If Walls Could Talk

What did it look like in 1937?

Since we have very few old pictures of the inside of this old house, I have taken a lot of time trying to analyze the many layers of paint to learn what the first color on these walls might have been. I guess it doesn't really matter, but I'd like to see it from the original point of view.

The Side Entrances

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  Curved Ceilings in Hall

The side entrance halls both have arched ceilings and it appears the original  plaster ceilings and walls were a sky blue.  But one housed a half bath with the original black and white tile still on the floor and a small closet beside it.  The other housed 2 closets--one small and one large.

The Foyers

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The South front foyer, labeled on the back of the original boards as the study, has knotty pine paneling on the walls and ceilings which appears to have been painted white at some point - we think originally- and stripped back to wood sometime later. The grand entrance on the North front has numerous layers of wall paper and somewhere in time some of the trim was painted a pale shade of green and the beautiful walnut floors were painted white!!!

The Dining Room and Living Room

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The dining room and the living room walls have layers of white, blue, yellow, and pink paint. It is hard to tell what color they were originally.  The molding and trim in the dining room is white, but it is flaking off in huge layers. Some of the living room trim was painted green at some point, but was painted over with white where the curtains did not cover the green trim!

The Kitchen

The kitchen had a small pantry and an entrance door with terra cotta tile that led to the 1970 carport addition.  However, the kitchen has been remodeled too many times to have any idea how it originally looked, although it had a beautiful wooden tray ceiling and wooden walls, all painted white. 

The Bedrooms

There are 3 bedrooms upstairs which are in the best shape of any space in the house.  Mostly, the walls and trim just need scraping and painting, an the oak floors need to be refinished.  But in the grand scheme of things, that is MINIMAL!!  However,  the middle bedroom only has the subfloor, because the original oak floors were removed and taken downstairs to be installed in the master bedroom suite.  So we hope to be able to save enough of this flooring to reinstall it upstairs. 

The Master Suite

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  The Skylight Rot

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  The Original Bath and Closets

The master bedroom suite was originally a bedroom, bathroom, dressing area and 2 closets.  The rooms appear to have been white with plaster walls and wooden tray ceilings.  And the bath had black and white tile floors with blue tile walls, and a pink Cinderella tub which is still in its place.  (We recently found the original pink sink out in the shed.)  In the 90's an owner began renovations on this area to add a larger bedroom and bath to the suite, with double glass doors opening to the yard--however, no steps were ever added.  And a large skylight was added to the ceiling which sits directly under a HUGE tree.  Needless to say this added area shows the most rot and damage on the inside and outside due to construction materials not of the same quality as the ones used in the original structure in 1937.

The Basement

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The home was constructed with a HUGE furnace (housed in the basement) and vented heating back in 1937. There are two extra large cast iron laundry sinks in the basement, which I assume was the laundry room. Due to the flooding of the basement for many years, there is little left here to tell the original story.

Tell me the stories...

But old houses have stories of families long gone. We love hearing the old stories. One visitor told us of visiting here when she was a child to see her aunt's family at Christmas. She said what she remembers most about that time with the original owners was being amazed at the amount of toys her cousins had received!

We were told that Carolyn Weatherford's wedding reception was held at LMV, and that it was the biggest event the town of Eutawville had ever seen.

We heard stories about the gorgeous gardens, exotic plants and beautiful landscaping long gone. There are some remnants, maybe there will be more surprises in the spring.

We heard the Holly Hill Academy class of 1968 took senior pictures here. And this photo was shared with us.

We were told the Cadillac currently sitting under the carport was ridden in by Senator Strom Thurmond.

And we heard about the gunite pool that was installed back in 1995 which was filled in by the next owner.

But we know there is so much more! If you have stories or photos of LMV from times past, we would love to see and hear them. So please share your memories with us!

If...only these walls could talk!