We Pause Our Travels to Iceland for this Interlude

One Sunday, Ed and I took a trip up to Connecticut to visit the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion. Although it would fit into the Gilded Age, the L-M Mansion predates the Newport Homes by nearly 50 years.  It was built by Railroad Baron James Lockwood, who increased his fortunes during the Civil War.

During the Civil War, wealthy Mr. Lockwood was sent by the Union government (aka Northern States) to raise money in Europe. He was proficient in this. And, the practice at the time meant that he got a percentage of all he raised (FYI- I proposed Ed use this template when he raised nearly a Billion dollars for the Roof and he ignored me :-).

Started in 1964, with a score of workers, the house was finished by 1868 and the family moved. It was (and is) a beautiful home. Used over a century later as the Stepford Wives home in the movie.

And here comes the rivalry with one Cornelius Vanderbilt. Definitely the wrong man to get into a rivalry with. Lockwood lost money on a gold crash, and had to mortgage his $3 Million home (cost IN 1868). He got a $270,000 mortgage due $90,000 a year. Lockwood made the first two payments, but then he died. His window tried auctions and various sales but she could not raise the cash, So Vanderbilt kicked her out! (The window and her children lived in various family houses until they went out West with an Aunt, who through luck and marriage, ended up with her own fortune in California (Riverside).)

Anywho, Vanderbilt sells it to the Mathews family for the last $90,00 payment. This father also dies less than 2 years later, but the family stays in the house. The last child lives in those until she passes late in 60s. So in 1938, the house is abandoned.

The city of Norwalk takes over the house (I think in the 1960s) and uses it to store files, store city equipment. In the 1970s, the city plans to demolish it, but civic protest and funds purchase it for preservation. 

The images fro the tour (and my pictures) are a mix of Lockwood and Mathews era furniture. Most of the house features I took pictures of are original Lockwood details.

The roof is the original painting scheme.  It is the 8 sided star of Bethlehem (I guess that was the period's idea) and the Orthodox Catholic Cross.

The top part of the lamp is gas fueled  system. 

The lower lamp is when the home was electrified.

The wall paper is the original design(and some original wall paper).
In restoring this, they contacted the same French production house to reproduce it.

This etched panel sits between the music room and the central hall.

The image is of Pomona, which was a muse originally and not a crappy little city

 on the way to Palm Springs. You can see the border is carved wood with various musical instruments.

Finally, this is the painted ceiling and walls of a small octagonal room, used by women for cards. 

Mr. Lockwood was also very much into cleanliness, after seeing how the sick from the war suffered in dirt (this was before "germs" and bacteria were known). So there were also many exhibits like th eonr below (read the label!).

The brown leather thing at the bottom was meant to help hold up your stomach during pregnancy. The weird ass bottle on the right was a baby bottle. But they couldn't / didn't clean the rubber nipple and it got infected and many babies died before we got better at this.

That round metal black thing in the mid-right? That is a "nipple shield" for lactating women. When they wanted to appear in public!  Yikes. It totally sucked to be a woman (medically) for a long long long time.