Our choice of the Longwood Mansion over all the others in town is driven by the unique design of the house. It is a octagon, eight sided. Also, I remember seeing a small blurb about the house on the A&E Channel series, "American Castles". Besides, it is the easiest house in town to find.
The turn off for the driveway is not so easy to see, Beth and I see it as we go zipping by it. Shane and Steph make the turn and we cut back in a parking lot. As I turn into the drive, my heart sinks... it is a LOOSE pebble stone driveway, all the way to the house. We pay our fee and start down the drive with me in the lead. Using the back brake only and going pretty slow we wind our way back off the main road and into the woods in the direction of the house.
Things are going great until I come to a right hand turn at the bottom of a hill. It turns and heads back up the other side of the valley. Lots of pebble gravel has accumulated at this point and it looks deep. I go into it slow and easy; nonetheless, the back end starts to spin and the front washes out. My pulse rockets out my chest and the bike starts flailing from side to side before I can damp out the wild oscillations. Fortunately, I did not have time to think and my reflexes took over, otherwise I might have done something stupid and dropped the bike. As it is, I make it through without even stalling the bike. It certainly gave Beth quite a show and she slowed down even further hehe.
As we come around the corner the house comes into view. It is easy to see that the lack of rain all summer is having an impact everywhere and not just in Texas. I imagine how the grounds must look in the spring time with everything in bloom and the yard lush and green. We pull around back and park the bikes. It is getting hot again and I am glad to be taking off the riding gear. |
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We get something to drink and cool off for a while. The tours are every thirty minutes so we hang out until the next one starts. We take this time to wander around the outside of the house and check out the exterior. The onion shaped bulb on the top and the white pedestal it sits upon are both hollow shells. I don't think the pedestal portion was ever meant to be accessible as a viewing platform. The front door you are looking at is actually the first floor, it is unfinished. Below and to the right of the front door, in an area unseen here, is the entrance used as the "front door", which lead to the entry parlor of the basement. |
Tour time starts and we line up with the other tourists. We are not allowed to take pictures in the house; after all, they want us to buy the expensive picture books in the gift shop. It is probably worth it anyway. Their pictures are better than I can take and they have all the history and interesting factoids about the house. I neglected to buy one, where would I pack it? I do manage one picture from the inside. We were allowed to take pictures on the first floor. This one is looking up thru the ceiling of the first floor all the way to the onion dome on top of the house. Mirrors were planned to be used to reflect light down into the entire house, pretty cool. |
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Shane is an Architect by trade and so he enjoys every chance to look over interesting building styles and construction techniques. Most of the windows on the upper floors are boarded up as if preparing for a hurricane. These are the floors that were never completed. Those oak trees are beautiful. During the tour, we step out on to the second story porch shown here. It is hard to put a price on the experience of standing there in the shade, feeling the warm dry breeze blowing across your skin, the smell of dried grass in the air, hearing the wind wrestling through the leaves above, all soothing the senses and muscles. Is it any wonder that the deep south was known for its friendly front porches where a good visit and something cool to drink could be had? It really brought back images from my childhood near Fort Hood, Texas. Sitting in our palatial mansion in the midst of the large live oak tree in the back yard, the sound of the creek below running through the yard, the sound of the leaves, the smells... a wonderful place from a wonderful time. What a cool house this is! |