The Grace Lee Mansion. Thats what the sign says.
"The house was tudor style, built of stone and mortar, with wooded doors and window frames. " I decided that wasn't the best way to start off my article. No, it would be sure to get me fired. Revisions later, I decided, and kept writing. The rest is as follows:
"So this here's our front hall, and if you could be mindful of dirt; I like to keep a clean house." She spoke with a slight southern accent that didn't seem out of place amid the soft browns and pastels of the house. Mrs. Lee was still talking, however, and I tuned back in just as she said, "Now, those stairs lead upstairs, where the bedrooms and some other things are, but first I'd like to show you the part of the house that I don't usually go into any detail with the guests. If you'll follow me through this archway..." And we turned the corner, loosing sight of the living room.
"Now," she continued, "that there is the laundry hamper, but next to it is the door leading to the garage, and that first door is the guest bathroom. There's really nothing to see in there, but on the left we have the laundry room. Which is a bit more interesting, so lets go in there."
"Oh, I almost forgot to mention, those bins are where we keep the trash and recycle."
"And- Oh, there's granny. You know what, I just remembered I forgot to put away some books, and I wouldn't have any of your photographs less than perfect. Grace, would you mind taking it from here and showing Miss. Willows around until I get back?"
The white haired lady spoke, "Well, Maria, you do realize I have things to do around the house too." She nodded pointedly at her laundry.
"Thankyou, Grandma Grace!" And Mrs. Lee was gone.
"And done." Said Grandma Grace, "Well, Miss. Willows, I see you have had the pleasure of meeting my daughter in law. She thinks she runs the place, but let me tell you, I'm the real person in charge. You don't keep a great big house like this going by yourself-unless your me, of course. I was here first, and don't you forget it. The house is even named after me! Grace Lee Mansion; thats me, Grace Lee. This," she gestured with her hands, "is all the work of my husband. And not just the laundry room, either-"
"Yes, thank you, Granny," interrupted Mrs. Lee, "I'm sure Mrs. Willows is a very busy person and we shouldn't keep her for too long. So, let me just get this in the hamper for you, Granny, and we'll be on our way." Grandma Grace closed the door to the laundry room with a hmph.
"You can do that yourself."
"Well, I am sorry about that. As you may have realized we don't really get along. Granny didn't want me to marry Andrew, Mr. Lee, you see, but more on that later. I want to show you the better parts of the house, now." I followed her back out into the hall, and into the great room.
"So, this is the dinning room. And those pots were made by my husband, while he was away in Japan doing pottery. So, they're very treasured in our household. The vase behind me, aswel." She waved vaguely behind her, and turned her attention to a child at her feet. "Oh, and this is our daughter, Sara, Sara Lee. Do you want to say hi, Sara?" The little girl, who had been playing with a stuffed bunny, ducked behind the couch before I could completely snap a picture, and a muffled 'No' could be herd from under there.
"Well, I guess not right now, but there'll be plenty of time for that in the interviews." She pointed at me. "Now, you're standing in the living room, right now, so If you'd like to switch places with me, you can get a better picture."
"There you are. Well, I'd be lying if I said we spent a lot of time here. It's not much, even though I've done what I could with it; Granny insisted that we put up those paintings by her late husband. And while we've honored her wishes, I'm beginning to regret it." She pursed her lips for a moment, forgetting I was there, then suddenly spoke as if a new thought had occurred to her. "Andrew spends most of his time in the garage, working on his Prius, or at the studio working on his sculpting. When I'm not cooking or cleaning or keeping little Sara in order, I'm doing social things like this all day, and there's never been much time to find a use for this room. Anyway, lets go see the kitchen."
"So, through here is the kitchen. It's really quite a lovely place to cook."
"Ah, I needed that." She said after plopping herself down in a chair. "Now, this is really handy because I can cook and watch Sara do her homework, at the same time. It's also a really lovely place to just sit in the mornings and have a cup of coffee. Just relax before the day starts.
*Sorry for this photo, I have a mac, so I have to do screenshots and my tab button wasn't working properly for half of these.*
"The last thing on this floor would be the garage, and the porch, which is more of a back door, seeing as we haven't put anything in yet."
"Anyway, there's nothing really left to see down here, so why don't we go on upstairs and I can show you the second floor!"
"That sounds good!" I replied, and we returned to the front hall, where the stairs were located.
"Now, this is the upstairs hall, and behind you is a reading nook, but we'll get to that later. For now, lets start in the room farthest from the stairs, which got cut out of your picture, I see." She gave me a disapproving look as she opened the door for me.
"Yes, well, this is Granny's room. You can see that she's a bit old fashioned, but I suppose that all comes with being from a different century."
"It's a good thing she's still doing laundry too, or she wouldn't have let me in here in the first place. She'd have insisted on showing you around herself; fancies herself the mistress of the house, you know...."
The room was, as Mrs. Lee said, old fashioned and sparsly decorated, it was the oldest part of the house, however, and seemed to hold the most secrets.
"She does like to pen novels occasionally at her desk, but other than that, the room doesn't get used much. Well, lets move on to the next room."
"Right, so this is the upstairs bathroom, Granny and Sara share it, and Grace manages to keep it pretty clean, despite Sara. A fun fact: the tiles in this bathroom are from Romania and they're very rare; handcut too."
"Now, this is Sara's room. And she's been going through sort of a pirate theme, and we thought we'd indulge her just a little bit, so we got her a new bed that's like a ship - but pink, because she loves the color pink.
"Now, we've only got one more official room to go through, and that's the master suite, which brings us to the final door in the hallway."
"Ah, this bed has been my pride as joy! Custom made, with all the right colors and woods; all the way from Romania as well. It came as a set with the dresser, nightstands, and mirror. Uhg, I was so glad to see the horrible thing Grandma Grace called a bed. She threw a fit, but is was worth it. The pillows are changed every year; we bring in new pillows, but with the same cases, which as silk, by the way."
"Same as the coverlet, but the sheets, however, are the softest cotton and cashmeir anyone could find. It is just the best falling asleep in them, like laying on a floating cloud. Enough about the bed, though-" BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Oh, lord, that must be the dryer! I don't know where Grace is, but I suppose I'll have to take the clothes out. Can't leave these things for too long, you know, my sheets will get wrinkly. Anyway, there's Andrew, my husband, and he'll show you the rest of the way through."
"Hello, Mr. Lee, I'm Julia Willows. Your wife has been showing me the house for the post."
"Ah yes, Miss Willows, I'm Mr. Lee, but you can call me Andrew. I think the only thing left is the bathroom. Now, my wife can go on and on about the curtains, and the porcelain, and the counters, but I think and sometimes just looking at it for a minute or two is enough, don't you agree?"
"Of course," I said.
"I was about to head out for a round of golf with my mates, so I can't stay and show you the rest, but if you look down the hall, there's the reading nook, and there's probably something for you to read while your waiting.
"Thanks, I hope your game of golf goes well..."
...And he was gone; down the stairs, the sound of the garage door slamming echoing throughout the house.
*And last but not least, before the interviews, here are some arial pics of the house.*
I sat down with the family of Grace Mansion later that day. Up first in the interviews was Grace Lee, or Grandma Grace.
"So, you were telling me something before; about the house."
"Ah yes," Said Grace, getting into the swing of things again, "Legend has it, that when my Husband, Manning Lee, built this house, he built it over an ancient caverns, that rumbled from time to time and caused earthquakes. They said the spirits were upset, and they had to calm down. Luckily, Manning built the house here, out of the very stone the caverns were made of, and that appeased them. So now, the spirits live within the walls of this house, and it is forever more protected against bad luck, and bad spirits. Of course, it's just a legend." She winked at me. "Anyway, About me, now. I own this house, and did you know I can't go a day without exercising? Well I can't, even though I'm 75 years old. Lets see, I believe in saving the environment, but not wasting money, which is partly why us Lee's still have our fortune today, and I'm very neat. I can't stand to have anything out of place. Now, I don't think this part's true, but everyone says I snore. I don't know where they get this, because I can't hear a thing once my head hits the pillow, but I thought I'd put that out there if anyone wants to comment on it. Oh, and I love me a good fried peanut butter and banana sandwich."
"My name is Andrew Lee, and I like to golf."
"I sense you're a man of few words, Mr. Lee. Am I right?"
"You are. I like to go to my studio and paint. I also like sculpting and pottery. I want a larger family, but we'll have to wait until Mum dies so we can use her bedroom. Just joking. I've never really been goog at it, but I enjoy playing the guitar."
"Favorite food, color, anything?"
"My wife's pancakes are the best. She makes a mean grape sauce. Other than that, I suppose I like playing latin music on the guitar, and the color yellow has always struck me as majestic."
"What do you do for a living?"
"I sculpt, mostly. Some painting, too. I like to tinker with my Prius; trying my hand at inventing. It's not much, but our family fortune doesn't need it to be much."
"Mmmm, speaking of fortunes...care to elaborate on how your family made yours?"
"Well, My father was the one who hit it big- Gold - in the Sunset Valley Gold Rush. That was before I was born, though. Mum says that when they first came here from Riverview they lived in what was just barely a shack, which is why she keeps everything so clean now; so she won't be reminded of it. Anyway, Dad's company found a vein of gold, and we got rich. You've heard the story about the house, right. Well, I always thought it has some merit; when I was a kid, I thought I heard whispering from the walls. But I guess we all have to grow up, and I did. I met the love of my life, which I never thought would happen because I'm just an artist, with rich parents, and who would want to love somebody like that?"
"I think you've been very lucky, Mr. Lee.
"Andrew, please. It's Andrew."
"Well," I said, "It's only your daughter after this, Mrs. Lee! Besides, I feel like I already know you from the tour."
"Hahaha, yes, me too. I'm so glad you came. We've been delighted with the opportunity to share our heritage with the folks in Sunset Valley."
"So can you tell me a bit about yourself?"
"Yes. Um, lets see. I was born and raised in Starlight Shores, but I went abroad for college, which is where I met Andrew." She smiled. "I promise I didn't go for him because of his fortune, I didn't even know he had one at the time. All I saw was a tall, handsome boy with dark hair that hid his eyes. And you could say that I gave him a haircut," She laughed, "and made him see the world in an entirely different way."
"That's a very touching story, Mrs. Lee. So when did your little girl come around?"
"It was just after we'd gotten back from Champs de la Sims on our 7 year anniversary, and we decided that we wanted a little boy or girl - just one, and about a year later, we found ourselves with little Sara! Of course, now she's not so little, and we had to bring Granny round to the idea of sharing a bathroom, but I think it's the best thing that's happened to our little family. If you ask me, I'd say she's even glad to have the girl around."
"Yes, the elder Mrs. Lee may seem a little harsh on the outside, but off the record, I can tell she has a good heart." I told Maria Lee confidently. "So, tell me a little more about your interests."
"I originally went to school to be a business woman, maybe go into sales or something, because I always knew that's what I wanted to be. But after I met Andrew, well, and he says I am a bit dramatic, I just lost that purpose in life, that I had had before. And he filled that gap; became my new purpose. So now, as I told you before, I take social calls a keep the house clean. Or help granny keep the house clean. I absolutely love classical music - and the color violet, although Grandma Grace likes green, and she chose our color scheme. Anyway, I can't stand the way she snores at night, it's like sirens are going off and it's a wonder she doesn't wake the whole neighborhood up. Anyway, I do like to cook, although my favorite is breakfast because I get to serve Fruit Parafait. "
"I can tell you two are very much in love, even though you don't see each other much."
"Yes," said Mr. Lee, "I think that she's beautiful, and wonderful, and always know what to do in sticky situations."
"Oh, well, I wouldn't -"
"Shh! And I love her very, very, much."
"How 'bout a kiss for the camera?"
"What do you say, love?" Said Mr. Lee, "A kiss?"
They obliged, and I moved onto Sara Lee, for the next interview.
"Sara Lee, is it?"
"Yes it is. I already know what you're going to say. You're going to ask me about what I like and to tell you about myself." She said with a little proud smirk.
"That's very good. You're right, I was going to ask you those things. So, would you like to answer them?"
"My name is Sara Lee, and one day this house will be named after me. Also Grandma, but her name can come last. I want to get a dog, and name it lucille, but Mom and Dad won't let me. They say that it's too much of a bother, and that one child is enough. Personally, I'd like to have a bigger family, and one that only eats vegitarian food - because we don't want to hurt the animals. Daddy agrees, but Mom is happy with just me- and her friends." Sara said matter-o-factly. "Between you and me, I think mommy can't wait for grandma to die, only because she wants to use the spare bedroom to start a business or something, but Grandma Grace doesn't look like she's going anywhere anytime soon. And that's the way I like it."
"So, what's your favorite color? Your Mom said you like pink."
"Oh I don't just like pink, I LOVE pink! Pink and country music and I won't be going anywhere. No, no, nope!" She added, shaking her head with each 'no'.
"Haha, alright, well, we'd better bring your parents back in here."
"You have a lovely family, Mr. and Mrs. Lee." I said, in parting, "I enjoyed touring your house and getting to know you very much, and you can be sure that a good story on it all will be out very soon. That, or I'll loose my job, but considering what I've seen here today, I think that's very unlikely."
And that's how I left them, Grace still cleaning, Sara playing on the couch, and the two lovebirds wrapped in each others embrace. They may have money, but that doesn't make them any less human.
-This has been Julia Willows, thank you for reading.
*Brought to you by SnowyMist7
I added some additional pictures at the top, there.
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