Stained wood beam. |
Detail on doors. |
The Spanish Style Colonial Revival home he loved was designed by famed architect Arthur Kelly. Just off the top of your head you wouldn't see this place and know it though. Arthur Kelly also designed the Playboy Mansion. Both buildings are completely different styles but each with an impeccable attention to the smallest detail. The wood beams above were stained with the tiny details and each door had an Indian picture that each told its own story. The tiny details were incredible.
Will Rogers and Charlie Russell |
Hart was loved by many people. His friends would often give him art designed for or of him and he got quite a collection. He didn't want his collection broken up and had that put in his will. There is a large collection of bronze statues, paintings, artifacts and pictures to look at as you walk through listening to the tour.
Gift for Mr Hart from Will Rogers |
As soon as the hospital notified staff of his death the house was locked up tight. Everything was kept as close as possible to how it was right down to a deeply yellowed roll of toilet paper still resting in his bathroom. I'm not sure all the ins and outs of it but his son decided to donate everything to the NHMLA collection of museums and now it is here for us to enjoy. I got the feeling that it wasn't an uncontested donation but I don't have anything to base that on beyond the tone and body language of the tour guide.
The home is loaded with things that step you back in time. There was an old swim suit placed on a bed. We were told to guess what it was. It is a far cry from the suits we wear today. If you really asked me it looks itchy but I'm guessing we might have been thicker skinned back then in a lot of different ways.
Guess who this is a picture of!? I looked and looked and couldn't make sense of it. In the bottom of this photo is the scribbled words: From Wyatt Earp to his friend William Hart, Oct 8, 1923. I remember the stories about a rough and rugged man in the west and didn't see it in this calm photo here. Wyatt Earp tried to persuade his good friend, Mr. Hart, to make a movie about his life and set all the stories straight. The movie never came to be though.
Happy trails and Merry Christmas.
❤ Misty
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