The Sunday porch: Sagamore Hill

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T. Roosevelt porch, Library of CongressThe porch of President Theodore Roosevelt’s country home, Sagamore Hill, ca. 1905, photographer unknown, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (both photos here).

The rug was a mountain lion.

Roosevelt purchased the land in Oyster Bay, New York, in the early 1880s and began planning the Queen Anne house with his first wife, Alice. But she died in 1884, and it was second wife Edith who moved into the newly completed home two years later.

Sagamore Hill, ca. 1905, Library of Congress

Sagamore Hill was their family’s primary residence, except from 1901 to 1909, when it was known as the “Summer White House.”

Theodore died there in 1919, as did Edith in 1948.  The family continued to own it until the 1950s, when it was passed to the Theodore Roosevelt Association and later to the National Park Service.

The house reopens to the public today, after being closed for three and a half years for renovation.

Streifzug 3: on high

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The south tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, by enclos*ure.We were up there.

IMG_4358Looking down here.

Last week, we were in Vienna and climbed the south tower of St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

My husband loves climbing these high towers.  I do not — being both a little afraid of heights and a little claustrophobic. However, lured by the promise of a great view, I almost always follow him up. And I always think, after about 30 steps, how this is absolutely the last tower I will ever climb. . . at least this year (I’ve climbed two this year). . . at least in this city.

The view from the watch room (343 steps up) was tremendous.  A night watchman actually occupied the room until 1955.  If he saw a fire in the city, he would ring the tower bells.

IMG_4355Looking southeast, I spotted this pretty courtyard garden and took a few pictures.

After the climb down, we went around the corner, looking for the Mozart House (Mozarthaus).

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We went through a passageway off Singerstraße and found ourselves in the same courtyard seen from above.

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It was not the Mozart House, but the seat of the Grand Master of the Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary’s Hospital in Jerusalem (or Deutscher Orden).

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The Order has been associated with this site since 1204. The present building dates from the second half of the 18th century.

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Mozart did briefly live on the premises from March to May 1781 — and Johannes Brahms from 1863 to 1865.

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From one window on the courtyard, you can get a peek into the Sala Terrena, a frescoed room next to the chapel and the oldest concert hall in Vienna.

Mozart played there, and it now hosts the Mozart Ensemble Wien several days a week.

(Streifzug means ‘foray,’ ‘ brief survey,’ or ‘ramble.’)

 

Streifzug 2: blooming

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Yesterday evening about 7 p.m.
Yesterday evening about 7 p.m.

The cut-your-own sunflowers that I photographed last week are now blooming.

"Only paid-for flowers make friends." A sonnenblume is a sunflower.
“Only paid-for flowers make friends/joy.” A Sonnenblume is a sunflower.
The row of purple blooms has faded.
The row of purple blooms has faded.
Late summer sunflowers?  or maybe zinnias?
In the middle, late summer sunflowers?  or maybe zinnias?

(Streifzug means ‘foray,’ ‘ brief survey,’ or ‘ramble.’)

Like every flower, she has a little
theory, and what she thinks
is up. . . .

— Frank Steele, from “Sunflower“

Life in gardens: standing watch

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Hoeing garden w:music, Library of Congress“W. D. Terrell in garden with radio,” probably in the Washington, D.C., area, July 7, 1926, by National Photo Company, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Mr. Terrell was Chief of Inspection Service of Radio at the U.S. Department of Commerce during the 1920s.

Just as Ariel, in the fables of the Middle Ages, was a spirit guardian of the air, so in this day of wireless, the Radio Inspector, a modern Ariel, stands a silent watch over the ether. But though he may be silent and, indeed, an angel, he is far from a fable, as those who attempt to dispute his wavemeter soon find out.

— from “Guiding the Good Ship Radio,” an October 1925 interview with Terrell in Radio Broadcast magazine

The Sunday porch: shadows

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Lattice on 1935 Ala. porch, Library of CongressFirst floor porch of the Kenneworth-Moffatt House, Montgomery, Alabama, October 1935, by W. N. Manning for an Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Lattice Ala. porch, upstairs, Library of CongressSecond-floor porch of the Kenneworth-Moffatt House, Montgomery, Alabama, October 1935, by W. N. Manning.

Lattice on Ala. porch, full view, Library of CongressFront view of the Kenneworth-Moffatt House, Montgomery, Alabama, April 1934, by W. N. Manning.

The building — constructed in 1855 — is now called the Gerald-Dowdell House and houses a law office. A recent view on Google Maps is here.