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Interiors: Family Rooms
In late 1970s-early '80s, the Clarke House was restored to its 1850-1860 decor, using historic documents, paint analysis and what was popular at that time with middle-class families. None of the Clarkes' furnishings or possessions survived. These photos below show the rooms that were reserved for the Clarke family and close friends--the sitting room, the study and the sick room.
SITTING ROOM The sitting room in the 19th century home was a well-used and multi-functional family space. The family might eat meals there, as well as relax, pray, read, sew, or do school work. It was a place to have “gossipy conversations” with friends, instead of “polite chats” with special guests. It is likely that the sitting room at Clarke House was used for both formal and informal occasions. This was due to the fact that financial circumstances kept the Clarkes from completing the south rooms of their home until the 1850s. This room is restored and furnished to give the appearance of a well-used family room of the 1830s and ‘40s. Woodwork/Fireplace. The woodwork in the room and throughout the house was originally painted white in the 1830s, and has been restored to this condition. The fireplace mantel, made of wood, has been restored to its original glossy black paint. This is the only fireplace in Clarke House that retains its original marble hearth. Wallpaper. The reproduction wallpaper in this room was made based on a wallpaper fragment found in the north central room of the second floor. Furniture. Most of the furniture in this room and throughout the house, is in the late Empire style. Tables and chairs were moved near the windows during the day to take advantage of the light, and moved near the fireplace at night. Many pieces of furniture were on metal casters or wheels, so they could be moved easily. The cradle-rocker converts from rocker to cradle by extending the left arm out, removing the headrest and turning it around and placing it in the holes at the front edge of the seat, so the headrest becomes the cradle retainer. Carpet. Ingrain carpets, such as this one made in the 1840s, were popular with the middle class of that time because the pattern is visible on both sides; when one side faded, the carpet could be turned over for extra longevity.
SICK ROOM
This room is furnished as a sick room for an ailing family member, although no evidence exists that the Clarkes had a specific room in their house exclusively for the sick or ill. However, even in a new city like Chicago, illness was treated almost exclusively in the home. A woman would also set up a temporary bedroom in a sitting room or parlor while waiting for or recuperating from childbirth in order to keep the household running. This room originally had a large closet in the southeast corner (now occupied by the elevator shaft) with built-in drawers and hooks, which suggests the room could have served as a bedroom and sitting room from 1836 to the mid-1850s. The location of the closet door is original. The first layer of finish on the walls was blue paint dating from the 1870s. The lack of earlier finishes on the walls, combined with the fact that paint datable to the 1860s was found on the woodwork, suggests that the room was probably wallpapered during the 1850s and ‘60s, and the paper removed before the walls were painted.
STUDY
The original function of this room is not known, but since the adjoining small room (now the elevator shaft) had built-in drawers and hooks, it might have been a bedroom. It has been furnished to represent a study–the type of space in which Henry Clarke could contemplate his prospects while attempting to survive the boom-and-bust economy of the young city of Chicago. Studies could be used as a business office or for record keeping or as a quiet place for the master of the house. The room has been equipped to include the type of hunting and gaming items that Mr. Clarke would perhaps have used to make a living after the economic collapse of 1837.
Secretary Desk. The c.1830 Empire-style desk was brought to Chicago in 1867 by George Amos Poole, who would become a partner in Rand McNally two years later. The desk survived the Chicago Fire because Mr. Poole acted quickly and hired two drays to move his belongings and some printing paper, type forms and woodcuts from the print shop on Lake street to a safe location west of the advancing fire.
Window Shade. Itinerant window shade painters worked in Chicago throughout the 1830s and ‘40s, painting window shades in exchange for room and board or meals. This window shade is based on a design of a mid-19th century window shade in the collection of the New York Historical Association.
Click images below to enlarge view.
Additional interior images of Clarke House Museum:
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