Inside the Vaile Mansion

Okay, I'm baaaack! Last week I showed you the outside of the Vaile Mansion and this week we are going in! Are you ready?

Where's that entrance at? Oh, there it is! They're going in, hurry! Get in line!
Our door greeter had such a sweet smile. And a cute hat!

And here is the mansion's maid. Or would she have been called a house servant in the 1880's?

Below is the beautiful walnut staircase. The room you see in the back is the dining room.

A view looking up to the 2nd floor and beyond.

We are now entering the ladies parlor. Isn't that marble mantle gorgeous?! And the over mantle mirror!
At the end of March the mansion hosted  a "Gone With the Wind" Tea Party and vintage fashion show and the items they used to decorate for that are still up so that is why you will see lots of Gone With the Wind memorabilia displayed throughout the mansion. Like on the mantles for instance.

A beautiful black beaded shawl thingy, sorry but I don't know what it is called. I know, you wouldn't want me for your tour guide if I'm not any more knowledgeable then this!

One last look into the ladies parlor before heading into the dining room. Although lovely, none of the furniture is original to the mansion.

Don't you love this tete-a-tete, or courting chair? If you don't know about these pieces they were meant  to keep "young lovers" apart but yet close. Sitting side by side but facing opposite directions. But I would think it would be easier "gaze into one another's eyes" and get "ideas" by sitting this way, so I don't know. Never used one!

Below our guide is showing us this fire screen and how it differs from other screens because you can turn the screen itself in the angle you want it instead of having to move the whole frame. So, that's handy!

A gorgeous bookcase secretary to ooh and ahh over.

And this wonderful hair wreath shadow box! I love these things but unfortunately only have one little bitty one in my house because they are always rather pricey!

Check out this silver epergne! I love the calla lilies at the base of the vase. Hey, that rhymes! ;-)

Now we enter the music room. Another beautiful marble mantle.

A different angle in the music room. Beautiful marble turtle top table.

And look at this gorgeous chair!  I just love those carved Columbia heads on furniture.

This is the first gasolier to have been installed in Independence at that time. Look at all of those prisms. Fancy, huh?

Here is a dress from the movie, Gone with the Wind. I don't know what that cloth thing is on the head part. I didn't even notice it at the time. Hmmm....

Here she is...Miss America!!! Just a movie poster they had on display. Okay, that is it for the music room.
I didn't take any photos of the gentleman's parlor/Library. Sorry...

Moving on upstairs. Here is one of two very large shadow boxes in the upstairs hall. Inside are antique French fashions of the 1880's.

I didn't take any photos of furniture while upstairs, I really didn't feel like it was all that great for such a grand house. There were some ceiling murals that were pretty though and this dress, pictured below, is really pretty. The flowers are embroidered on it.

I really liked this display. The pinks in the epergne and lamp with the lace curtains and blouse made such a pretty combination.

And with that we scurried down the back stairs, out the side door, hopped in the carriage and were whisked away to the historic Courthouse square for some antiques shopping! No, not really. I just liked the sound of that! We did not take a carriage ride (although we thought about it) but instead we hopped into our car and went to the Courthouse square to a couple of antique shops.

This is one of my favorite shops to look in. I have never purchased anything here because it is kind of expensive, but it is nice! It was kind of crowded inside so I did not take a picture of it.

A nice fun surprise on the square was a car show! And let me tell you, the sight of those MG's brought back sweet memories of my "sweet 16" days! I had my sights set on several of these cuties at the time but I did not end of getting one, instead I got a 1976 Triumph Spitfire (same color of yellow as the car below). Spitfire's are a little bit more shapely then the MG, it looks more like a 1958 Corvette. Maybe I will write a post and share photos of my Spitfire someday. How I loved that little car!

These are the cute cars on the other side of the street. I do not know what these are called though.

On the way home we stopped at a huge antique mall/flea market called The Brass Armadillo. I had to make it quick because my daughter had really had enough by that time. (I hurried but it still took over an hour because it is so huge!) So in the midst of my "running" through the mall I found something that I had been looking for. Do you remember on my Titanic post I mentioned trying to find a pair of candle tea lamps for my dining room table? And how hard it was to find any these days? Well I found a pair and they were like the one's I had seen on Ebay and wanted to buy but by the time I would have paid shipping they would have been almost 70 bucks! So I got these for $12.75 each! Yahoo! I was so excited! Can't wait to use them next April!

Now my friends, with all that excitement behind us, it is now time to say goodbye. I do hope you enjoyed the trip and I will see you back here next week or so. Have a great week!