Ah, summer.......the time when you really don't know which day it is!! One day runs into the next day during summer vacation, and it is kind of hard to keep up with the names of them!! Ha!
My friend Cathy came by yesterday, and we went out to a couple of antique stores. Savannah is full of antique stores. We went to lunch first at a little cafe right by our first stop, Cafe 37. This small building used to be an antique store, though. This is the place where one summer I bought my 1930's mahogony dining room table, highboy, and single four poster bed (tht I do not even use anymore). I also bought an English Oak 1800's piece, that I cannot think of what it is called. I keep my Lonaberger baskets on it. I believe it is supposed to have plates displayed on it, so maybe it is a type of cupboard. I also bought 1700 or 1800 desk there that has little inkwell places on it. Supposedly, that piece came from England. These dates are what I was told by the 'very good' saleslady anyway. I say very good, because I bought things I could not afford and things I did not need! So, I do like to go look, but I do not buy things like that anymore. We went to the big yellow house on 37th Street that is full of things. This store is actually very neatly arranged and organized, and it is quite a treat to walk through this old house. The owner even has vintage clothes for sale. As we were walking down the main stairs, on our way out of the front door, we saw that a cat is a 'resident' of the house/store. There is a sign on the door telling you to please not let the cat out, even if IT tells you to!! We thought that was pretty funny.
Then, I took Cathy to a big house downtown that Don told me about one time. This house is right by Forsyth Park, on Bull Street. It is located on the first square past the park, Monterey Square. This big old mansion is full, and did I say FULL, of antiques! This house is across the street from the Mercer House, which most people know of as the house from the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. That house used to belong to Johnny Mercer's family. Here is a bit of history about the square. The part in red is about the house of antiques.
In 1847, the Irish Jasper Greens, a Savannah military group, returned from the
Mexican war and this name (Monterey) was given to honor one of the battles in
that war. All of the buildings on this square except one (the United Way
building) are original to the square.
Temple Mickve Israel is here with its museum which is open to the
public.
On the Southwest corner, at 3 W.
Gordon, is the Noble Hardee House, completed in 1869 as a double house but later
converted into a single dwelling
The Mercer House is on this square, as well. Also on this square is the Oglethorpe Club, built in 1857. The Pulaski Monument is in the
center of Monterey Square.
We did not see a name on this big house of antiques, but I found some information on it after I first posted this blog. I have added that information and a picture of the square right above this paragraph.
Cathy said that she believes this particular house was used in the movie "Something to Talk About", when the ladies all got together for a party, or cards, and they all drank a lot and the main character caused a big stir. The outside of the front of the house is what was in the "shot" of the movie, where all the people were going up the steps. Anyway, this house was built in the 1800's for a plantation owner, according to the girl working there. She didn't know much else about the house. Cathy remembers going into that house with her mother back in the 70's on a tour of homes. I kind of felt like I had been in that house before, too. Unfortunately, the house has gone to 'pot' and would not be on any tour of homes anymore.
This gigantic house is loaded down with furniture. The house is amazing, really. You go in the bottom floor, which was probably where the kitchen and servant's quarters were. You look around and squeeze through all the furniture, and then you can go out into a 'hidden' garden, which is also full of stuff. Then if you wish, you can climb the first set of stairs and go to what was probably the main floor. It must have been really grand at one time. You come up to what must be the front door, with a HUGE chandelier overhead. To the right, is a big room that looks like it was the dining area, with another beautiful chandelier. To the left, is another huge room that must have been the main living room or great room. I can see the people in there now, just like in an old movie!
We climbed the second set of stairs, which were bigger than the first ones. The first set had small stairs and a simple square type of banister. The second set of stairs were grand with a big, nice banister. More huge rooms were on the third level, just like the second level. There were lots of little rooms in and out of these big rooms, too, on each level. This must have been a sleeping floor. Several gigantic beds were in the various rooms. It kind of looks like some of the original furniture might still be in this house, because the furniture is so huge (just like the house!) On this level, there was a room that must have been a library, because of the built in shelves. It reminded me of one of the rooms in the Biltmore house in North Carolina, just not as large. Each floor had a little outside porch, too, with 'stuff' on it to sell. I cannot imagine how all of this furniture ever got into this house, especially up all the stairs! That is why I think a lot of it must have alread been there.
Then, we actually went up one more level! The very top level must have been an attic, but the rooms were big and could have been a living space. We found a few things throughout the house that told us that this house must have been modernized at one time into apartments, or the owner lived in one section of the house, or something like that. Way in the back of one of the upper level rooms, we found a pretty modern day stove, refrigerator, and sink in a tiny little room. The stove was actually plugged in, because the time on the clock was showing (although it was the wrong time!).
Cathy and I were really taken back in time, as we walked through and through all of the furniture and looked at all of the amazing pieces. There were some portraits on the walls, as well. One instance was kind of funny, actually. When we were on one particular level, like a grand ballroom or something, there was a beautiful secretary that had inlaid pictures. I went over to touch the piece to see if it was original or if someone had put stickers all over it! Anyway, the inlay was real, but it was weird looking pictures of animals, like creepy animals. I cannot tell what types of heads they were, but they kind of looked like wolves or something evil. There were also flower or leaf types of inlays. I told Cathy that this thing looked evil, and she said, "The lady in the picture doesn't look too happy, either." The portrait right over the secretary was of a lady frowning, or giving an evil look like you would see in a horror movie!! I quickly moved away from that piece of furniture and we sqeezed our way through the rest of that huge room! Actually, at the end of this room is where the little room was with the modern day stove and refrigerator. More furniture was plopped on top of the stove, though!
Every inch or half inch of this place has something in it or on it!! We had fun, though, looking at everything. If you are ever in Savannah, and you like looking for antiques, you should go to this place. The owner's name is Raskin, and the house is on the corner of Bull Street. Like I said, it is catycorner across the street from the Mercer House. The houses are around a square, Monterey Square, so they are not exactly 'across' from each other. They are both around the same square. Did I say "square" enough times in this paragraph? HA!
Have a great Sunday!!
