Wow!

Hello from beautiful Sycamore, Illinois!

We all arrived safely and are enjoying our vacation. The place we are staying in is "The Paper Doll House" in Sycamore. The Paper Doll House is a scrapbooking-oriented bed and breakfast set in a quaint, historically appointed victorian-style home. The Paper Doll House was built in 1893 by Charles O. Boynton as a wedding gift for his daughter, and her husband-to-be, Frederick B. Townsend.

Many of the intricate details in this home point to the fact that this was a wedding gift. There are six fireplaces in the home, and each spectacularly crafted mantelpiece has something symbolic of marriage.

In the dining room are two mantels, one being an actual fireplace, on the outside wall. The details are absolutely amazing in these! They both have a carved rose motif on them and the one on the inside wall has a dragon on each side. The picture on the left is a close-up of the detail of one of the fireplace mantels.

The fireplace shown on the right is in the front parlour of the home. It has the atypical rose motif, along with cherubs on the brass fittings around the fireplace itself. All of the woodwork in the home is original and is in pristine shape.

Later, I will post about some of the individual rooms in the home, such as the Rose Room and the Master Bedroom.

To all y'all at the office - hope you're having a fabulous Thursday!