Meet Gray House

Gray House is a grand old lady, but a bit rough around the edges when Kelly Frost first caught sight of her on historic County Street in New Bedford, Mass.

Inside, though, like many forgotten places, the entryway made her stop and stare.

We did the same when my finally-thawed-out hubby and I visited the Rotch-Jones-Duff House on County Street. The historic mansion was once the home of a whaling merchant and passed through several families' hands until it became a museum.

That frozen December day two years ago, my hubby and I stopped there for a tour. Nobody else except writers on a research trip would have ventured out on a weekday to a house-turned-museum, so I felt very special that we sort of had the "run" of the place. I snapped photos to my heart's content. Thankfully, my Cowboys fan hubby likes history and old homes, too.

Exquisite details with the light fixtures,
many of which are original 

 The entryway,  decked out for Christmas

The main staircase of the Rotch-Jones-Duff mansion

Thawed-out Cowboys fan wearing Patriots hat
poses by one of the many fireplaces.

In the formal dining room. This mansion didn't have a
ballroom, as Gray House does. 

But what dinner parties they must have had here.

  

And here's me, wearing a giddy author-grin while I
stand in the mansion's front parlor. 

And this is the mansion next door (how many times do you
get to say that?), a Greek revival structure that is
now office space (yawn).

And this under-appreciated gem was a few doors down
on the opposite side of the street. Built in the 1850s, it
provided the perfect outside inspiration for Gray House.