The House

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:29 pm

abcd...............

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:45 pm

I always believed the line about Emma doing dishes in the kitchen was a mistake, Dry sinks went out when plumbing went in. However, since hot water had to be heated on the cook stove it is possible Emma was doing dishes in a ummmmm, I forget what its called, but like a what we have today, plastic sink buckets. It would have been an enamel pan/bowl. You know like all that white enamel stuff that turns up in Flea Markets with chips on them.

Steven

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:16 pm

Close the door and latch it, Here comes Lizzie with a brand new hatchet.

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:18 pm

Why is it these forums always eat newbies alive and then spits them out?

I always think after a couple of years they should close the forums to the general public because apparently after a topic has been discussed you can't bring it up again!

I figured how to use the smileys!

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:19 pm

sorry just deleting posts, I think all I've done is upset people!

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:29 pm

Don't mind me just a poor newbie retracting his posts!

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:34 pm

there should be a hatchet in the message icons, oops, that's probably been dicussed before!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:28 am

StevenB there is obviously a problem with how you use the quote feature so maybe for clarity's sake you should stop?

I recognize that you seem to have noticed my mentioning that if you start with a quote it shows on your message grouping page as being your own words.

But this is not working out for you and I think you might try copy-pasting and then put the name of the person afterwards.

Like this:
"That's warped, the house wasn't even Brick! I wonder who did that?

Steven"-- Steven

Or you could lead into what you want to say, then embed the quote, then finish your thought.

I only give this advice because it was very hard following your posts.
Good luck and please ask aloud if you need any help using the features here.

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:53 am

1 2 3 4 5 .....................

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:16 am

" I encourage you when thinking about the Borden's home to forget your 20th century thinking and try to see the house as it would have been used in 1892! "

I think you will find, Steve, that most posters here are better than very good when it comes to thinking in the Victorian mode, and some are quite expert in the fields of late nineteenth century lifestyle, manners, morals, law, and mindset. You will find much discussion on all aspects of the Bordens' daily lives, concerns, police methods, and even fashion and home decor of the period. Appreciating and understanding the era , and approaching the crime with that knowledge always in mind is not a new concept

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:39 am

theebmonique · Post by **theebmonique** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:45 am

StevenB @ Tue Nov 28, 2006 5:53 am wrote:okay, well I thought it was obvious what was my text, my reply is always at the top of the page and what was the qoute, the piece at the bottom which starts withe word QUOTE and ends with the word QUOTE. But that's just me! No problem
I notice in other posts the quote is high lighted or in a white box, I have to figure how to do that................

Steven

see, it starts with Quote and ends with Quote!

Kat @ Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:28 am wrote:StevenB there is obviously a problem with how you use the quote feature so maybe for clarity's sake you should stop?
I recognize that you seem to have noticed my mentioning that if you start with a quote it shows on your message grouping page as being your own words.
I only give this advice because it was very hard following your posts.
Good luck and please ask aloud if you need any help using the features here.

Steve,

To get that white highlighted box, just click the "quote" button in the upper right hand corner of the post you want to quote. Then you can add your own comments following the last quote bracket. This is a great option to clearly deliniate between what you are quoting and your related comments.

Tracy...

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:47 am

Sorry I messed this post up, I won't post any more in the old posts or ask any more questions.

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 8:50 am

hmmmmmmmmmmm I'll have to work on that quote button, its not working for me! :grin:

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:15 am

Steven,

Every message has two buttons in the upper right hand corner. The first is the 'Quote' button. When you click that the entire message will be captured and pasted into your message. It will not have a white background at that point. As Tracy says, type your response after the [/quote]. When the message is added to the forum the quoted portion will have the white background.

In general, and not just to you Steven, there is a bit much over use of the quote feature. Some of these messages involve several screens and to quote them in full is a waste of space. In cases like that the portion to which we are responding should be copied and pasted rather than the whole thing quoted.

Also, it is not necessary to quote a message when it is the one before the response. A simple reference to it suffices in most cases.

I'm not saying don't use the quote feature but its excessive use can be confusing. I've seen messages where a quote of a quote of a quote are all strung together. Personally I bypass them.

snokkums · Post by **snokkums** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:28 am

Are you trying to make a minuture Lizzie Borden House? Just wandering because of the questions of what was in the house and where?

That would be so cool! If I could afford it, and I had room in my apartment, I would love to build a Lizzie house.

theebmonique · Post by **theebmonique** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 10:05 am

Steve,

We have ALL been asking the SAME question for over 114 years now. It is more than OK to repeat a question you are not clear on.

If your quote button is not working, the copy/paste method may work best for you for now. Another thing I sometimes do when I do the c/p thing is to put what I am quoting in italics.

Tracy...

StevenB · Post by **StevenB** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 10:23 am

does this work? I wasn't sure if I clicked on the "Post A Reply" button if it would post to the topic. That's why I was using the quote button, I rather not quote so I'll see what the does...........

Steven

I'm just hitting different things to see what they do........... Hmmmmmmmm I hope I don't blow something up!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 12:36 am

Yes that worked fine. I understand your wanting to use the quote feature since you were going back in time and then coming forward with your response.

I knew some people would probably not read you if that form of posting continued, and since you are here to read and be read, I was hoping to facilitate that for you and everyone.
Thanks.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Nov 29, 2006 12:39 am

Thanks for the wallpaper link.

Here you say:
"Outside window screens back then slid into an aluminum slot or a channel inside the window frame so that the outside shutters would close. it was just a half screen it didn't cover the whole window. I think this is what was on the down stairs windows, which Bridget would have had to remove in order to clean them, slowing her down..........
Steven"

Do we know if Bridget removed any screens and if she replaced any after she was finished?

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 4:47 am

Here is Mrs. Percy's report of visiting the house, and also describing Lizzie's room. The wallpaper, if any, in Lizzie's room is not described but the stairway paper is. This is in Rebello, pg. 110:

"A New York Woman Describes the House," Fall River Daily Herald, August 24, 1892: 4.

"Mrs. Percy, correspondent for the New York Herald, telegraphed her description of the interior of the Borden home.

'I went to the Borden house today. I was unable to see any member of the family. I was allowed to examine the rooms where the two murders were committed, the parlor and dining room adjoining on the lower floor, and the bed chambers of the two sisters above, next to which Mrs. Borden was found brutally done to death by an assassin. I was surprised to [find] the house extremely pretty and refined in its appointments. Easy chairs, shaded lamps, books, well-chosen bits of bric-a-brac, cushions, and draperies, an open piano, a hundred comforts and pleasing trifles tastefully disposed bespoke pleasantly the character of the occupants. The "spare room" is the only unattractive apartment in the house, and that is not cheaply furnished, but in the heavy gloomy style of the Brussels carpet, black walnut period long passed.

There is a great square space where the blood-stained carpet under Mrs. Borden's crushed head has been cut away. The paper underneath shows the awful discoloration where it soaked through.

Lizzie Borden's room is as dainty and charming a place as any girl need ask for. The tiny bed had a pale blue embroidered counterpane, the work of the woman who occupied it. Many books and pictures were in the room, some of them evidently gathered in that foreign journey of which we have heard so much. One thing struck me forcibly. How could Lizzie Borden have come in the dainty place and remove the traces of such fearful work without marring all the delicate purity of everything with which she had contact? Why, the washstand even is in a recess veiled by a pale silken curtain. A soiled finger pushing it aside would leave a mark, and there is none. The stairway leading from the front hall is steep and winding at the top, and the wall at one side is covered with a pale gray cartridge paper. This way, up and down, which the assassin passed bears not a trace. Truly the Borden mystery holds its own as such.'"

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 7:53 am

Where have I seen Lizzie's wallpaper described as "a rich, dark" paper? Just read that recently and cannot recall where. I also wonder how they fixed the carpet that was cut away under Abby's and Andrew's head, and the molding on the door jamb. I have looked at this molding for signs of repair and can find none. They must have replaced the whole strip. I wonder what purpose that square of carpet served; it was bloodstained, sure, but it proved only that a bloody head had rested on it- seemed a bit excessive.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 8:39 am

Shelley, possibly you read it in The Fall River Evening News, Monday, August 8, 1892 - headlined STILL A MYSTERY.

"... The next room entered was Miss Lizzie's chamber, which is in the middle of the house, with windows on the south side. The walls were covered with rich, dark paper, which was relieved by handsome red portieres at the doors. The windows were draped with taste and the furniture was neatly arranged. There was a narrow bed for one person, which was covered with a spread and pillows of spotless white. Not a wrinkle was in the coverlet and it seemed, like everything else in the apartment, to reflect the precise and trim character of its occupant. Easy chairs and rockers around a few choice engravings on the wall, a well-stocked bookcase and photographs secured in foreign travel were visible. ..."

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:39 am

Yay Harry! Good, I have not lost my marbles. That's it- and I think now that I saw it in The Source Book by Kent. I have been pondering about which doors had the red portieres. Lizzie's room has a lot of doors - the one into the Borden's room, the door into Emma's room, the door into the upstairs landing and the door into the guestroom. I would bet the one into the landing would get a portiere- but the other one is confusing. She had her bed in the corner blocking the Borden's room door so I wonder how a portiere would work there. She had a silken pale curtain over her toilet room closet (possibly no door on that) a six foot tall bookcase blocking the door into the guestroom, - which leaves only the entry into Emma's room. What do you think? The reporter says "doors"- but does not say how many- maybe all the doors have red portieres? Usually they are used to block drafts or divide rooms.

william · Post by **william** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 4:10 pm

I didn't realize that there was a piano in Second Street as late as 1892.
Can'you picture Lizzie and her friends gathering around it and singing such songs as, After the Ball, Bicycle Built for Two and Ta ra ra boom de ay, all songs written in 1892?

A piano with a stack of old sheet music would enhance the ambiance of The House today. How about it Shelley? do you have room for a broken down baritone?

And by the way - just what is an "open" piano? I'm familiar with the terms, upright and grand, but open is a new one for me.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 5:39 pm

Always room for a baritone! Yes, I had a singing group called the Sweet Nightingales once -we did the hits of the 1890's in costume in old Victorian homes and churches. Our last "gig" was the Lizzie Expo of 1996 when we played The Rock Street Church singing You Can't Chop Your Poppa up in Massachusetts. We once had quite a discussion about Lizzie's piano. I know a search of it was made, as in an old upright, there are many open spaces behind panels.

I am not sure who said "open piano"- I think it may be either a reporter or Victoria Lincoln. To my mind, an open piano is one of those parlor grands -sort of square - with no top like a baby grand, and a shorter keyboard. I think the guests at the house would really have fun singing round the piano.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 5:53 pm

Lizzie is supposed to have taken up piano in high school. All these models were around but this first one, a square parlor grand was hugely popular in this time period of 1860's-1880's. And it is , as you see- OPEN keyboard.

Upright

Baby grand (probably way too expensive for Andrew to consider!)

RayS · Post by **RayS** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 7:22 pm

william @ Thu Nov 30, 2006 5:10 pm wrote:I didn't realize that there was a piano in Second Street as late as 1892.
Can'you picture Lizzie and her friends gathering around it and singing such songs as, After the Ball, Bicycle Built for Two and Ta ra ra boom de ay, all songs written in 1892?

A piano with a stack of old sheet music would enhance the ambiance of The House today. How about it Shelley? do you have room for a broken down baritone?

And by the way - just what is an "open" piano? I'm familiar with the terms, upright and grand, but open is a new one for me.

Having a piano was the sign of middle-class status. As I remember it.

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 7:57 pm

Having a piano was the sign of middle-class status. As I remember it.[/quote]

Thus the reason 99 per-cent of the population in Fall River did not own a piano.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 7:58 pm

The "open piano" is in the Mrs. Percy article I posted. I put up the Percy item because you said you were looking for it, and I highlighted the description of Lizzie's room only.

As for one portiere, here is Alice Russell on that:
Prelim
295
A. I remember being up in Mr. And Mrs. Borden's rooms with some officer, I remember their asking me about the rooms that went out of it. The door into Miss Lizzie's room was hooked. They pulled the screw out, I judged. I remember I asked them to let me look in first; I did not know what the condition of the room was. I pulled the portiere aside, and looked in, and said it is all right, and they went in. I do not recollect whether I went in or not.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Thu Nov 30, 2006 9:30 pm

Oh good! Yes, then that jells with what I was told about a portiere over Lizzie's bed, which would have been the door into the Borden's room. I guess it must have made a neat effect of drapery behind the headboard like a tester bed. It also was one more way she cut off the back of the house from the front- her turf from Abby's. . The other place I have always been told about was a red portiere behind the bookcase, which is in front of the door going into the guestroom. These make sense, as a portiere into the landing is impractical as that door is constantly used and locked and a portiere would be in the way, and of course there was no purpose in having one hanging in Emma's door as the girls went back and forth between those two rooms.

Okay, I am happy we have narrowed this pithy business down at last

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:23 am

I am going looking for the portiere over Lizzie's closet/toilet room, but as I mentioned before, I was under the impression there was a desk only in front of the guest room door and had not heard or read of a curtain there (or a bookcase). If I stumble over it whilst looking around I will bring back the news!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:33 am

Trial
Mrs. Holmes
1502
Q. Now, tell us as well as you can what they did about searching that room, Mrs. Holmes.
A. They walked around the room. They went to that little closet that is used as a toilet room and pulled back the portiere, and looked

Page 1503

upon all the shelves above and below, and moved what things they chose. They looked around the bed, under the bed, felt of it, and they went into Miss Emma's room. I did not see particularly what they did. They were gone a few minutes and looked around there and came out.

Q. How long should you think they were in the room in all?
A. Talking and searching?

Q. At that time talking and searching?
A. Half an hour perhaps.

Q. What was Lizzie doing during that time?
A. Quietly reclining on the lounge.

Q. What time did you go away that night?
A. About half past eight.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:37 am

Prelim
Morse
250
Q. There is a door that opens from Lizzie’s room into this spare room?
A. Yes.

Q. Is that door fastened, do you know, or kept fastened?
A. I do not know.

Q. Do you know whether Lizzie kept her desk standing directly in front of that door?
A. She kept her desk in front of that door that goes from her room into the spare room.

Q. Right up against the door?
A. Yes Sir.

Q. A large or small desk.
A. Just about large enough to fill up the door. I do not know about the height or the width of it.

Q. It filled up the whole width of the door?
A. I think so.

Q. How high should you think the desk stood, the top of it?
A. O, I cant tell; it might be five feet; I cant say for that.

Q. It was quite a large desk?
A. It was quite a desk.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:59 am

Here is Desmond at the trial.
This might be the confusing part. The way the question is asked shows a casual disregard for the exact layout of the furniture- he is just trying to get at the search details.
But one can see it might seem ambiguous. But I think the questioner is mistaken about a bookcase (when he seems to pair it with the desk)- he ammends the question to "or desk?".

Trial
Desmond
Page 735

Q. You searched that room?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. You understood that was Miss Lizzie's?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. You searched that bed in the same thorough manner?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. And the little alcove?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. With the portiere over it?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. And the book-case or desk and the closet?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. Everything done?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. Thoroughly?
A. Yes, sir.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 3:07 am

Here is Fleet who in my mind doesn't get much right about the house or cellar, but for what its worth, a case can be made for a bookcase there thanks to him:

Trial
Fleet
Q. Did you see anything with reference to the door leading from the guest chamber to Miss Lizzie Borden's chamber?
A. I saw a door which would lead into Lizzie Borden's room and on Lizzie Borden's side was a book-case and, I think, desk combined.

Page 472

Q. Yes, how was that situated with reference to the door?
A. Directly in front of the door, or in back of the door leading from where Mrs. Borden was found dead.

--Fleet, who led everyone astray as to where the HH was and whether there ever was a handle, etc.

I think you and I are maybe the only ones who care about the portieres, desk and toilet closet!

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 3:25 am

Lizzie
Inquest
Q. Was the door locked?
A. It has been locked and bolted, and a large writing desk in my room kept up against it.
Q. Then it was not a practical opening?
A. No sir.

I'm not having any luck finding any "red" furnishing in the Prelim or trial.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 7:37 am

Okay! Thanks! Len has always said it was an old -fashioned secretary desk- wide with a bookcase which fits on top of it, making the whole thing very tall. The pale silken curtain drawn across her toilet room could have been called a portiere- I had not thought of that.

Wish I could recall where I heard the word red- I would bet it was in Len's book somewhere. Interiors are very important to me- and textiles in the case a near obsession

mbhenty · Post by **mbhenty** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:08 am

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 1:52 pm

Yes! That is just the thing. Sometimes they come in two pieces-sometimes just one. I have one too- same Queen Anne Style like yours Michael. It's easy to see how that would have completely blocked the doorway. I have always wondered where Lizzie addressed those wrappers for Abby since there was not a desk in the sitting room. Maybe the kitchen table or diningroom table? We have endlessly discussed the possibility of a desk being in the parlor. If Mr. B did business in the parlor- surely there must have been something to write on. I cannot imagine he would bring strangers back to the family living spaces, nor up to his bedroom to sign papers. I sure wish we had some parlor and front hall pix on the day of the murder other than just that radiator , staircase and closet. And the other big nagging question- do we KNOW that the parlor was locked on the 4th?

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:39 pm

Well, how wide is it? And will the doors open with that wall right there?
Here is a desk stand-in that Len and Bill had situated there against the door. The door width doesn't look very wide, but it could be an illusion. And this desk, admittedly, certainly is not 5' tall.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:41 pm

I think "red" could be in the newspapers, if it's anywhere. It's not in the prelim or trial, but I seem to recall the description.

So far I only find the 2 portieres: the door to the elder Borden bedroom and the *toilet facility*.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:54 pm

Thanks, Kat. The door in the photo above opens IN towards the guestroom, so if Lizzie had left it unlocked on her side, she could have cracked the door and peeped into the guestroom behind her desk, or someone on the guestroom side could have opened the door had it been unlocked and peered at Lizzie around the desk which must have covered nearly the whole space -but since that door is so narrow, neither side could have squeezed in around that heavy desk and bookcase.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:15 pm

I think Morse claims it's kept locked. Makes one wonder if he ever tried the door.
So it is a narrow door?

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:33 pm

It is the same width as the door going into the parlor from the sitting room- sorry I forgot the measurement but will get it tomorrow. It is always a challenge wheeling at televison cart through this door without banging my knuckles!

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:37 pm

First floor counterpart of the door in question, looking from the parlor side- it also opens inward to the parlor from the sitting room.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 12:13 am

The parlour doorway has been altered since the Borden's day. According to Bill Pavao, the McGinns made an archway there removing the door and frame and Martha McGinn and Ron Evans restored it to it's square shape which would include a new door, so technically I wouldn't compare this to the entry between Lizzie's bedroom and the guestroom.--Hatchet June/July 2005, pg. 36.
But as always, thanks for the picture!

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 12:22 am

Yes, I have seen photos of the old archway, they also cut in an archway between the old sinkroom and pantry which is now the bathroom off the kitchen as you know. The doorway has been restored, yes, to the original rectangular shape it had been, and I will check the measurements again, but I am pretty sure they match the corresponding doorway upstairs- and both do open in the same manner with the hinges on the right side, and are significantly narrower than the entry into the diningroom from the sitting room.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:10 am

The *red portieres* are in Rebello's book just before the *Mrs. Percy* house description, pgs. 109-10:

"Crime Scene"

"The Borden House"

"A Search of the Premises," Fall River Evening News, Monday, August 8, 1892: 1.

"On Saturday afternoon, 3:15 p.m., Marshal Hilliard, accompanied by several patrolmen, searched the Borden home. The search began in the attic and they worked their way down to the first floor. The search ended at 6:30 p.m.

The attic contained four rooms and an open area into which the stairway extends. The two rooms in the rear were found to be scantily furnished. One of them was occupied by the servant, Bridget Sullivan, whose personal effects were about all contained in a small trunk. The lid was quickly raised and the contents inspected. It contained only clothing and a few mementoes treasured by the owner, as might be judged by the careful manner in which they were preserved. A package of letters, a few photographs, a box, a little jewelry and other effects dear to the feminine heart were there, but nothing more. The bed was carefully inspected, the mattress shaken up and pounded, the adjoining closet searched in vain. All that met the searchers gaze were packages and boxes of heavy clothing stored for the summer, comforters for the beds and similar articles.

The search continued to the second furnished room, which contained a painted bed. The bed had the appearance of not having been used for some time. ... On the front facing Second Street, at the northern corner, is the guest chamber which was where the murder of Mrs. Borden took place and where Mr. Morse slept on the night preceding the murder. The room is large, with windows on two sides, and is handsomely papered. The windows are adorned with lace draperies. The furniture is heavy set of black walnut ...

The next room entered was Miss Lizzie's chamber, which is in the middle of the house, with windows on the south side. The walls were covered with rich, dark paper, which was relieved byhandsome red portieres at the doors. The windows were draped with taste and the furniture was neatly arranged. There was a narrow bed for one person, which was covered with a spread and pillows of spotless white. Not a wrinkle was in the coverlet and it seemed, like everything else in the apartment, to reflect the precise and trim character of its occupant. Easy chairs and rockers around, a few choice engravings on the wall, a well-stocked bookcase and photographs secured in foreign travel were visible. The dressing case, commode and closet were in turn examined by the officers. Every dress Lizzie possessed, every skirt, wrapper, and piece of underclothing was rigorously scrutinized. On one of the skirts a blood stain was found. It was the only discovery in the room.

Opening out of this chamber to the south is a small room, presumably used by the sisters as a study, and it next demanded the attention of the police. There was another single bed here, presumably occupied by Miss Emma, and a desk, with easy chairs. The contents of the desk were minutely examined, and then after nearly two hours work the remainder of the floor was gone over.

The rooms occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Borden, deceased, were furnished in old-fashioned style, the bed being low and the other furniture heavy. The only other room on the floor was practically unfurnished."

--I checked The Evening Standard, The New York Times, skimmed thru Knowlton Papers and found the "red" description right back there before Mrs. Percy's description in Rebello's Lizzie Borden Past and Present.
I don't think we have to necessarily believe the description.
Recall too, I checked the source documents also for *red* furnishings. I went ahead and provided the whole segment for those who don't have the book.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:28 am

Hurray- I never doubt Len- that's where I saw it!

Of ocurse Red could have been the darker maroon-red, not fire engine red.

Lizzie Borden Society Forum

The House

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