The Rockcliffe Mansion
There is TOO MUCH for me to say about this house to write in one blog. I felt like a five year old in Disney World :) The above picture doesn't even begin to capture the robust nature of this beauty! I'll try to post as many interior photos as I can with a little narration before I run out of time/get tired of doing so/fall asleep... nearly half of the photos from our trip are of the home interior, so I highly doubt I'll get through all of these pictures to post. I do hope y'all enjoy what you do get to see, though! If you're ever in the Hannibal area, definitely stay there!! They do tours also!
Our Room
We stayed in The Rose Room. It was heavenly :) We had an amazing pre-Civil War era canopy bed, walk-in closet with floor to ceiling cabinetry, huge private bath, and AMAZING views of the town and river. At check-out, the lady who does the tours asked if anything happened during our stay. "What do you mean?" She wanted to know if we heard anything at 2 a.m. or if I had felt anyone touching my hair. "No. Nothing." She found this odd. I found it odd that she was asking. Then, the stories spewed out of her. Supposedly, the house is haunted. Right. I am SCARED TO DEATH of anything even remotely close to the word "haunted". I felt nothing. I heard nothing. I sensed nothing. If this place was haunted, my easily freaked out nerves would not have allowed me to walk through the front door. Ask anyone who knows me. Sometimes, I don't even like walking around my own house in the dark. Though the scary stories were kind of fun to hear - and partly, I am sure, because we were checking out and I wouldn't be sleeping there that night - I didn't believe a word I was being told.
This is a hazy picture, but I'm posting it because it was a sweet moment from our trip. Mark woke me up just to show me the sunrise through our bedroom window :) Awwww! It's stuff like that that makes me melt.
A better picture of the "sitting area" in our room, once the sun was completely risen.
The view from the walk-in closet.
Originally, the bathroom did not have a shower; only a tub. The shower was installed when a movie director and his wife stayed at the home for a few months while doing a film. The director kept slipping in the tub and requested the shower.
I wanted to take this sink home!!!
... and these little bottles that sat on the bathroom windowsill, too!
This is the view of the upstairs "hall" from our room door.
The Staircase
A staircase is a staircase, right? WRONG! I'm way into staircases. They can make or break the beauty of a home, especially in a southern-style home. I've always dreamed of having an elaborate staircase in my home. Something a lot like this...
The staircase viewed from the front door/main hall as you walk in.
The staircase view from the side hall, entering from the Carriage Canopy door.
The staircase landing, looking up into the Upstairs Hall.
The staircase landing, looking down into the Main Hall. (Mark Twain made a 1.5 hour long speech on the third step during his last visit to Hannibal.)
And, of course, me at the staircase!
The Main Floor
The corner of the Lady's Visiting Room, looks into the Receiving Room and the Main Hall with the Gentleman's Visiting Room beyond.
The Gentleman's Visiting Room. REALLY loved the colors in this one :) The fireplace is cracked because Mr. C made the fire too hot and cracked the marble. Oops.
The Receiving Room, where guests were directed once they entered the home. There they would sit until they found out if they wanted to be seen or not. If not, they would leave their "calling card".
The Music Room. The original owners were a lumber mill owner and a concert pianist. They were rich.
This book was sitting on the table in the music room. It's called A Square Deal For Every Man. I opened it up and this is what was on the page. I started goofing with Mark, reading it out loud and telling him he might want to take a gander at it himself. He did. Hint given. Hint received. ;)
The Lady's Visiting Room. Back in the day, women were not "allowed" to discuss money or politics. It was common knowledge that every inch of drapery that gathered at the floor stood for $1 million dollars of worth. The C's (I remember the name, don't remember the spelling, and am too tired - it's actually 4:02 a.m. at this very moment, and my second attempt at finishing this blog post - to look it up.) had 11 inches of drapery gathered at the floor.
The corner of the Lady's Visiting Room, looks into the Receiving Room and the Main Hall with the Gentleman's Visiting Room beyond.
The Gentleman's Visiting Room. REALLY loved the colors in this one :) The fireplace is cracked because Mr. C made the fire too hot and cracked the marble. Oops.
These booze was brought up from Mr. C's collection, found in tact in the basement cellar.
The Dining Room (complete with our breakfast still on the table! ha ha)
The Second Floor
There is an abundance of bedrooms and bathrooms on this floor. I'm NOT going to post the pictures of them all... only a mere few. The room we stayed in is one of them. This is a picture of the Upstairs Hall. I really loved how there was no real hallway. Instead, everything comes off this room. This is only a corner of it.
When Mr. C died, Mrs. C left everything in the house and moved out. She didn't take ANYTHING and the how was left as it was for the next 40-something years, when a few families in town came together and bought the property. TONS of the family's belongings were found and all in good condition. These monogrammed towels hang in Mr. C's bathroom.
We kind of played around a bit with their stuff. Hope those ghosts didn't mind!!
On the third floor there is a ballroom, dressing room, sewing room, nursery, and school room. Of course, I took pictures of it all. Really, though, y'all probably have something you need to do and posting any more photos on this blog would not be good for either of us. Bottom line - We loved this house :) Though, we both admit, all that wallpaper would have to go if it was ours. Oh, and since we were the only visitors during our stay and no one else was in the house, I was TOTALLY pretending it was ours. HA HA
A girl can dream...
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