Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Final Story of a Beautiful Lady

In the last post we were getting ready to go up the staircase of that beautiful old home on Walloon Lake, Michigan.  There was pristine dust on the stairs. No one has been there in years.  I was so excited.  My head was a whirl with ideas of how to bring her back to life.  There were no other sounds but our footsteps as we climbed.


The window at the top of the stairs visible from the front entry. You can just see the newel post where you make the turn to go up to second floor.



On our way up.  The first bedroom was at the top of the stairs.  On that side of the hall, there were 3 total.  On the other side, there was one bedroom and a 4th that had been turned into a bathroom.




                                The pink room with the brass bed and an ornate carved mirror.


Dressing table and a marble topped table.



A secretary over flowing with books.   The first piece of furniture I ever bought was a secretary similar to this one.  I was 20 years old, in 1970, and it was $75.00.  I put in in layaway and it took me a few months to pay for it. 



The Blue bedroom holds a beautiful  sleigh bed and ice cream chairs.


In the far right hand corner you can barely see a sink.  All the bedrooms had these tucked away in corners. This is where I ran out of film.  All the room were packed with antiques, old wicker for the porch, junk and boxes.

  One year turned into another and every time we went up to Walloon Lake to visit, I was anxious to see "my" old house.  From the first time I saw her, in 1981,  I loved her.  I believe it was about 1988 or 89 that I took these pictures.  In the mid to late 1990s, Terry's dad, Grandpa, told us that Mr Hass had died.  I wondered what would happen to her now.  A couple of more years go by.  Then, one day when Terry was talking Michigan "Go Blue" sports with his Dad, Grandpa says, " Oh, tell Kathy that they held an auction at the Hass house.  Everything in it was pulled out and sat all over the yard."      What!!!!  Are you kidding me.  This happened and I wasn't told about it!!   I  had just wanted a piece of it. 

More years go by. No "For Sale" signs go up. 

One day, after the turn of the century, Terry gets another call from Grandpa.  "Tell Kathy her house burned.  It's all gone.  They cleared the lot."

Gone.......Just gone......

8 comments:

Feisty Crone said...

No way! What a loss! Kathy, I'm so sorry.

mary said...

I didn't expect this ending! I found myself hoping you were able to get the house, the furniture and all the memories hidden in those boxes. What a shame.

Merideth in Wyoming said...

How sad it was never restored to its prior glory. Glad you have it in your photos though!

Just Stuff From a Boomer said...

It hurt my heart to know it burned. Such a sad and wasteful end for such beauty. The whole family feud thing was seemed nonsense to me

A part of me is so glad I was able to go inside and the other part would like the ignorant bliss of not knowing the waste of it all.

Intense Guy said...

What an incredible waste... and a real shame. That house could have been loved by many and brought back to its former glory (or even more)...

I was thinking the furniture must have been ... had to have had ... a collectable antique or two or more in the lot... and then I saw "they auctioned it off".. and I felt myself "drop"... I felt dread coming on... and then when I read "it burned"... I winced - but- some how knew it...

Shakes head... the family that owned this house took her for granted - and lost all...

Tina L. Hook said...

Gone? How sad. It sounds like you had a connection to that old house.

Far Side of Fifty said...

What a treasure trove..it is sad that you only have the photos..she was a beauty. She would have made a perfect bed and breakfast:)

Just Stuff From a Boomer said...

I can say that the house buring down was a heart breaker. It hurt then and still does today. I know she could have been loved better by a different family. All that woodwork and craftsmanship, gone...so sad.

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