A visit to The Mount, Edith Wharton’s home which she built in 1902, serves as a bookend to the end of the fading Victorian era that passed with the Queen one year earlier. That alone makes it a fitting place where she penned The House of Mirth. From her bed in the early mornings she wrote, numbering the pages before dropping them to the floor. Later the amanuensis would retrieve the pages, order them, type them out, and return them later for Edith to edit the draft.
Only a very selective group of visitors were entertained at the Mount. Only two guests would be able to stay the night provided the couples slept in their own rooms. The dining room table allowed for a seating of six people replete with stunning lighting, wall murals, elegant place settings, and dog pillows just under the table where “Teddy’ and her favorite dogs could be fed by Edith under the table from a crystal jar filled with doggie biscuits (A lady always ahead of the curve!)
Her interior decorating and architectural prowess was well established before her literary genius and it is in evidence from the grounds to the house. Her fanatical sense of symmetry led to walls that are doors and doors that are walls, shutters with no windows, and perfectly aligned gardens.
Her library, which is the only darkly decorated room in the house, was a recreation of the library of her loving father who allowed her full access to in order to augment her blossoming intellect. Within it is housed a priceless collection of 2,700 volumes of her hand annotated books!
Teddy’s bipolar(?) condition worsened and eventually led to their separation and divorce. As a result Edith only lived at The Mount for 10 years before she moved to France never to return to live in America.
We headed on to our campground for the night, October Mountain, and David rode up to retrieve us firewood for a cozy campfire that evening.
One Response
That’s a big house. I would get lost in it. Looks like the bikes are getting good use