Karbelle Mansion - 1875 Italianate Villa

Karbelle Mansion - Grand Italianate Villa – built 1875 by James S. Thomson. The house is 10,000 sq ft made up of 29 rooms, with over 100 openings between the windows and doors. There are currently 3 private bedrooms with a lot of shared space all around you to create a relaxing atmosphere. Coffee and lite breakfast snacks provided on site. For breakfast, a $10 voucher is provided to each guest that can be used at any of the Glasgow dining locations. The space Upon entrance into this house, you come into a striped walnut and oak lobby floor. In the lobby of the house, you have 7 exit points to decide upon. The 1st left is the Lounge. The 2nd left is the Black and White room. Straight ahead, veering left and up is the Main Staircase. Straight ahead veering left on the same level is the Back Deck. Completely straight ahead is the Game Room and coat closet. The 1st right is the Formal Parlor. The 2nd right, past the organ is the Dining Room. This house had the first gravity fed running water in Glasgow. A big copper square tub (big enough for 6 people) is in the attic, still to this day. The hidden gutter system drained rainwater into the tub, and a vent on the roof stirred the water to keep it from getting stagnant. When they wanted to take a bath, two floors down there was an oval shaped copper bathtub, they’d pull a rope, and down came the water. There is a fountain and sink built into the front lobby’s curved walls (only built and used to show off that the family had running water). Otherwise the functional water was located in the very back of the servant’s part of the house. Directly below the bath tub is a basement room that you can only get to from the outside (for safety!). This would have been below the copper tub (water) in the attic, and they used this room for the special gas they used for the lights in this house. The lights connected to each other through the fireplaces. Just as the intercom system was built to flow through the fireplaces and output audio to the servant’s portion. An architectural marvel built into the design of this house -- is viewing the east rising sun light as it moves across the windows of the Lounge. When it directly lines up with the last window, crossing the house, hitting the striped wooden lobby floor, the light bounces and reflects to the Formal Parlor’s ceiling medallion, where the natural light magnifies the room on the West side of the house. It’s amazing and beautiful to see. * If you would like to hear the adventures of old and experience some new ones of your own, please inquire about a one hour house tour. Guest access You will be free to "respectfully" do anything. Drink from the Vera Wang champagne flutes, relax in the Hot Tub, make yourself an espresso, play the organ or harmonica! Feel free to get comfortable. Some pieces are relics from college, other pieces are treasures found on garage sale adventures, while others are true antiques original to the house or hold sentimental value. You will be free to look, use, and enjoy the shared amenities available. Other things to note You can visit and like us @KarbelleMansion, for the "on-goings" at the house.