Conrad Mansion Part Duex

This past Saturday was most definitely fun-filled. We first attended the Farmer's Market which is probably 5 blocks away. We purchased lettuce, basil (to plant), fresh tomatoes, and "From Moo to You" Milk---Kalispell Creamery. It is delicious local milk.

Before heading out to Glacier Park we stopped by the Conrad Mansion to take the tour of the house--3 stories!

Designed by Kirtland Cutter a prominent architect in the Pacific Northwest--most buildings are in Spokane but you can find a couple (that still survive) dit dotted around the California, Washington, Oregon, and Montana.

This home was built in 1895 for Charles Conrad--founder of Kalispell and entrepreneur. Charles only lived in the house until 1902 when he died of a diabetes. The family continued to live there and the youngest daughter who raised her children in the mansion donated the home in 1974 to the city. After some renovation the mansion opened to the public in 1976 and has been a museum ever since.

The family saved everything--from receipts to the best handcrafted furniture in the NW. Because of the receipts, the docent was able to tell us how much money the Conrads paid for each piece of furniture.

They even had the original draperies, clothes, dishes, toys, you name it! It reminded me a bit like Farmer's family's farm---just on a different scale.

A couple of my favorite design aspects of the home:

• The arch underneath the stairs that provided seating. This is where the band played when the family entertained.
• The bottle-ends windows (you'll see).
• A wooden keg that acts as a pass through from butler pantry to dining room.
• The sun room/planetarium with rock walls to display the plants
• The Kitchen is original...every bit of it. Love the simple design and the appliances.
• The vintage telecom. Definitely ahead of their time.
• Fire hoses on each floor in case of a fire.
• Freight elevator that still works! Basement to 3rd floor.
• Balcony overlooking the stairway
• Closets---very rare to see in 1895. They did not waste any space!
• The 3rd floor is a great space. I can see them being very casual up there not having to worry too much about messing anything up. It had a playroom, sewing room, and casual parlor for Charles. It also had a laundry room where the servants did their washing and drying.
• They had drying racks that rolled out from a closet that was heated by a furnace to dry the clothes.
• And my FAVORITE:::::: Kirtland Cutter designed two little hidden compartments underneath the stairs that blended in with the trim which acted as a little mailbox for the children to leave notes and trinkets for their grandmas. Then there was another "mailbox" for the grandmothers to leave responses or treats. I would love to incorporate something like that in a home!

Conrad Mansion

Blue Ceiling!

The arch underneath the stairs

Parlor and also acted as a space to dance

The bottle window

Looks like a keg..but really the front of the keg opens so you can

pass food from the butler's pantry!

Soapstone sink

Same hat as in the picture

Laundry sinks

3rd floor fun

Glacier National Park

The farmer and I visited Glacier Park this weekend and boy was it amazing. Words nor pictures do the justice but that's all I can provide to describe a part of this wondrous world. Makes a person pretty patriotic. Glacier Park turned 100 this year and just think of what it was like in 1910..many more glaciers and a lot more remote and rugged.

Each time we saw some snow on a mountain..we kept wondering..Is that a glacier? We stopped to take some pictures and a couple asked if I could take a picture of them so I obliged. I asked what they wanted in the background and he said, "As much as the glacier as possible." "Okay!" Click.

I handed back their camera and Farmer comes up to me and whispers...So is that a glacier?? I was wondering the same thing!! Take more pictures of that glacier! (or is it??)

We took a scenic route: Going-To-The-Sun-Road...even the name itself is AWESOME. We had a good time winding around the contours of the mountains---hugging the rocks that jut out onto the road wanting to make a nice, memorable scratch on your car. At times the edge of the cliff was your neighbor..Don't look DOWN! Weeping Walls of water come crashing down on your car (make sure your sunroof is closed). It was like your very own natural amusement park. So much better than a roller coaster or water slide. On our adventure we spotted deer (no bears or mountain goats dang it), mountians (of course), valleys, little ground squirrels, crazy drivers, manly mini-van drivers, waterfalls galore, and the best kind of snow---snow that is in 70 degree weather! It sure is fun to see snow in July.

We bought a National and Federal Park Pass that is good for 12 months. We'll be able to go to Glacier Park so many times that we'll be very happy to be your tour guide. If you get a chance, please come up here and visit, we would love to show you around!

The Water was.....FREEEEEEZING!! Think: This is Glacier Runoff!

10 seconds to take this picture was too long.

Snyder Creek

See the red Jammer...they are 1930s convertible "busses" that have been fully restored that show visitors the sights around Glacier Park!

awwwwww

grrrrr

Conrad Mansion

This past July 3rd we headed to the historic downtown in Kalispell and watched the parade. It was fun and nice...nice and fun. Then afterwards we decided to go to the Conrad mansion for an ice cream social and a tour of the grand house.

Well it started to sprinkle..then rain...then pour..and then lightening and thunder...The staff at the mansion had chairs set out on the lawn, ice cream, hotdogs for sale, etc. It would have been lots of fun..but the darn rain changed all that. We huddled underneath the leaking gazebo for about an hour and then decided to make a run for it back to the car---the rain was not going to let up so we decided to go somewhere else.

I am anxious to visit the mansion because I did a research project over the architect, Kirtland Cutter, when I was a freshman at Tech!

I fell in love with the stone wall!! I think it as neat as the house--maybe even neater!!!

Here and There

Here are a couple of random pictures that I have taken since I arrived in Montana last week. My camera broke..we had a back up camera and we needed batteries...so I haven't really taken that many pictures but really..I've only been here a week so I'm not too worried about it!

Here is the ol' farmer filling water jugs up with glacier

water spilling out of the side of the Mountain!

This is Liquid Gold in my book!

My most favorite detached garage ever!!! I will take a

picture of all if it before I leave. I will recreate this garage one day!

Got any dam questions?? This is the Hungry Horse Dam built in the 50's.

We were able to drive across it! Pretty amazing!

Beautiful field of ... yellow. We are not sure what it is but it looks like some type of crop. Mustard?

The Casita

This is the little house we'll call home for awhile that sits on Meridian Street. It is on the edge of an older neighborhood with lots of diversity and great old houses. I was taking a walk yesterday and found a church (imagine the Presbyterian Church by the square in Granbury) and it is now a Thrift Store! Lucky me!

It had not been 24 hours since I arrived in the Treasure State that I was itchin' to play switch-a-roo with the furniture.

So I did.

Every item in this house is from Ikea...even the silverware..

Polebridge, MT pop. 40

Well here I am in Montana, pretty chilly and pretty rainy..but other than that it's beautiful!

My farmerman and I got in the car yesterday and we decided to head towards Glacier Park. But lo and behold, it was raining..ehh, I wouldn't necessarily want to see the sights in the rain. I would like to do a hike or two as well. So instead we decided to find this place off the beaten track called Polebridge. Sam had heard about it from some folks and they said it was neat destination spot. They have an old mercantile and saloon. Reminds me a bit like Luckenbach, TX.

We had a nice time there. We ordered some food (Me: Salad, Him: Hotdog) and a beer. They have cabins for anyone to spend the night and it is right next to an entrance into Glacier Park. This side of the park is not even close to commercial and that's how we like it. I think we'll go this way again when we get our act together to go visit the National Park.

So Far So Good. Just a little chilly!!! I bought a blanket yesterday and haven't peeled it off my body since. A good thing about this weather tho, is that I can drink hot tea! As I type this post, the heaters are going right now! How are things in Texas??

100 years old

Happy Birthday to Gloria Stuart. She was born in 1910! And started acting in the 30s. She was in two of my favorite movies: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Titanic! Wow! What a beauty. She will turn 100 years old July 4th.