Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Down The Trail And Back Again

Memory Lane can be a beaten path or a merry trail, either way I'm finding myself there.

This is a mansion where I recall quietly skipping through the halls with my sisters back in the 1960's while my mother was with the Realtor taking a tour of the
'House For Sale'.

Of course the tour was a farce as we couldn't afford such luxury, but Mom was determined to see the inside. She dressed us in our Sunday best so we could hopefully pass for rich status.

I took this photo summer 2009

History 101:
"The Leon Cheek Residence may be one of the most elaborate residential structures in the historic district. Leon Cheek was the owner of downtown's massive Cheek-Neal Coffee Company, now known as the Maxwell House Coffee. The remnants of Mr. Cheek's private dock still stand across the street from the 1929 structure."
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Mom grew up on this side of town, and I'm sure she passed by this house many times while she was a child. I wonder if she had her own private memories and dreams of this fantastic mansion.

Did she have any idea that she'd hand down memories and dreams to us children? Even as a child I could sense, no.. I knew this was a GRAND place. A place of dreams. -And I had many.

I even had a nightmare or two about the basement. For all the beauty of the house, the basement was the opposite. It was ugly, dark, damp and frightening.

Wow! What a fantastic GRAND home! A place that little girls dream of and ladies find mystery of what it would be like to be the lady of the house? To call it 'HOME'.

Surely, the homeowners of this mansion cannot be of ordinary folk?
Can they possibly not realize what they have because its something obtainable for them?
Materially speaking, wonder what folks that can own such a place like this dream of? What could be grander?

4 comments:

  1. Eoe, I remember this place too...it was amazing..I wish I could go in it now though so I could get back some of the lost memories of the place. I remember being impressed by the dumb waiter that went to every floor and the elevator...and the dark, dingy basement...I remember that too...but, I think I could appreciate it much more if I could go through it now....heehee...I remember it was empty and there were pennies everywhere and we collected them as we explored. Thanks for the memoreis.

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  2. Seems to me I recall we wanted to ride on that dumb waiter (but we knew better!)?! It was kinda frightening looking tho. It worked by a rope pulley and didn't look too sturdy.

    It also had a laundry shoot. Remember that?

    I recall the elevator was not in use at that time. We couldn't get close to it as it was roped off. It was old-time the kind you see in old movies complete with the steel wire grid doors.

    Along with the furniture. Beautiful, very old furniture moved back to back in the center of the house, again all roped off.

    I recall the intercom system in each room. It was high tech back then. We had never seen or known of such a thing. We all were amazed!

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  3. Yes yes I remember most of what you speak of except the furniture. I just remember huge empty spaces. But, then it has been a while....lol

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  4. What a wonderful post. Thanks so much for sharing this history with us. It was so very interesting.

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