When we moved into this house, I can remember my mom being here for the first time walking around in bliss looking through every room. She was so excited for us. She has the same love for old homes like I do. I believe I may have inherited this obsession from her. My dad and her restored a 1912 farmhouse as I was growing up. It’s the only house we ever lived in. Lucky for me we never jumped around or moved. It was their first house purchase some 30 years ago and they are still there.
Since my mother has such a love for old homes and things like I do, she’s always helping me acquire amazing antiques and things for our home. One being our dining room table.
The table that is now in our dining room is absolutely incredible. The wood detail on the side of it is just insane.
I had a really cool great uncle that lived on a farm not far from here his entire life. It was his parents farm (which would make it my great great grandparents.) I can remember going here as a little girl and exploring this old farm. It had all the barns and outbuildings still intact. It was a real farm that still operated. The house itself was in pretty rough shape but still cool. It had a beautiful stain glass window in the living room that i’ll never forget.
My great uncle was a simple man, and never married. He lived alone and was never flashy. I can remember a Thanksgiving held at the farm and he had turkey legs cooking in some broth. I was mortified as a little girl. He probably thought it was funny.
He had two small planes and flew them on Sundays. A red one and a yellow one. I never got to go in them but I know my mom says when she was a little girl they always got plane rides. She spent her summers at this farm.
Since the farm was the home that he grew up in, he ultimately inherited the home when my great great grandparents passed away. I don’t remember them. Maybe they were already gone by the time I was born. Actually wait, never mind. I remember my grandfather being there when I was very young and he was in a wheel chair. That’s the only memory I have. My uncle lived in the home, until he passed away about two years ago. He passed away in his sleep on his “thinking couch” in one of the barns. Thankfully he had a brother who lived close by and he was found quickly. He was such a humble man and I think it’s probably the most peaceful way he could have gone.
Shortly after he left the world for heaven, of course the normal procedures had to take place. My uncle Dons brother (who I suppose is my uncle too but I really don’t know him) was left the family farm. My mom and her siblings were able to go to the farm and take some favorite things that they wanted. My mom definitely had us in mind considering this was all happening right around the time we purchased the victorian. Sue knows how much I appreciate antiques and historic anything. She remembered a beautiful massive dining room table that was there. She asked us if we were interested and of course I was. I’d much rather have a family heirloom table versus the one we had.
Off we went on adventure to the farm. It had been years and years since I was there. This was the first time my husband had ever gone, and we’ve been together almost a decade. My uncle wasn’t a flashy guy, and he really didn’t care much about design or decor. The house was in pretty bad shape and was not taken care of in a very long time. He was a single farmer bachelor. The house was not his first priority. The house was interesting to say the least, and a tad smelly. I didn’t mind the smell that much, it was exciting for me to see what we’d find here.
The only picture I have of the table before is when Travis has it flipped over and is taking the legs off. The table was in ROUGH shape. It was layered with the black thick shellac type goopy stuff. It was gross. The tablecloth that had been on it was literally stuck to the table, because it probably was on there for 50 years. We were able to get the table out in one piece. We didn’t take the chairs that were there because they weren’t the original chairs to the table. They were something more modern and completely not my style. Little did I know how hard it would be to find chairs to match this thing or go with it.
Loading up the goodies. Like father in law like son in law? Same truck. Thank you dad and husband for always going on adventures with mom and me.
We have a family friend who has been restoring furniture for my mom and family for years. Literally probably 25 years he’s been doing things for us. We knew he’d be the man for the job. It is incredible what he does out of his small garage in a back alley. His name is John and he’s a wonderful man. When I was a kid, he always gave me Kit Kats when we visited him. Visiting him meant my mom was bringing him some antique find she salvaged that needed his talents. (I’m telling you the obsession is her fault) We took him the table, and he was thrilled to see it. I can’t imagine the beautiful things he’s saved over the years. There’s gotta be hundreds. Someday I’m gonna ask him if I can hang out with him and learn his skills. Maybe I can become his apprentice.
I believe the table was gone for about 8 weeks. We pressured him a tiny bit to finish it because we were hosting a baptism luncheon for our younger son. Of course we wanted the table finished by then! John was able to pull it off, and it couldn’t be more beautiful. The details in the side of the table couldn’t even be seen when we first saw it. It’s a massive, solid wood oak table. The table is a perfect addition to our Victorian farm house. My mom tells me she had many dinners at this table growing up. I am so thrilled to be able to use it in our home, and create new family memories at it.
The chairs you see here were the first chairs we found to use at this table. But that requires a whole separate blog post. Can you believe the beauty of this table! I don’t know much about it as in where my great grandparents got it, but I am honored for it to be in my home now. John did such a beautiful job restoring it, and it’s the perfect family heirloom that I will continue to keep alive in my home!
8 Comments