A Little piece of Paradise… College Hill, Ohio - SELFCRAFT

My grandmother had been warmly hospitable and very active in College Hill’s active society aroundthe turn of the century. There had been amateur dramatics in the Town Hall (I have a marvelous photo ofDad with a fake moustache in something of the nature of ‘The Belle of the Klondike’; with his black hair,he was a perfect villain) much of which moved up to the Big House. A kindergarten ran for years in thestable, which never accommodated a horse. Grandfather even sat at his Louis Seize ‘maitre ebeniste’ deskhelping the children make paper chains, and he was a stern and rather humorless man. The lawn anddeveloping gardens were open to everybody but the swimming pool, first in College Hill, was not. It wasspecifically designed to be e in full view of the front porch where, in pre-air-conditioning summer, thefamily sat up late. Grandmother died in February, 1911, in Florida where she had been taken after a nearstroke.Logan and Sylvia moved in before 1919: Dwight and Jane were born in the house, then in 1918 or19, PGT married Kate Prather Woolley, a widow and devoted friend. The ‘Logans’ moved out and thenewlyweds took the first east-bound trip of the new Cunard Mauretainia for a very unusual honeymoon:they were very close to teetotal, they had no particular goal in their travels and, most importantly, PGThad scads of money and very, very little knowledge about spending it! Mother Kate undoubtedly did haveexquisite taste and some knowledge but she let him buy whatever he wanted: a Reynolds portrait and aByzantine papal crown which proved phony, a mass of carved copies of famous marble statues (which ledto a new formal garden to house them) and masses of collectibles such as swords, manuscriptilluminations, tapestries, bronzes which changed the interior considerably. My particular favorite was amechanical bird-in-a-cage which lived on a tabouret in the ballroom. Well wound, it would spring out ofits base and warble ‘Funuculi Funicula, ‘with beak and head moving and wings flapping, then pop backdown at the end. In spite of numerous broad hints to Mother Kate, I never got the bird.In her day, entertainment at the Big House was of two kinds: dinner parties and concert/lectures.Perhaps money paved the way up Hamilton hill but many stars of the Twenties seemed to like to come.Once in awhile, if the performance seemed `proper’, I was taken over by a parent or sibling from ourhouse across the street (now Doug Trimmel’s) to hear John McCormick, Richard Crooks, ReinholdWerrenrath, Margarete Matzenauer, singers; Percy Grainger and Anton Rubinstein, pianists; CarvethWells, explorer; Hendrik Willem VanLoon, historian, and my own fascinating cousin, Gamble Rogers. Icould usually sneak into the pantry and kitchen before or immediately after the dinner to goggle at thegreat table, set from the one-thousand piece of Capo da Monte porcelain which ....supposedly!....had beenmade at Napoleon’s order for the Princess Borghese. Or, at the twenty-four German service platesemblazoned with gold and scenes from Wagner’s operas. There were two great epergnes of round silverbase supporting four caryatids who held a large bowl on their heads, overflowing with grapes (whichmight well have come from the green house behind) and flowers. I have one piece left of the glasswarewhich was French, acid-etched and picked out in gold in a geometric design.Mother Kate had brought into the marriage a jewel of a cook, who happened to have the same name,so Mother Kate re-named ‘Kate’ something like Sarah! However, nobody else did. She was plump,strong, incredibly good-natured and was simply ‘Cookie’. She presided over the huge range, coal-burningat one end (that stopped about 1930) with eight over-size gas burners at the other, with four ovens andtwo huge grills. Mrs. Kinney, who didn’t seem to have a first name, presided over her own end of thekitchen (facing the formal garden) where she had her own work-table and sink to prepare pies, pastries,cakes (her white fruit-cake was Mother Kate’s highly prized Christmas gift to close friends) andespecially Parker House rolls. I finished twelve of them one evening, and was stopped with the thirteenthwell on its way into my mouth. Kids just could NOT leave her rolls alone so she seldom baked fewer than144, 72 in two huge flat pans. My occasional job was buttering them, which took half a stick apiece.Meals were far from extravagant and, only at Christmas, Thanksgiving and major birthdays werethere more than three courses; then, salad and a sherbet were served before a rich dessert. The first coursewas almost invariably soup, light and clear if the entree were heavy, thick and rich if not. Always homemade, from one of the stockpots on the range. Dessert was almost always homemade ice cream and cake.Oh, those incredible Angel Foods! Those dreamy Lady Baltimores! (I haven’t seen one since Mother Katedied in 1937.) Particularly memorable are the sand cookies and macaroons. There never was wine until209