Mark Twain House

[helwen]

If you're ever in the area, the Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT is worth visiting.

It's a Victorian house but one of the more unusual ones -- appropriate for an unusual person.

Here's a page from the Mark Twain House and Museum site on it: House

And in a shaded box to the right of the text is a link to a floor plan/map, where if you click on the different rooms it brings up a photo of each.

The photos don't really do the place justice though. If you get a chance, do see it. While most of us probably can't afford (and don't necessarily want to have) all that fancy woodwork, there's illusion amidst all the woodwork. Some of what looks to be inlaid marquetry on the wall going up the stairs of the front hall for instance, are actually painted to look like marquetry. It's amazing what one can do with a bit of paint ;)

Comments

[harpnfiddle.livejournal.com]

I saw it on HGTV several years ago. It was quite interesting - not the least being that I didn't associate Samuel Clemens with Hartford!

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Maybe we should go on a trip there together sometime. It's been a few years since L and I were last there, and it looks like there's some new stuff because I don't remember the modern museum building that's nearby the house now. Although it's getting cold to be walking out of doors, most of the tour is indoors, just more than one building there.

Clemens settled in Hartford when he was older, married with kids. He figures into Chinese immigration too -- not a predominant figure but he wrote some letters (supporting the Chinese) and knew some folks, made a few connections for people. Not always a sensible person, but a fair-minded one.

[rising-moon.livejournal.com]

I visited the Mark Twain House when I worked in Hartford. What a crazy, beautiful place! And deliberately reminiscent of another kind of structure entirely. ;)