The Grandparents' House
One of the things I loved best about visiting my grandparents was their home. It may not be the most minimal or the most organized of places, but they have a lot of really excellent stuff. The location is also fantastic. After a long, winding drive up a mostly brown and grey canyon, you come across a little oasis of green- a golf course, a campsite, and a bridge crossing a little creek. It's rare to find places like this in Utah, unless you're looking for them. My grandparents were, and they bought the property long before they were able to build. Their house is fairly new; built in the past 10 years or so.
The yard and exterior are gorgeous. (Click on photos for larger versions)
My grandma collects garden frogs, accidentally- she bought a few of them, and now people give them to her. As a result, the porch/deck/portico/stoop/veranda/lanai has a lot of personality and charm.
The interior is just as rich in color and rustic detail. I dislike the word "rustic" in general, but it's pretty appropriate for this house.
Two of the major tenants of the house are these bison heads (Frank and George). In Utah, at least, you're allowed to hunt one bison in your lifetime. My grandparents have bagged one each. They've also shot an elk apiece, but I don't have photos of those heads. I'm not a fan of hunting, but I'm not going to object to my grandparents going about it in a legal sort of way.
I also took a few (very poor) shots of my room while I was there.
It's very difficult to see in these shots, but the furnishings in the room were gorgeous, feminine antiques. On the wall opposite the bed hung a prizewinning quilt that my great-grandmother made in the 1940's, with a floral pattern similar to that on the stained-glass lamps. Also in the room were an old television with a Singer sewing machine base as a stand, wicker chairs, and a few original Norman Rockwell magazine covers. I only wish I had taken some more pictures! You can't even see the wonderful vintage paper dolls in the picture I DID take!
I'll be glad to be down in Utah, actually- hopefully at the next opportunity I'll be able to take interior shots of my Grandpa's other home in another area of Utah. It's a historical site called the Joseph Wall Gristmill, built at the end of the 19th century. I won a Reading Rainbow book contest at the age of 5 with a story about this place. I got a signed certificate from LeVar Burton and everything!
Ah, Reading Rainbow. Good times.