Blennerhassett Island: Part 2

Ah, the Blennerhassett mansion. Although not huge by today's McMansion standards, it was amazing for its time because of its unique Palladian design and its size and elegance in a territory where most people were living in rough log cabins.
The main house is connected by breezeways to the summer kitchen on the left and Harman's study and laboratory on the right. The guides told us that probably the breezeways were enclosed and that seems reasonable to me--who would want to walk to their study in freezing snow and rain?
Looking from the front of the study towards the summer kitchen.
The rooms have been beautifully decorated in period furniture, and we were assured by the guide that the bright wall colors were all available during the time period when the mansion was built. Did the Blennerhassetts use these colors? No one knows, but in all historical records visitors describe the home as stunning and elegant.

A view of part of the summer kitchen. The volunteers and donors have stocked the kitchen with a wealth of kitchen tools and furniture that would have been in use at the time the home was built.

After our wagon ride around the island it was time to get back on board the Spirit sternwheeler for our trip back to land. It was a wonderful day, mostly because the girls were so interested in the history of this little place that played such a big role in the settlement of the Ohio Valley and early American history.