Furnishings & Interiors
Because Cleydael's most famous moment was in April 1865, we have chosen that period to interpret the house's furnishings. This does not mean that all the furnishings were in the style of the late 1850s to early 1860s. Instead, we believe it more authentic to have an accretion of furniture from various eras up to 1865. This is particularly important as Cleydael was built by a middle aged couple in 1859 as their second home and the Stuarts obviously had quite conservative / traditional tastes as the house was built in an earlier style more fashionable a decade or two before. Although the Stuarts were wealthy, their most fashionable furniture would have been showcased at Cedar Grove, their large riverfront plantation. Instead, Cleydael is furnished with a combination of pieces, including many items from the 1830s when the Stuarts were married, some 18th century pieces of the sort that might have been handed down in the family, and some more "modern" 1850s-60s items.
The advantage to collecting this period is that its still quite affordable. Most of our furniture is not "museum piece" quality as it shows the signs of having been lived with over the generations -- a chipped piece of veneer here, a dent there, etc. The advantage is that one needn't feel afraid of devaluing one's own furniture by simple day to day usage. No velvet ropes here.
None of the pieces in the house are original to the Stuart family, and not all are antiques. Being both on a limited budget and sentimental about our own family's furniture, we have instead integrated good quality reproduction furniture that were already in our family which is sympathetic to the style of the house. Thus, the "Empire" console table in the hall is actually ca. 1910 Empire Revival from Kathryn's great-grandmother's house and the "Sheraton" style serpentine sideboard and broken pediment china cabinet are quality 1940s repros from her grandmother. However, stylistically, we hope it all works with the "accretion" philosophy expressed above. Some non-family reproductions pieces are a short-term compromise and placeholder.
Two pieces of furniture associated with the house's most famous visitor. The ca. 1820s schoolmasters desk in the hallway was originally at Tudor Hall, Booth's childhood home and was used by his father, Junius Brutus Booth Sr to do the farm accounts. The sofa in the hallway came from Harry Ford's suite in the Willard Hotel and had supposedly been originally situated in his office at Ford's Theatre.
The color scheme is in keeping with earlier fashions of the ca. 1830s - 1840s - bright yellow walls in one room and other strong color, rather than the busy wallpaper in fashion in the 60s. While wall to wall Brussels carpeting would have been more usual in the 1860s, for economic reasons we have gone with the lighter and earlier style of hardwood floors with rugs. One room, the former Doctor's office, has an ingrain rug originally from a house near Franklin Battlefield in Tennessee, but the other main rooms are furnished with oriental rugs, needlepoint carpets or reproduction hand-knotted Aubussons -- all modern-day rather than antique items.
The house also features Kathryn's extensive collection of china and pottery of the era, particularly pink lustre transferware from ca. 1810-1860, as well as a variety of other collections which are sometimes exhibited including Kathryn's collection of original Civil War era clothing.
Click here for some photos of the interiors.
Note: this section needs updating as most of these photos were taken while we were in the process of moving in. New interior photos coming soon!
