Contributed by Maine Historical Society
Description
In 1985, photographer Elijah Cobb photographed the "Yellow House," also known as the Laura E. Richards House, a historic home in Gardiner. Built around 1810, it was famous for its connection to the Pulitzer Prize winning author who lived there for the majority of her writing career.
Cobb's mother and aunt, Rosalind Cobb Wiggins and Laura E. Putnam, authored a series of essay-length labels to accompany his portfolio. The north bedroom photograph essay reads:
"Always a haven for travelers, this room typifies Yellow House hospitality. The desk, placed beside the window so that light comes from the left, was always supplied with pens, ink, paper, stamps, and blotters. Just behind the desk chair is a floor-to-ceiling case of books filled with enticing reading, and another hangs beside the door into the hall containing letters to and from various ancestors (The originals of these are in the Houghton Library.) The bureau drawers were always ready for one’s clothes, should you be making a 'real' visit - as was the tall mahogany wardrobe on its opposite wall. None of the bedrooms had closets, and what is now a tiny lavatory, put in when the Skipper was blind and in his late nineties, had been another window. On top of the desk, where it could be easily seen by a nervous child, was a pretty night light that flickered its comfort all night long.
Henry Richards, the Skipper, had this as his bedroom for many, many years. In it he lay bedridden for a year, stone blind, but with such keen mind and sense of smell that when the houseman put spruce instead of white birch in the fire, he said, 'Come back and take it out. I said white birch!' In younger, more vigorous days he eschewed bathing in the effete modern cast porcelain tub and had the maid spread bath mats, bring towels and a big sponge, and fill the wide tin 'hat tub' - so named because it was like a huge broad brimmed hat upside down – all this before bedtime. There was no door into the bathroom from the bedroom, so everything had to be carried through the upper hall."
About This Item
- Title: North Bedroom, Yellow House, Gardiner, ca. 1985
- Creator: Elijah Cobb
- Creation Date: circa 1985
- Subject Date: circa 1985
- Location: Gardiner, Kennebec County, ME
- Media: photographic print
- Dimensions: 35.6 cm x 27.9 cm
- Local Code: Coll. 2085, RG 39/11
- Collection: The Yellow House papers, Laura E. Richards collection
- Object Type: Image
Cross Reference Searches
Standardized Subject Headings
- Authors, American--Maine
- Bedroom furniture
- Bedrooms
- Beds
- Desks
- Fireplaces
- Guest rooms
- Hospitality
- House furnishings
- Photographs
- Women authors, American--Maine--Gardiner
- Yellow House (Gardiner, Me.)
People
For more information about this item, contact:
Maine Historical Society485 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-1822 x230
Website
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. No Permission is required to use the low-resolution watermarked image for educational use, or as allowed by the applicable copyright. For all other uses, permission is required.
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