Due to blogger's ass-backwards way of uploading photos, this post is going to be a mess of out-of order pictures, but it's not my fault!
Here's a reminder that Vientiane is a delicious, cheap place to get takeout for a cozy dinner at home!
Those who are on the Poinsettia list knew about this bonkers estate sale at one of the grand mansions on V btwn 21st and 22nd. I took some so-so pictures. Does anyone have a flickr set that's better? This is one of the grand homes of Sac, up on Poverty Ridge, and it is crumbling into disrepair. It was creepy, it was depressing to paw through the lady's stuff, it was jaw dropping. Here's the back of the house.
The backyard with the carriage house on the left. That's a boiler part.
Now we jump to the awesome show friday at West Capitol Bowl. Thee Makeout Party were so fucking great! Photobooth was, too, but I didn't get any good pictures of them.
The Box Elders: also great. Lots of eye candy for the ladies.
See what I mean?
Now, interior of the house. Look at that crazy lampshade! How old is that, Ella?
The backyard of the house.
I got a romertopf cookbook at the estate sale.
And then the next day, at the antique sale under the freeway, I got a romertopf. Haven't used it yet. I'm skeptical about all the claims the cookbook makes, but we'll see. It feels really fragile and I predict I will break it and burn myself.
Here's a stylish lady in the cookbook, cleaning her romertopf. Hey-oh!
That "ask me to ask you" button from ye olde antique faire was really making me laugh. I should have bought it!
More backyard of the house.
Did you get a chance to see the ballroom (ex-swimming pool) in the basement? There was another fireplace down there. That house was amazing. I'd be thrilled just to live in the garage. I wonder if Mark Miller has been in there.
ReplyDeleteno, I think Katy was too busy to offer to show it. The place was swarming with peeps
ReplyDeleteDude, that place ripped. It haunted me all weekend. smitty, did you get into the basement?
ReplyDelete-Ed C.
thank you!
ReplyDeletexoxoxoxoxoxo,
thee makeout party!
Yeah, Katy didn't have time but she pointed me and Amanda to someone who could sneak us in.
ReplyDeleteThe front room to the left with the crazy ceiling would look a lot better with a half dozen old motorcycles in it.
If anyone (Katy?) could explain why it was foreclosed, I would love to hear the story.
ewwww, i did see that box elder's junk!! i thought i had just imagined it! great show.--kk
ReplyDeleteBut did anybody buy any STUFF there? Arrgh! Was it expensive? This was a particularly painful weekend for me, not being anywhere near this sale. Instead I cleaned up somebody else's barf. From my sofa and persian rug. And it rained the whole weekend too. Cry for me. Hecka- from that photo of the lantern I'm gonna say Japanese, turn of the century, leaning towards late 1880's.
ReplyDelete-Ella
I was told that the owner had borrowed against the value of the house. So she needed to sell to pay off what she owed.
ReplyDeleteMy sister went yesterday (bought some of the chairs in the sun room) and commented that it could end up like Joan Didion's old house. Some fancy pants lawyer from SF paid $$$ for it.
I am so haunted by the buddah sconces in the ballroom covering the former pool. And my camera died so I didn't get any pics. I am guessing that the ballroom was updated in the 20s, wasn't Asian decor in vogue in the 20s?
ReplyDeleteI think Katy took a bunch of pics.
I hope the house isn't gutted by the new owner.
gbomb
ella-you know I am too cheap to buy stuff like that. i got a cat pillow.
ReplyDeleteThe lawyer that bought the gorgeous Didion mansion is "modernizing" the kitchen. I hope that doesn't mean stainless steel and granite countertops but I fear it does.
ReplyDelete-H Conway Esq
I haven't worked in a year so I didn't buy anything. I took a swig of her whiskey since emjay, my old roommate, did the same. It was mostly polished off, probably from 40 years ago. Speaking of, where's the bottle of 1970 whiskey Jacqueline gave me? If Skipper or Emjay drank that unopened bottle, I'll toss their W2s. I hope I packed it away somewhere.
ReplyDeleteWasn't it the pool was covered and the ballroom installed around 1930? They moved out from New York and furnished the house with Sothebys stuff and then redecorated in the 30s from some fancy-pants place in SF.
Someone who actually knows should post. Katy!!!!
That woman had so much stuff crammed in there. I especially liked the time warp medicine cabinets. I don't know the woman's exact link to the original owner (daughter?)but it was owned by Adolph Scheld, son of Philip Scheld-49er, entrepeneur and proprietor of the Sacramento Brewery (now the BIBA BUILDING)and president of the Sacramento Bank, among other things. He traind Adolph to run the family businesses. The Scheld's were loaded, as can be readily seen.
ReplyDelete-Ed C.
verification word: whegal (john whegal?)
I think maybe her husband was the son? I saw letters addressed to Scheld.
ReplyDeleteMy guess was that the lady (or her husband) inherited most of the nice stuff, rather than being the collectors of it.
Hey, I have a romertopf and had no idea what it was. I also have no idea how to cook with it so it just sits in my cupboard. Please post recipes and inspire me, although if I actually use mine I predict that I will break it, too.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone could please find me a big old house that I can afford I promise not to put granite anything in it. That'd be swell.
I'll probably try a chicken soon, so I'll let you know. I got a really giant one, it's for like 13-15 pounds of meat.
ReplyDeletethe Bee had some good weekend food coverage. Blair Robertson gave a review to Tucos that agrees with what I think about the place. And there's an article about Paragary. How come I never knew there was a 70s fern bar in Sac called Lord Beaverbrooks?
ReplyDeleteThey used to do punk rock shows at Lord Beaverbrooks. I think I've got a Reltones flier around for one of them.
ReplyDeleteMark Miller (of course) has plenty of photos of the house. Hopefully he'll put them up online.
the bee review of tucos is indeed spot on, although i would have liked some discussion of the small plates instead of just entrees. one of the things that is great about tucos is you can make a relatively affordable but delicious and inspiring meal out of some cheese and small plates shared with friends.
ReplyDeleteher gripes about the service are absolutely correct. it wasn't always that way. the first couple years it was open the service was friendly and attentive without being overbearing. now, the servers do indeed seem to actually forget what their job is. when dp and i went their for new years we suffered a number of really horrible service faux pas' that included being in the restaurant waiting for a check at midnight on a 9:30 seating. it frustrates me so much, as this is definitely the best place to eat in davis and probably my favorite in the area overall.
I didn't catch the exact relation, but one of the peeps working the sale on Friday knew the whole history of the family & the house. Maybe he was a friend of Katy's dad? From what I was told while hanging out in back with him & Zeph, Gumps custom made all of the furniture sometime around the turn of the century.
ReplyDeleteIf I told my sister about the Didion house getting a "modern" kitchen, she'd probably start crying or something. There are already enough old houses in downtown where somebody decided in 1972 do throw in something "modern" like woodgrain cabinets or an avocado green countertop. There's a couple horrible details in the Heilbron Mansion from when the Bank of Sacramento took it over.
Is everyone else just politely ignoring the visible kibble and/or bits in the second picture of the Box Elders or is that what Heckasac meant by "eye candy"?
ReplyDeleteWell, I wouldn't narrow my definition of eye candy down to just that, but that's certainly included.
ReplyDeleteI dug through some of the clothing in the master bedroom walk in closet and came away with some incredible brown leather 3/4 length gloves and a gorgeous scarf, and I only paid $5 for the lot. I saw a tea set with a late 1870s imprint that was so delicate it was like holding a feather.
ReplyDeleteDani
I used to live around the corner from her. She had invested in a horrible pyramid scheme, losing quite a bit of money, and had a much younger boyfriend living with her off and on while he wasn't locked up. She had my daughter and me over for tea a couple of times, chatting with a stuffed animal spider on her shoulder all the while. She and her family moved into the home in 1947. Very eccentric, not the best decision maker, but a lovely woman nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteI wish somebody would buy me that spider. My shoulder is cold and I could use somebody to talk to now and again! -ella
ReplyDelete