Victorian Christmas Home Tour

Wherever I go, I keep at least one eye out, although usually two, for old, Victorian homes.  I don’t know when my interest for that time period in history began, but I have a never ending curiosity for the sights and stories of the bygone era.  Driving around old Southern towns, and scouting out places that bring history alive is definitely my idea of thrill seeking.

Here is one such house, that we came across, situated so stately on a steep hill in the heart of Columbus, Mississippi.

Does anyone paint that way anymore?  It would be so spectacular to have paintings of my kids like these!

This charming house was a mixture of elegance and quaintness.  Endearing and interesting, the owner, a retired school teacher, was elegant in her own right.  Picturesquely dressed in Christmassy red, with her hair neatly up in a bun, she was busy in the basement kitchen baking sugar cookies for an afternoon Christmas gathering.  

I loved the meandering architecture of this house, and the landscape was equally interesting,

with lots of aged brick and stone paths, hedged in with azaleas, liriope, and cast iron, giving the courtyard such a well established, cozy feel making me long to be in one of the wicker rockers enjoying it on a rainy day. 

  For me, if hearing the stories about the lives that were lived in these old homes weren’t enough to fill me up with wonderment – which they are – there’s always decorating ideas to inspire my attempt to make our house have the feel of stepping back in time, oh say, 130 years or so. 

As I type, I hear the sweet sounds of my youngest merrily singing while she clangs dishes in the kitchen, which is beckoning me.  Thanks for touring this house with me today.