This evening I met Mom and Dad at a really cool house in New Richmond--the home of the late artist Margaret Wenstrup. Everything But the House, a local auction site had the contents of the house up for auction, and I won a bookcase full of cookbooks, a couple of shelves of pottery, and two folk art canes. Dad bought a bunch of popsicle stick lamps and some other items I didn't see.

The house itself was really cool; back a very long and twisty driveway and perched upon a hill. There was an artist studio, of course, and plenty of light and beautiful scenery--the house and its 33.6 acres are for sale, too.

If I lived there, I'd never want to leave.

Now, granted, the house needs some work; the roof leaks in a couple of spots and it really needs to be aired out--a lot. The vintage 50s kitchen--top of the line back then--was rather cool. I think I'd have to try to fix it up if it were my house. (There are actually two kitchens in the house.) However, it was very, very cool. And all those woods! *sigh* (way too expensive, though!)

The funny thing is that while looking through the cookbooks (which are rather musty; they really need to be aired out but thankfully that isn't hard to do) I've found quite a few cool things. Handwritten recipes, shared recipes, and a signed copy of The Joy of Cooking. Now, granted, the copy I have is in very bad condition--I'd say not even Fair--but even so. It was obviously well-used and well-loved.

In fact, I have another copy of The Joy of Cooking, too; obviously one of Mrs. Wenstrup's friends (actually the other famous artist who lives in Georgetown)--noticed her copy was getting a little beaten up and bought her a new one. And I have the back cover of an even older edition, too; this was probably not her first copy.

I also have a signed copy of The Librarian's Cookbook, which lists for a decent price as well. (Grey, you would probably like this cookbook.) Among other things. It's quite obvious she collected cookbooks, because a lot of them are those spiral-bound church cookbooks.

The ones that were well-used are also full of ephemera, like her daughter's social security # (written on the back cover of The Joy of Cooking--obviously I'd cross it out if I do sell that book), snipped recipes from newspapers, and bookmarks from bookstores in Cincinnati that no longer exist.

The pottery I bought included a Bybee bean pot with three bowls--dated 1967, and two Roseville RRP footed something-or-others. They look like footed bean pots, but they weren't made for lids and that doesn't make sense (because the bottoms aren't smooth; the feet are in evidence if that makes sense.) Planters? They are something, at least. I also got two Roseville RRP mugs, two 1pt. stoneware jars, and a small pottery pitcher that looks like it should be marked, but it isn't.

The only other items I bought were two canes--one has marbles set in the shaft and is signed by the maker, and the other is three different types of wood with a pistol grip. They are both very nice.

I'll be spending the next few weeks de-mustifying the books and researching the Bybee pottery, Roseville pottery, and the canes. Some of it will end up at Burlington or on ebay, I'm sure. Some I may keep. I haven't decided about The Joy of Cooking, yet. We'll see.

And I have a copy of this, too. Yikes!

Comments

Popular Posts