Martha Stewart's Laundry Room

[launderess]

And we thought ourselves good with vintage laundry equipment finds.

Haven't read the entire thing but *think* much of the stuff was in the estate when the Queen of Domestic Life purchased it.

http://www.themarthablog.com/2011/01/my-laundry-room-at-skylands.html

 

[alr2903]

Thanks for the post, it was a nice read.  I always liked Martha and felt she was "made an example of".  I would agree with you about many of items being present on her arrival.  Laundress,  Happy Holidays alr

 

[mrb627]

Well...

I always suspected that she was a Tag-Hag...

Malcolm

 

[westingman123]

I could iron all day in that laundry room!

 

[launderess]

Those Vintage Cast Iron

Ironing boards/stations pop up on eBay and else where often enough. However they are quite heavy and IIRC some models require bolting to be steady. It looks like the ones at Ms. Stewarts manse simply have balanced (but heavy) bases to keep them in place.

That drying cabinet is very unique and doubt there are more than a few left in the United States and even fewer in operation. There is one at the Vanderbilt mansion in North Carolina, but that is the only other I know about.

Several of my vintage laundry manuals show heavy porcelain laundry/ultility sinks as show in the snaps. Those probably are easier to find but may require work. So many people rip them out and chuck them away when remodeling an older home.

Guess Ms. Stewart is draws the line at a wringer and uses the extractor only for getting water out of hand washables. The Monex unit spins at 1700rpms which is fine for sturdy items, but I wouldn't put fragile or fine linens in there for long.

Cannot believe some people would move out of a home, no matter how great and leave tons of vintage linens behind, not to mention all that fabulous equipment. Then again at that time they were tearing down and or breaking up the great East cost estates by the dozens and no one was really into "vintage" linens much less appliances. Then came Martha Stewart!

Amazing she had commercial gas powered flatwork ironers installed. What the heck is Madame ironing up there?

 

[iheartmaytag]

I'm suspecting she got used to the gas powered flatwork ironers in prison and just couldn't live without one.

;-)

 

[launderess]

I Do Declare

You is bad!

 

[westingman123]

I can hear the petticoats rustling now, Mammy! *LOL*

 

[gansky1]

Prison laundry - LOL!

There is an apartment building close to downtown that a couple of friends of mine lived in back in the 80's. Coolest laundry room I've ever seen. Had a cabinet dryer with roll-out racks, eight concrete sinks in the middle of the room back-to-back for washing. There were small closets around the perimeter of the large room for storing your washer and supplies and long, deep counters along one wall for folding, etc. We went on several basement exploration adventures over the years and saw some very cool, ancient things around the downtown area. Giant coal-fired boilers no longer used with fireboxes that you could literally walk into they were so so big. Hadn't thought about that for a long time!

I'll bet Martha is rather difficult to work for.

 

[hunter]

I'm sure they made an example of Ms. Stewart.

I'm sure that Martha Stewart was simply 'made an example of' when they sent her to prison. Given all that has happened in the country in the last 40 years of scandals, thievery, corruption, and everything else her actions - at least the ones we knew about - were minor.

What I found interesting is that she had to testify before Congress. Did the folks from Enron have to do that? Solyndra? Not that I know of, because while these may have been federal cases, they are tried in federal COURT not before the Congress. That in and of itself told me that there was 'example making' in the cards.

Not that the woman is some saint - she started out on Wall Street and we all know what kind of corruption is there. And she's a hard, hard business woman that has built a huge empire. But being a domineering, difficult, hard business person is not a crime. Whether there are other criminal actions there, I have no idea.

Having said all this, do any of you feel that MS is being a parody of herself? I mean, given the requirements on her time, can you really think that she actually ever does ANYTHING domestic herself anymore?

 

[wayupnorth]

Martha's house in Maine

Her estate is not that far from where I live and from what I understand is not very well liked by the locals. Have heard some interesting stories, one in particular involved her barging her way in front of customers at a local grocer. She was confronted by a gentleman in the front of the line to return to the back of the line and she exclaimed "Dont you know who I am?" The gentleman replied that she apparently didnt know who he was either. It was Mr Rockefeller who I have been told is one of the nicest,most down to earth people you could imagine. I heard she was quite horrified and embarrassed and quickly left the store.

 

[hunter]

as she should have.

Nobody would have objected if - say - she was a mom with an asthmatic child who was rushing in to buy an inhaler because her kid was having an attack.

But that kind of behavior is just wrong. And another symptom of what is wrong with our country. Well, maybe it is 'what is wrong with humans!'

 

[mattl]

I too have always liked Martha, at least the public persona Martha  presents.  Funny, I've always been a Martha person, my brother a Rachel Ray.  I doubt all the stories ascribed to her are true, the last one sounds more like a got-cha.

 

Say what you will at least she is saving some of these properties from the wrecking ball.  Interesting rooms(s) in true Martha fashion.  Only thing that seems un-Martha like is the steam exhaust pipes through those great windows.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Do you know who I am?

I read an interesting account of a customer pulling this on a gate attendant at an airport, after breaking in at the front of the line. The gate attendant calmly picked up the public address microphone and paged security claiming there was a man at her counter who did not know who he was. It was like pouring water on a small fire--instantly extinquished.

Her behavior, as reported, does not surprise me. I'll bet she is a terror to work for, but it would probably exhaust a person of normal energy levels just to watch her.

 

[launderess]

Saving Estates

Don't think MS was doing the world any huge favours. I mean as one said all over country great estates were beign liquadated, broken up and or sold off for not tht much money. Well the home and contents that is, it was the land everyone would want for other uses such as housing, golf courses, etc.

Miss. Stewart probably got herself a good deal on the property even more so that it included all those goodies she mentioned and probably more.

As for barging ahead of Mr. Rockerfeller, can believe it. That part of the US has always been one of the last bastions of *WASP* territory,even the Bush family has a compound up there.

Don't think MS was made an example of, just that she of all persons ought to have known better and to have lied was foolish on her part. If anything because she has such a "my way or the highway" attitude and tried to fanagle her way out of the situation it probably lead to the kid gloves coming off. Had she simply showed some humility and told the truth things may have ended differently.

It must really hurt however when being denied entry into other countries. Poor Miss. Stewart recently wasn't allowed into the UK (or was it France) because of her conviction just as Paris Hilton (another blonde female with attitude problems) was kept out another foregin country after her conviction.

 

[danmantn]

Reminds me of the laundry room at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.

 

[launderess]

"fireboxes that you could literally walk into "

And people did!

Someone had to go in there now and then to chip off/remove clinkers from inside the firebox and for through cleaning. Same thing with steam locomotives. There were even special suits sold made from asbestos so workmen could go in without having to wait for the thing to cool entirely down to cold.

In so many cases equipment such as we've been discussing was either brought into the building then assembled and or the former was built around it. Thus much if it's not going anywhere unless it's broken apart and carted out, and or the the building is demolished.

 

[launderess]

Drying Cabinets

Were a boon to "line drying" laundry when weather outdoors wasn't ideal. This was in an era before tumble dryers were sold for home use. They could be had for commercial laundries starting around the early part of last century but that was about it.

The alternative was to hang laundry in a room with a small fire or heater (an AGA range would do), especially if the washing was raised up to the ceiling area.

 

[autowasherfreak]

I love the large windows. What is the model of the washer, I couldn't tell from the pic.