Deland Road Trip Part 2

After Pam and I had lunch and with some GPS problems overcome, we headed over to the Stetson Mansion, yes, that Stetson, he of the famous hats, and arrived for the tour just as the group was heading inside.  JT, one of the owners, was our guide, and our one hour tour was almost two hours.  I had read on the website for the mansion, here, that photography was not allowed inside, so I didn’t take my camera.  For the quilt show, photos were allowed, so I did the best I could with my phone.  I highly recommend that you go everywhere on the Mansion’s website.  It has a great history of the house, the renovation, better pictures, short videos, tour information, etc.  I am for sure going to the Christmas tour.  Wow! 

Most memorable to me were the stunning floors, a different hand-made parquet design in each room.  None of the floors except the kitchen needed to be repaired, just buffed out and revarnished.  I took a few pics, but I oohed and aahed over them all.  There were quilts everywhere, all gorgeous. 

JT explained some of the renovation work he and his partner Michael had done on the house, including stripping wall after wall of wallpaper.  Mind boggling what they accomplished in 18 months.

Here’s two pics of the floors, each piece done by hand.

 

On the left is an arrangement of a boot quilt, one of Mr. Stetson’s hats and a rope.  On the right is a cowboy quilt, complete with Stetson.

Here’s two quilts made with the new Downton Abbey fabric line from Andover Fabrics, here.

This is the quilt on the master bed with a glass Stetson on it.

I think this is the front parlor with . . .

a digitalized player baby grand piano that has a Stetson on it.  There’s Stetsons all over the place!

This was JT’s favorite quilt, a hand appliqued and quilted flower garden.

This is the main staircase with chandelier, a favorite route for brides.  Portrait of Mr. Stetson on the wall.

This is the North side exterior that shows the stained glass on the main staircase.

This was one of my favorite quilts, mini nine patch.  My glasses are placed there for size.

This is another favorite quilt, called Purple Crazy Patch Pizaaz.  Love the pansies.

Here’s the west side, the main entrance is under the porch.  Black storm clouds were coming, but we outran them all the way home.

This is the SW corner of the mansion.

Here’s the north side.

This was the schoolhouse for the Stetson’s three children.  It’s been made into a guest house.

Here’s three pics of the Zen garden.

The whole day was exhausting because of the heat and bright sun, but Pam and I made it home before we collapsed in heaps to recover.  It was a day very well spent. 

(-: .·´* .·´*¨¨)) –:¦:- *** ((¸¸.·´*~Kathy~.·´*)****¨¨)) -:¦:- ·· ((¸¸.·´* .·´*((¸¸.·.·´ *-:¦:- ... :-)