lambo13
Well-known member
All -
I finally made my trip to my grandpa's house to dig through his tool barn. In this thread here I got a ton of great input from people on types and brands of tools I should be on the look out for.
Overall the trip was a great success because I got to see my grandpa, although the tools I brought back weren't exactly what I was hoping for.
Left early this AM from Virginia Beach headed north to the Northern Neck of Virginia. If I had stopped at every classic car for sale on the side of the road or peeking out of people's car ports, I'd never have made it to my grandpa's.
Driving through the Northern Neck the other thing you notice is all of the water. There are numerous inlets to the Chesapeake Bay scattered throughout.
Here is a blurry pic from one of many bridges I crossed:
Here is the entrance to Sunnyside.
I grew up going here at least once year and loved it. Everything seems much 'smaller' now when I visit, but I still get that sense of wonder as I walk around. It is registered in the National Register of Historic Places not only because of its age, but because of how close to original it still is. It is basically unchanged from before the Civil War.
The driveway up to the house.
There is a wagon circle in front of the house. In the circle used to be a garden maze with a hidden cherub fountain in the center. I remember being a little kid and chasing my brother around and getting lost.
I’ve learned a lot more chatting with my mom and grandpa today. Some of the things I mentioned in my previous post were incorrect. Feel free to skip this post and go to the tools in the next post, but I thought I’d write this down if only for my own sake.
Here is the main house.
The house, barn, corn crib, carriage house, smokehouse and dairy house were built in around 1820 or 1830. The ‘guest cottage’ came a few years later. I say “guest” because it was originally used as living quarters for slaves/servants.
This shows the path from the front of the main house down past the white guest house, then the carriage house, corn crib, and barn in the very far distance.
And another pic of the three barns.
The cottage served as the ‘summer kitchen’ and they’d walk the cobblestone path to the mudroom entrance in the back of the main house, whistling as they walked so that the homeowners knew they weren’t eating the food.
I don’t have pics of it, but there is also a small cemetery on the property where one of the previous owners, his wife, and his children are buried. His youngest daughter was named Genevieve and died when she was 9 (if I remember correctly).
My grandmother used to swear that Genevieve and her mom still ‘haunted’ Sunnyside, though she said they were friendly ghosts. Before she passed two years ago, she’d tell us how she would always see floating, glowing eyes move throughout the house, hear footsteps and doors opening and closing, and even on several occasions seeing the word ‘Genevieve’ written in the morning dew on the kitchen window (which is right next to the cemetery).
My grandpa kept his tools in the carriage house but it seems that he gave away or sold his tools as he sold his collection unfortunately. Some of the cars he restored included a 1967 Austin Healey Sprite MKIV, a VW Bug, a Peugeot station wagon (not sure of the year or model, just remember climbing in the back with it’s wood bed and brass fittings), a 1955 Jaguar XK140, Lincoln Continental convertible with suicide doors (used in Northumberland Homecoming parades), a couple Rover sedans and a 1947 Chevy ½ ton (just like my ’53!) among many others.
Here is the corn crib, and yes, it is filled with old pieces of dried out corn.
And here is the barn at the farthest end of the property. The Austin Healey Sprite used to live under there until some guy noticed it from the road and bought it from my grandpa.
As I walked inside the barn a cat came screaming out and scared the sh*t out of me. I found one of his buddies who didn’t make it.
Here are two pics of the inside of the carriage house.
That rounds out the buildings at Sunnyside, so now on to the tools!
I finally made my trip to my grandpa's house to dig through his tool barn. In this thread here I got a ton of great input from people on types and brands of tools I should be on the look out for.
Overall the trip was a great success because I got to see my grandpa, although the tools I brought back weren't exactly what I was hoping for.
Left early this AM from Virginia Beach headed north to the Northern Neck of Virginia. If I had stopped at every classic car for sale on the side of the road or peeking out of people's car ports, I'd never have made it to my grandpa's.
Driving through the Northern Neck the other thing you notice is all of the water. There are numerous inlets to the Chesapeake Bay scattered throughout.
Here is a blurry pic from one of many bridges I crossed:
Here is the entrance to Sunnyside.
I grew up going here at least once year and loved it. Everything seems much 'smaller' now when I visit, but I still get that sense of wonder as I walk around. It is registered in the National Register of Historic Places not only because of its age, but because of how close to original it still is. It is basically unchanged from before the Civil War.
The driveway up to the house.
There is a wagon circle in front of the house. In the circle used to be a garden maze with a hidden cherub fountain in the center. I remember being a little kid and chasing my brother around and getting lost.
I’ve learned a lot more chatting with my mom and grandpa today. Some of the things I mentioned in my previous post were incorrect. Feel free to skip this post and go to the tools in the next post, but I thought I’d write this down if only for my own sake.
Here is the main house.
The house, barn, corn crib, carriage house, smokehouse and dairy house were built in around 1820 or 1830. The ‘guest cottage’ came a few years later. I say “guest” because it was originally used as living quarters for slaves/servants.
This shows the path from the front of the main house down past the white guest house, then the carriage house, corn crib, and barn in the very far distance.
And another pic of the three barns.
The cottage served as the ‘summer kitchen’ and they’d walk the cobblestone path to the mudroom entrance in the back of the main house, whistling as they walked so that the homeowners knew they weren’t eating the food.
I don’t have pics of it, but there is also a small cemetery on the property where one of the previous owners, his wife, and his children are buried. His youngest daughter was named Genevieve and died when she was 9 (if I remember correctly).
My grandmother used to swear that Genevieve and her mom still ‘haunted’ Sunnyside, though she said they were friendly ghosts. Before she passed two years ago, she’d tell us how she would always see floating, glowing eyes move throughout the house, hear footsteps and doors opening and closing, and even on several occasions seeing the word ‘Genevieve’ written in the morning dew on the kitchen window (which is right next to the cemetery).
My grandpa kept his tools in the carriage house but it seems that he gave away or sold his tools as he sold his collection unfortunately. Some of the cars he restored included a 1967 Austin Healey Sprite MKIV, a VW Bug, a Peugeot station wagon (not sure of the year or model, just remember climbing in the back with it’s wood bed and brass fittings), a 1955 Jaguar XK140, Lincoln Continental convertible with suicide doors (used in Northumberland Homecoming parades), a couple Rover sedans and a 1947 Chevy ½ ton (just like my ’53!) among many others.
Here is the corn crib, and yes, it is filled with old pieces of dried out corn.
And here is the barn at the farthest end of the property. The Austin Healey Sprite used to live under there until some guy noticed it from the road and bought it from my grandpa.
As I walked inside the barn a cat came screaming out and scared the sh*t out of me. I found one of his buddies who didn’t make it.
Here are two pics of the inside of the carriage house.
That rounds out the buildings at Sunnyside, so now on to the tools!
