Our home has always sparked the interest of all who walk through its doors. Specifically, the great room has so many interesting and unusual articles of decoration and architecture; it has been a topic of conversation for many who behold its natural beauties. The room is a close resemblance to Adirondack lodge with touches of Bavarian medieval accent. The great room in our home demonstrates the great appreciation we have for all natural things and our passion nature’s beauty.

Upon entering the room through the grand oak doorway, the first thing that may capture your eye is the sheer size of the room. It measures 30 feet in width by 40 feet in length. The room’s endless 20 foot high white ceilings that seem to scrape the heavens are crisscrossed with beams. The dark, almost black, beam work is intricate. The beam work resembles a medieval wooden bridge expanse over a large body of water before the use of iron and steel. Supporting the smaller beams are substantially larger and sturdier ones which are the size of tree trunks. There are several rows of beams that span the entire width of the room spaced precisely 8 feet apart. Most who enter the room marvel at the architecture.

There are “armored knights” hand carved into the oak panels that separate the great room and the kitchen. They seem follow your every move around the room with their cold, blank, lifeless wooden eyes. One of the soldiers holds a real cast iron battle axe. Anyone wanting to leave the great room to the bedrooms must walk past the soldier wielding the axe. The pass through from the room to the kitchen has handmade oak horse heads that resemble knights of a chess board. The remaining walls are dark chestnut paneled as if you were in a 14th century church or castle.

The room is graced with taxidermy, pelts and hides of a wide variety of animals. One of our signature pieces is a powerful, Adirondack black bear of about 6 feet posed on all fours standing on a fallen piece of timber that resides underneath our television which is mounted high on the wall. One of the chairs in the room is covered in a speckled brown cow hide and matches the “ticked” coat of our German Shorthaired pointer that often sleeps beside it.

On an oak table adjacent to the large leather couch in the middle of the room rests a carved wooden sea bird of some sort with a bill so long it could poke an eye out. Next to it is an oversized book titled, A Cabinet of Natural Curiosities by Albertus Seba. The book contains hundreds of color plates of natural specimens.

On the far side left side of the room by the couch is an impressive custom made fireplace that fits beneath the fifteen foot oak carved mantle with hand engraved flower patterns. It is so large in size that it resembles the work in the great Adirondack camps. On the mantel rests a variety of carved figures and religious artifacts including several “Spanish Santos” from ancient ships perched in front of a strategically placed 4 foot by 8 foot mirror that reflects all of the beams and lights in the room. The mirror’s refection makes the room appear twice as large as it actually is. The fireplace, itself, houses several six foot tree trunk sized logs that are actually made of concrete but seem to fool almost everyone. When turned on the flame is the size of a blacksmith’s furnace and the heat is almost as intense. The size and depth of the fireplace, in my mind, resembles that of a deep dark cave that may possibly provide shelter for our Adirondack Black Bear.

You will find a variety of bird eggs and prints on display throughout the space. An original Audubon print, from old Key West, hangs on the walls. An Emu and a large Ostrich egg is displayed on an antique cabinet on the far side of the room along with a bird’s nest underneath a bell shaped glass container. A small quail, hidden in the corner, is barely noticeable. A small deer antler lamp and two large taxidermy pheasant are also displayed on the stand. On top of the cabinet resting against the wall is a large oil painting of a lake trout. It was purchased from the Sherwood Inn many years ago.

Fitting the lodge style, my father insisted on hanging a massive elk antler chandelier suspended from the ceiling by a 10 foot long steel chain, that when fully illuminated will fairly easily light every corner of the room especially because it reflects in the mirror on the mantel.

In conclusion, my parents and I have a deep appreciation and respect for nature and natural objects. These articles in our home demonstrate our love, interest in and appreciation for the natural world around us. We have chosen to surround ourselves with nature’s own works of art including sea shells, bird eggs, feathers, fish, antlers and so much more. Even the drawings, paintings and photos that adorn the walls and shelves of our home reflect some of nature’s most beautiful works. The taxidermy displays majesty of certain species. It is apparent we see the beauty in natural objects that many people don’t take the time to appreciate until they see the collection that has been assembled in our great room.