A Seating Story
In 1894, this is where people were “received” in the Cross House. For several years I have had a curved sofa in the space, which seemed perfect, but I never intended it to be permanent as it covers up the fabulous curved radiator. Oh, the horror. Also, I yearned for a period-correct set (settee, and two chairs) which the room likely had originally.
I knew the set I wanted. My friend in Wichita had it in his parlor. Every time I visited I lusted after his set. “Please, please let me have this set!”
My begging fell on deaf ears. Carl is, obviously, quite cruel.
However, Carl just sold his house. He no longer needed the set. And my lust has been fulfilled. Scroll way down…
…squee!!!!!!!!
However, you will note that the set is in the upstairs Sewing Room rather than Receiving Room. This is because:
- I was worried that the set, delicate-looking, would not work well with the heavy sconces in the Receiving Room.
- I’m highly focused on the Suite right now and thought the set would look good there!
Each piece has gorgeous floral inlays. Even the oval border has an inlay.
There are bits of carving, too, which well complement the carvings on the mantels of the house.
The set, like the house, is elegant without being too elaborate. But how old is the set? 1890s? 1910? 1920s? I do not know.
I placed the set on a rug I dragged up from the entry hall because, well, why not. And it all looked very well. I envisioned the room finished and decorated. Oh! It looked wonderful! I was rapturous!
Then my vision shifted to, ahh, people actually using the room.
And my heart sank a bit.
The Suite will have a bed in the Octagon Room but it seems sensible that the Sewing Room have a convertible sofa, right? And the set is not only delicate in appearance, but delicate period. I shifted my vision to people roughly using the set…and my brain shrieked a bit.
Humm. So, pondering began.
I went downstairs to do some work. Then came back upstairs into the Sewing Room. Pondering still. I then went to the basement workroom to begin glazing one of the Round Room stained-glass windows. Then came back upstairs into the Sewing Room. Pondering still. Returning to the first-floor, I worked in the south hall. Then came back upstairs into the Sewing Room, pondering still.
All this pondering did result in a conclusion.
Scroll way down….
…ta-da!
The image is dark and depressing, yes, but the set looks quite good in person. It needs a round rug and, I think, a nice skirted round table with long fringe in the middle. The set works MUCH better with the massive sconces than I thought but I could easily change out these sconces for a another pair. So, Cody, start working on that!
And, the curvaceous marble-topped radiator is again revealed!
34 Comments
Leave a Comment
Your email address will NEVER be made public or shared, and you may use a screen name if you wish.
Just a well uneducated guess but, the set looks to be somewhat late regency(?), which may seem a bit too early for an 1894 house. However, one has to consider that any decent homeowner would have “family heirlooms”. 😉
Upholstery aside, they look scrumptious. 💜
Love 💕 seeing the sewing room with a rug and gorgeous inlaid furniture! Your progress inspires and sparks joy.
This type of inlay work reminds me a bit of the stuff that is made Sorrento, Italy. No matter what it a beautiful set and fits the space very well. What a wonderful find! You can almost imagine Mrs. Cross coming down the stairs to meet her guests in the Receiving room.
I just want to see if I can picture what you envision.
To me, the furniture appears to be a little lost in the room unless your goal is to allow one to see the architectural features of the room well.
When you say, “a nice skirted round table with long fringe in the middle”, do you mean:
1. a round table in the middle of the room that has a round, floor length tablecloth with a fringe?
2. a round, antique, wood table with a deep apron between the legs supporting the top?
3. Other
What height and width should the table be? Will you have end tables as well.
What about window treatments? Do you plan to keep the pink fabric (shades?) in place or are they temporary?
Stewart, the set does look lost in the receiving room.
This is why I mentioned a rug and center table.
I will redo the upholstery.
The three curved windows will have Austrian-curtains, as they did originally.
The center table I am envisioning will be skirted to the floor, and with long fringe at the bottom. The fabric will be thick.
And, once the peacock feathers arrive, there will be a tall vase on the radiator filled with them!
Peacock feathers are just this ticket! I was first thinking houseplants on stands could liven up the space without looking too.bulky, but feathers are much lower maintenance!
What a lovely set! My guess is 1890’s to early 1900’s so perfectly appropriate for the cross house- great eye!
I think that is a very good choice for the room, and definitely NOT for a rental space! It will look lovely with a round rug and a table. I do think that with the formality of the receiving room, the settee would be against the far wall and the chairs on either side of it. I know you don’t want to block the gorgeous radiator, but the set is delicate enough that it will still be seen, especially as people enter the room. Another benefit is that there is no bulky furniture blocking the heat from said radiator. But, you will need to make certain that the back with the beautiful inlay is never too close to said radiator or the inlay will dry, crack and fall out. As usual, you have exquisite taste. (I personally hated that bulky sofa in that room, but know that it fits your style, so never said anything.) From a photo, the sconces are not overpowering. It may look different in person, of course.
Love the furniture set,all three pieces are perfect with the curve of the room and the grand sconces that balance the outstanding window wall. I close my eyes and see your future design plan of perfect balance.
and that’s a perfect receiving set since they are much less comfortable than your plush more modern sofa. That way guests won’t linger and don’t need to be entertained for as long 🙂
Once you have the window curtains up, the sconces will not look so big. Especially if you have some peacock feathers on the radiator’s marble shelf. This set is perfect and your choice of not putting in a room that the public uses is a good idea. These pieces you have envied so much are now yours and you will want to keep them as nice as possible, that is without guests using them. The sconces look like they were made to go with the delicate furniture, bravo!
The set looks great, Ross. People coming in to the hall will see the room, not just the furniture. Well done.
A side question; what do you use to strip the paint from your radiators? I am getting ready to order a small sandblasting tool that, if the ads are accurate, will take the paint off quickly and with no more mess than necessary. I do not allow heat guns around my house, and the infrared stripper which makes short work of painted wood does not work on cast iron. I have breathing issues, and the chemical strippers make me wheezy, so…looking for an alternative to having the radiators unhooked and taken off site.
BTW, my great-grandmother had a set very much like yours, it even had the inlaid flowers; she received it from her parents as a wedding gift in February 1911.
Will you wallpaper the receiving room walls? I was watching a television show about how the old wallpaper in the early 1900s had arsenic to keep the colors a vivid as possible, but this paper made the home owners sick. Will you be looking for recreation wall paper to look like original the original wallpaper?
I love the furniture in receiving area! I also like the idea of a sleeper sofa in sewing room. Marble top on radiator in receiving area is so pretty! I love the idea of round rug and table in middle of receiving area. I think after Austrian window treatments, rug and table it will be lovely!
Oooh….I get your dilemma. 1st off, I love the set! But I do love it in the sewing room better too, but I dont want people sitting on it either! I had a delicate settee in my foyer and my friends 6’6″ husband would come in and just FLOP down on it! I know I visibly cringed everytime just waiting for it to crash into smithereens! Is the radiator really green in the receiving room? And I love the upholstery just the way it is. I too think the new set looks lost in the receiving room. Maybe use it in the grand entrance hall near the fireplace in a little vignette there? Pretty but avoiding the wear and tear of use by the public?
When I read that Ross had the set in the Sewing Room, I shuddered in horror. People today are so much taller and heavier than in the 1800s — it would take only one good FLOP and that gorgeous set would be matchsticks. Much, much better in the receiving room.
But now I’m exhausted from reading how many times you went from second floor to basement, Ross. You must have really good knee joints still…
Another idea…for the receiving room. I think the curved couch definitely needs to go as you have already mentioned. I feel like 2 or more high backed chairs around a center round table would be better in that space because of the soaring ceiling height. Something to visually “fill” the vertical space.
You vision will be stunning however I hope you add some plants to soften the receiving room. Am I correct that the Victorians considered it a status symbol to have plants in formal rooms as well as in a solarium?
I can’t believe nobody has asked this yet, but what happened to the curved sofa that was moved out of the receiving room? Perhaps it would work directly upstairs in the round bedroom?
Now hold on just a darn minute…
I seem to remember a few months back that you made some, um…”changes” to the receiving room, in that you removed the ceiling fixture – box and all, and that you wired for sconces…where there had previously been none.
You installed those gigantic Hollywood regency “things” so as not to obfuscate this narrative business you’re always prattling on about.
Are you giving me instructions to defy the narrative, finally?!
At least if you choose to install a closer-to-period set here, they don’t have to swivel…
My train of thought is that the parlor set you’ve got (which is a knockout, by the way!) is more than likely closer to 1905-10 than 1894. Even still, it suits the architecture quite well. We could perhaps pursue lighting of a similar vintage, in an effort to compliment the furniture?
Cody! Golly!
I can assure you that the all-important historical narrative is alive and well at the Cross House!!!!!!!!
The sconces I installed are obviously not 1890s gas/electric sconces. Hence, no confusion.
They are akin to the five 1970s Hollywood-Regency pendants hanging in the library. They, too, are obviously not 1890s! Hence, no confusion.
And, I would NOT replace the current Receiving Room sconces with 1890s gas/electric sconces as THAT would confuse the historical narrative! Because the room did not have sconces!
Moving on, yes, I kinda think the seating set is more circa-1910 than 1890s. But, I’m not sure.
Also…
Please don’t scrap that velvet upholstery. Or, at the very least, cover OVER it. It looks to be original, and in very nice shape.
I don’t think that it will all look lost once the room is completely furnished. With some pattern/color on the walls, drapes that don’t completely cover the windows, and a few sparing Knick-knacks, like you mentioned, it will all tie up quite nicely. Im also picturing a c.1910ish bridge lamp with a dramatic fringe shade.
I’m LIVING for the completion of this room. A knockout-to-be, no doubt.
That seat set is just beautiful. What’s real nice is the carving and inlay and the restraint.
Have you thought about buying an Eastern-style table or chair? They come up in the UK and on eBay quite regularly; not so sure about in America. Some are expensive but some not so.
I think that wonderful round Receiving area would lend itself to one and add an exotic touch with those chairs and peacock feathers.
These are some more expensive types. One good one would look good.
The inlaid set is beautiful, I kind of like the upholstery. The sconces are long, but not massive, I think they go well with the set. I agree with Mirriam, the love seat would look better in the middle (in front of radiator, but not too close) with a chair flanking each side of the love seat. With a round rug and table, the room will look fantastic.
Oh the inlay! The velvet! Beautiful. I agree with Miriam about the furniture arrangement though. The settee would look best facing the door, flanked by the chairs. The right curtains could really complete this space. Plus a round rug? Genius.
Personally, I think the set is beautiful as it is. If you place a skirted table in the middle, wouldn’t it be blocking much of the view to the radiator? Maybe consider a shorter cloth with longer fringe? I enjoy following your process and progress on your beautiful home.
Looks like teens/early ’20s to me. Earlier pieces would have had casters on the front legs only. And there is just a hint of decadent Art Nouveau coupled with the staid Sheraton legs for the less adventurous. The inlay certainly looks Italian, as Joshua Crow mentioned.
I’m a fan of the big comfy couch. There’s no curling up with a book on those spiky things. But I guess in a reception parlor you may not want people to linger around longer! Make them uncomfortable and they won’t overstay their welcome!
Oh my, I came across your blog 3 days ago whilst researching Lincrusta and am totally hooked! I have literally sat at my laptop and binge read your whole blog from start to finish. I too own a house built in 1894 but my home is in the County of Devon in the UK and whilst a beautiful home compares in no way with yours. It’s just stunning! We have been in our home now for 23 years and I have loved being it’s custodian restoring life back into it to make sure it carries on for future generations. I can;t wait to read more posts and tag along vicariously with your journey. And I am also an advocate of baby steps and sooooo wish I could visit for a tour but sadly I think it unlikely.
Very nice to meet you, Rachel!
My guess is 1910s-20s. Could be a bit earlier as that style was starting to crop up around the turn of the century but it only became popular and widely availlable later. Gorgeous set however and looks perfect there. I think when furnishing an old house it is a mistake to focus entirely on its year of construction anyways as it continued to evolve ever since, even within the hands of its original owners.
oOooo, I love seeing oval inlays in a round roooOoom!!
What a beautiful set, and I think it is so much more at home in the receiving room then upstairs. I can’t imagine anyone ever spent that much time in a receiving room, you were either shown into the drawing room or show out the door. At any rate, the furniture will see less use than it would upstairs. Round rug and round table sound awesome, but, for some reason, I think the room is crying out for some potted palms in majolica jardinieres on matching or brass stands. Or maybe, instead of the center table and carpet, a faux arctic bearskin rug, complete with head! The mind whirls!