Arabella Magazine Feature

We have been working with Arabella magazine on a photo spread and story about Parkwood and our amazing decorative art collection.
With the photo shoot occurring yesterday, Monday and Tuesday were dedicated to primping the estate for the opportunity to showcase Parkwood in all of its finery. On Tuesday afternoon, we were struck by the vast difference of how bringing items out of hiding alters the way the estate looks.  The subtle changes have led the house, which is magnificent every other day of the year, to take on a more "homey" feel and has caused quite a stir among senior staff, who have been debating how we can keep the estate looking the way it is, when the items currently out, are scurried away to storage the other 51 weeks a year as a preservation method.
I think the most compelling change is the return of the carpets to the front hall. These three Sarouk rugs are stunning as individual pieces, but having them adorn the flooring adds an entire layer to the design of the home and quite the sumptuous pieces to trod upon, and there you have it, we are walking on them. These lovely rugs, which were designed for floors ( in some cases 200 years ago), were never designed for thousands of feet to walk over, nor were they designed to survive road grit, winter salt applications, wedding receptions and cocktail parties with greasy phyllo pastry and red wine spills ( I am not going to even mention chocolate fountains!) and there you have why they are hidden away. To be honest, in my 12 years at Parkwood, I have only ever seen them down once before, for a day.
Over the years we have looked at methods of trying to keep the carpets down, perhaps a new carpet runner programme or removing shoes while touring or booties over shoes while touring. Each one has its pros and cons, some cons being a huge financial investment ( new runners) others being that we are told North Americans are not prepared to remove their shoes, (where would I store them if we did) or wear plastic booties, like our European cousins do. Others raise environmental concerns, like the disposal of thousands of plastic booties per year.
What are your thoughts on our carpet dilemma and preservation questions? Do you think that Parkwood National Historic Site could lead the way among Canadian sites and have people wear booties while on tour? Do you think a company would be willing to sponsor a shoe bootie programme at Parkwood?

Why Production Filming at Parkwood?

Pondering this question while we prepare for a film crew this week

We often get asked about production filming at the estate and why we allow it. This question comes from museum colleagues, conservation professionals, visitors and the general public. I have noticed that the public becomes interested after they have tried to visit the estate for a museum experience when filming is occurring and they begin to realise what a nightmare it can be when it comes to the preservation mandate of Parkwood, above and beyond the presentation, or lack of it, when film crews are scurrying about. Otherwise, if just a casual interest, then the idea of filming at the museum is glamorous and exciting.

This is not to disparage the film industry. Parkwood loves working with you and works in tandem with the industry whenever we can. We have made great friends in the field, friendships that have lasted well beyond the shoot days at the estate, and I teach a class to future curators about filming in historic sites and the ways in which we deal with the preservation concerns, which are frankly, the last thing a film production is concerned with. They must meet deadlines, get the film in the can and move on! However, we work together and I believe we are successful in achieving what both of us need. For the film industry, a beautiful location. For Parkwood, preservation.
Ultimately, film production at Parkwood is a much needed revenue source, and although ancillary, just like weddings, to our main purpose, it assists us in achieving our preservation and stewardship role.

Many of our supporters do not realise how the film industry has contributed to our fundraising and capital  campaigns over the years through donations. We are also fortunate to have worked with some great productions that have undertaken the cost of conservation projects. Projects well beyond the dollar figure in my annual budget; carpets and draperies conserved, plaster and linen work completed, even small painting projects, it is all a tremendous help.  Parkwood is a $20 million dollar site, and although interpretation is our business, $10.00 for a tour, does not go very far in regards to the preservation costs of an estate nearing its centennial.

Finally, as much as we hate to admit it, the public find filming fascinating. While we hope that guests visit Parkwood for our story, we know (we hear it) that certain film productions will be forever linked with Parkwood and that may very well be the appeal for a demographic. The museum audience is small and inclined, but the movie market huge, and if that's what gets them through the door initially, we hope we can convert them into a history buff, or at least a museum visitor.

Saying Goodbye....Curatorial thoughts

One of the things that makes Parkwood unique from other historic sites is that we are a 20th century site, and therefore have access to the living memories of area residents about Sam McLaughlin and his family, a rarity in many North American museums, whose mandates cover the 19th century. Beyond the collective memories of Durham Region residents, we have the good fortune to have had access to three of the McLaughlin daughters, grandchildren, their spouses and great grandchildren over the last 12 years. This access has proven valuable in adding anecdotal content to our tours, understanding what it was like to visit over a Christmas season, arriving at the Oshawa train station and having the chauffeur retrieve guests and then the drive to Parkwood.




Adelaide with a few of the grandchildren in Italian Garden

 From a curatorial standpoint, I love that I have the ability to send a quick email with a question to a grandchild,  always receiving an answer within a few hours assisting with elucidating time frames or simply answering an " I wonder" question. I realise how fortunate I am to have this great resource, but also realise how finite that resource is, and one day, I will be among the curators who cannot receive the easy answer or will lose that family connection along with the fantastic anecdotes.
Parkwood always boasts ( I know I do) about our archival collection of approx.15,000 items; from family home movies starting in 1924, the Christmas cards, telegrams, guestbooks, household diaries, recipes. We acknowledge what a great resource this is, but although it is extensive, the real gem is the memories. Stories that help parallel our guests experiences with the experiences of Parkwood. Not everyone has had the autobaron lifestyle or can afford what that lifestyle brings, but most can relate to the grandchild/grandparent relationship or the simple act of eating ( or being forced to eat) porridge on a cold winters morning, which is one of the best received anecdote among the public, attributing to the box of Red River cereal being added to our servery interpretation over the last few years.

With grandchildren

Last week we said goodbye to Phillip Jackson, the widower of granddaughter Diana Phillips Jackson, who grew up in Oshawa at Adelaide House, spending many hours with her grandparents here at Parkwood, and had many stories and memories of the estate, and her special relationship with Adelaide.  Over the last year, I was fortunate to spend several afternoons with Phillip, sorting through family records, and listening to his recollections of meeting and interacting with Sam and Adelaide McLaughlin as their grandson- in- law.

Grandchildren Diana, Michael and Derek Phillips

 He offered wonderful stories about his relationship with the McLaughlins, along with the observances of their relationship with their granddaughter Diana.  My personal favourite story of Phillip's was his version of marriage advice Adelaide had given to Diana after her and Phillip's first row as a married couple. Advice that Diana in turn offered me several years ago while we were at lunch. That afternoon when Diana gave me the advice during a casual chat, Phillip held an interesting expression on his face, but remained silent. It was not until last year, after Diana's passing, that I received his version of the marital advice, always with a humorous bent and a glint in his eye.

 News of the passing of one of our active supporters and providers of tangible links to Parkwood's past reaffirms that Parkwood needs to ensure we collect the memories as soon as possible. The oral history committee has been rounding up stories and recollections for several years and is actively on the look out to collect. Most recently, Jo-Ann was able to connect with a descendant of the household seamstress, who still has pieces from her aunt's work & introduced us to Uncle Wiggly Longears, a Parkwood memory which would have been long lost if not for the connection, the story and the photograph.

Several of the household staff c.1922
Mary Wybrow & Bill Smith
Provided by descendant of Mary Wybrow

Hiding away from the snow in Aiken, South Carolina 1926

The McLaughlin Family would often travel to Aiken, South Carolina in early winter, taking refuge from the winds and chills of Oshawa in January, but also to participate in equestrian events, as the McLaughlin daughters were fine horsewomen. 

Recent research has led us to discover that the 1926 visit to Aiken was important to Parkwood National Historic Site in terms of artefact and archival holdings. Attached is a family film from the 1926 visit. The beginning montage makes one think that the camera may have been a new acquisition of a family member, perhaps a gift of the previous Christmas? As the McLaughlins skip, play, pose and Charleston for the person behind the camera, we see the fun and mischievous side of the family. City of Aiken archives has helped with the identification of the home in the video as being "Dogwood", rented by the McLaughlin's for several years from Mr. and Mrs. Harry S Tainter of New York City, still there today, in private ownership, now called Wisteria Manor.

 

We have also learned that Frank O' Salisbury, portrait painter to the British Royal Family, spent the January and early February in Aiken, S.C., painting the portraits of North American society. Using the playground of the nouveau riche, Aiken, as a means to support his art, something he was having trouble doing in Great Britain after the First World War due to the demise of the pocket books of the landed gentry. (parallels of an Edith Wharton novel). In terms of Curatorial research, scholars studying O' Salisbury have been able to date the sitting of the McLaughlin Family portraits in the Parkwood Dining Room, using O'Salisbury journals, to the first week of February 1926, sans Eleanor (aka Billie) McLaughlin, as she was away at finishing school and not on holiday with the family.

Honouring Colonel Sam: 140th Birthday Challenge

It's Your Heritage Too

Honouring the legacy of Sam McLaughlin~ through heritage conservation.

Whew, it's a lot of work! Preserving a site of the quality and importance of Parkwood has tremendous challenges, but also tremendous rewards to Canada- a gift to the future and an opportunity to learn & take part.

How Does it Work?

We look at repairs to roofs, walls, windows, wiring, fire & saftey systems. We improve temperature, humidity levels and air quality, control light and UV.

Then we treat the room finishes, painting and artwork, furniture, carpets & fabrics & lighting.

So far, so good...

Well great actually, thanks to our donors and supporters. A few examples:

Mansion Structural Repairs          $300k

Landscape Conservation             $2 million                     

Environmental retrofits                 $1.8 million

Conservation of library portraits   $ 8K 

The 140th Birthday Challenge

September 8, 2011 would be Sam McLaughlin's 140th Birthday.

From McLaughlin Day, Monday, August 1, through to his birthday on Thursday, September 8, we are challenging you to send a message to Sam, helping us honour his legacy and safeguard this national treasure.

• Buy a birthday card at the Gift Shop for $5
• Make a birthday donation (gifts of $20 or greater are tax receiptable)
• make a gift on-line at www.canadahelps.org   
• fund a conservation project (great for groups, families, businesses)
• Purchase a ticket(s) to our amazing benefit event, See You in September, in the Formal Garden on his birthday
• Join our volunteer workcrew on October 22, from 10am to 2pm, Garden Goodbye Day, preparing for the winter season