween house - it's a bit much. LOL
Your decorations look wonderful! I don't decorate for fall, though it is my favorite time of the year.

Victoria said...

I like your house much better than the blow ups! And I love the old homes....in upstate NY we have some similar architecture. In my opinion nothing beats a brick house!

Aprons and More said...

Very pretty houses! You have to give the blow-up house some credit though....I think they put a lot of thought into where each piece was placed...you just can't put a alien spaceship anywhere! Very creative...in a kid sort of way (which I noticed the kiddie car in the driveway..must have a cool dad!)! I would trick or treat in their neighborhood just to see what I got..probably good stuff!!

Your house is lovely and tasteful..what that house will be in a few years when the kids grow up!

katy ;)

quiltcat said...

Hi Janet. I drive past that blow-up house almost everyday on the way home, and a friend of mine is their next door neighbor! It looks even worse in your pictures than it does going by at 45 mph because in your pics you can see the full extent of the horror...

I love the old houses on Culpeper Street! The first house is called "the Ullman House" and belonged to the Ullman family who owned Warrenton's department store (yes, there used to be a department store downtown). They were Jewish and it might or might not be a coincidence that there is a six pointed star in the slates on the roof between the two dormer windows.

I love that all-stone house, too! I think i was told that that house dates back to the 1700s, and i too would love to see the inside.

Tweed Thoughts said...

I loooove your house - can I come in for tea and scones???!! It looks so inviting! The other houses are quite nice too, hehe! The 'Blowup Land' house, well, I'm with you on that one - but, yep, my eight year old boy would love it!!

Kelly Ann said...

The Halloween house belongs a friend of mine...and yes it is way over the edge...love your display that's more my speed....

Felicia said...

LOL The blow up house is a laugh riot! Gotta love their sense of humor :)

I love snapping photos of beautiful, historic houses. We've got quite a few around here in Macon, Georgia. And yours is adorable!