Renovated Maison

Update:
Susan Fraser, the owner of this beautiful home contacted me to let me know that she has put her house up for sale. So, if you are interested here are the details she sent me:

Telephone: (33) 6 22 23 68 54

Email: susanfraser@sfr.fr

The sale price is: 199,000 euros.

It’s a 19^th century, freestanding stone house in Lherm – a small, medieval village surrounded by forest in the Lot valley region in France’s southwest. The village is surrounded by forest and walking tracks. Centrally heated throughout, the house includes a sunny, south-facing kitchen; an open-space living room (with fireplace) and dining room opening on to a terrace that spans the front of the house; two bathrooms, four generously proportioned sunny bedrooms and a large open-space light-filled attic. An interior well combines with the town’s water system to provide water to the house (the system can be switched from town to well water with the flick of a switch).

Links to the house for anyone interested in knowing more:

An English link: http://www.french-property.com/vp/nv/id/353125/

A French link: http://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/211056278.htm

And I have added three more pics she was kind enough to send me. Thanks Susan, it's a lovely house and I'm sure you'll be able to sell it soon.

Original post starts here:

My internet connection seems to be behaving this morning, so I'm happy to take you to France today.
While renovating this house in Lherm, in France's Lot valley region, Susan Fraser and Jean-Pierre Grousset took pains in preserving its 19th century style, but managed to brighten up the building's once dark interiors.




















The photograph above is by Susan Fraser.




The photo above is by Susan Fraser





Photography by Richard Powers
All images from here.

Home in Spain

Hello my friends. Lately my internet connection has been maddeningly slow and this is why I haven't been posting every day. I apologize for not visiting your blogs my friends but it is a real pain to wait forever for each page to upload. I hope to have this problem solved soon. Now I must hurry and publish this post before this lucky spell is over!



Hope you enjoy today's tour of a home in Spain.

































































All images from here.

Living room progress

Hi Peeps,  I have made some progress in my living room since I last posted about my newly reupholstered chairs.  I took a few pictures to share with you.  Still on the list is an area rug, accent tables, and a few accessories.  It's slowly coming along!

My new pillows I had made with fabric I ordered ages ago and I love how they turned out.  I am still waiting for another pillow to arrive.

I need to glam up my new bar cart.

 This wall will become a gallery wall with a sideboard underneath. (Still searching for that)

I still need to accessorize my fireplace and coffee table

Summer House in Sweden

White room lovers, this post is for you. Hundreds of shades of white in this Scandinavian style summer house. Hope you like it!





















































Have a great weekend, my friends!



Photography by Monika Norrby

All images from here.

The Ross Sterling Mansion in Morgan's Point - Texas' Largest Residence in 1920s Still Standing

Built as a second home for former Texas Governor Ross Sterling and his family, the historic Ross Sterling Mansion overlooking Galveston Bay near La Porte, Texas.  The 2 story Georgian estate features 21,000 sq. feet.  When completed in 1927, it was said to be Texas' largest residence.  The plan for the residence came to Alfred C. Finn, the architect of the home, in 1924.  Preserved in Time, the current non-profit owners of the estate, say that the home's facade is designed to be similar to that of the White House of the United State, but 2/5's the size!  Governor Sterling knew exactly what he wanted; he simply showed Finn, the architect, a picture of the White House and basically told Finn to make it happen.  And that he did.

The 9 bedroom/15 bath mansion features 34 rooms including a ball room, billiards room, bowling alley, 300 seat dining room, and much more lavish interior amenities and designs.  The Sterling's donated the mansion to charity in 1946, 3 years before Ross Sterling would pass away.  The residence holds a Historic Marker.

I always like to image what it must have been like back then to own such a residence like this.  21,000 sq. feet was considerably larger than the average size of a home back in 1927.

For more on this historic residence and its current/future plans, check out Preserved In Time.

Photo by Texas Escapes

Photo by Waymarking.com

Photo by Willsononline.com

Photos by Sloangallery.com

Thanks for reading,

John