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Dining
Room:
The dining room was painted a aqua /
light teal color, with a darker tone of the same color below
the chair rail. The color was chosen to harmonize with the
seat cushions on my grandmother's reproduction Chinese
Chippendale dining room chairs, bought in Hong Kong in the
1960s. We haven't been able to document it to the period,
but it's sort of a softer, grayer and paler version of the
brilliant aqua on the dining room walls at Mt. Vernon. In
that respect, it might be a fudge but it works.
The Regency chiffonier was another one of
my British "shabby chic" finds. The set of girandoles are
ca. 1850s, with an 1849 patent.
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The woodwork was painted white, as in the
parlor and hall. Unfortunately, this fireplace had been
bricked in to accommodate a wood stove sometime around the
turn of the century. For the time being, we just painted the
bricks black to make it look more like a fireplace. The
dining table, a 1950's Duncan Phyfe repro belonging to my
grandmother, is currently "the workshop" -- where I'm
restoring the gesso on damaged picture frames and
laboriously piecing together the frame for the ca. 1800
painting bought on Ebay that was damaged in
shipping.
Most of the furniture in the dining room
is repro -- my grandmother's ca. 1940 mahogany chippendale
china cabinet, a new country Federal style pine breakfront
bought by my mother. The pretend-gas ceiling fixture was in
situ already, bought by the previous owners.
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Before:
The previous color scheme consisted o
cream colored walls with dark beige trim.
The previous owners used the dining room
as a combination living room / dining room, decorated in a
late Victorian / Edwardian style and displaying the owners'
superb collections of Staffordshire. The previous owner was
extremely talented at making drapes. The plaid wool curtains
have been recycled by moving them upstairs to the bedroom
where the green damask drapes were previously.
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Hall:
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The hall at Christmas time
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We kept the previous owners'
soft sage / pea soup green wall color in the hall,
but painted the woodwork white to give it more of a
period feel. The previous owners had the woodwork
as varnished natural wood, which with the green
walls gave a distinctly 1890s / Queen Anne feeling
to the hall -- which looked great but out of period
for our plans to interpret the house at the time of
Booth's visit.
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The ca. 1820s loveseat with the ca. 1850
landscape above it has subsequently been moved down the hall
opposite the other loveseat and the console and mirror put
in it's place. On the opposite wall, we have hung the 1850's
landcape and below it is a ca. 1840s sofa that was once in
Willard's Hotel but has a folk provenance of having been in
the anteroom to Harry T. Ford's office at Ford's Theatre.
The oriental throw rugs have also been replaced by a set of
matching oriental rugs with a larger one in the middle,
thereby tying the room together more. We're getting
there...
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The hall console was my
great-grandmothers and is ca. 1910 Empire revival,
but it will "pass". The clock was World War I era
apprentice piece made by a trainee in the clock
shop at the Swindon (England) Railway Workshops,
founded by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1838, but is
in a neoclassical style and therefore fits in with
the style of an earlier period. The clock is
flanked by a pair of original camphene lamps. The
chairs are Belter style but not real Belter
although they are of the period.
The "headless woman" in the
background is only a dress dummy exhibiting an
original Civil War dress, so don't
worry!
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The Civil War era French
binoculars on the desk are a poignant touch --
recalling the fact that Mary Surratt's delivering
Booth's binoculars to the Surratt tavern on the day
of the assassination was a key piece of evidence
used to incriminate her.
Poor Mrs Surratt was an acquaintance of Kathryn's
3rd great-grandmother, a fellow parishioner at St.
Patrick's Church at 10th and G Sts., NW.
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Booth Family Desk from Tudor Hall
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This desk was acquired
from the grandniece of Ella V. Mahoney,
who with her first husband bought "Tudor
Hall" from John Wilkes Booth's mother in
1878. Early in the 20th century, Mrs.
Mahoney established a Booth museum in the
front parlor and bought back pieces of
Booth family furniture which had been sold
to local families when the house was sold.
This schoolmaster's desk dates from ca.
1820-50 and may have been used by Junior
Brutus Booth, Sr. to do his farm accounts,
or study for new roles -- or at least we'd
like to think so. Whatever, the folk
provenance is very strong that it was at
Tudor Hall when the Booth children were
growing up. On the desk is a tintype of
Mrs. Mahoney ca. late 1870's-early 1880,
around the time she and her first husband
bought Tudor Hall, and a letter from her
in the 1930's on Tudor Hall stationery,
and a copy of her book, "Sketches of Tudor
Hall and the Booth Family"
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Before Picture:
The hall as it looked before
under the previous owners, decorated in a charming
late 19th to early 20th century style. (Nice 1840s
sofa!)
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