|
Living Room: Window Seat, page 2 of 2
Purcell’s Own Delight
Purcell expressed his delight at this aspect of the house in these words, written in 1913.
"The writer recalls one extremely hot August day-sticky and dusty downtown-coming home to some fresh clothes-but still the heat---and then down to tea; and there in the end of the Living Room, all open toward the east with the little pencil stream of the fountain puttering away among the pale yellow water hyacinths, was the evening table so cool looking, with two cool little colored chairs, one lilac one. The house had begun to show its desire to say things at the right time. The coolest looking tea table in town, I'm sure-most of them that night sitting in the same surroundings that felt good last winter."
- from William Gray Purcell's Own House Notes
This area, where the Purcells placed their custom-finished piano (now replaced by the Cutts family piano), was perfect for intimate concerts. Albert Fleury's painting Chicago River hangs nearby; Purcell purchased it from the artist, no doubt to remind him of his hometown. next stop >
|