The Waltons House (Earl Hamner, Jr. Homeplace)

Happy October to you!  Don't you love this time of year?  I hope you all had a nice weekend; ours was nice -- and short.  I know the days will be flying by from now until Christmas.  Yikes!

As promised, I'm going to show you my pictures from inside Earl Hamner's childhood home.

I keep calling this the Walton House, but actually The Walton House was a set in Hollywood.  One of the other people on our tour said she had heard that particular set house (with some modifications) was used for "The Gilmore Girls."  Don't know if this is true or not.

This was the house that viewers saw on the show every week,

and this is the house in Schuyler (pronounced SKY-ler) Virginia, where Earl Hamner, Jr. and his seven siblings grew up.  Earl Hamner, Jr. was the creator, narrator, and main writer of "The Waltons," and the real-life Hamner is who the TV character, John-Boy, was modeled after.  Let's look inside the house now.

The front door opens directly into the living room.  Our guide told us that the only original piece of furniture in this room is the piano.  There was a Waltons special playing on the television, and I believe that is Earl Hamner, Jr. onscreen in this picture.  You can see one of the show's Emmy statues on top of the piano.  The show won 13 Emmys during its time on the air.

I have to tell you I loved this house.  It just felt so homey and cozy to me.  It had wood floors throughout, and they all looked spotless.  :)  The floors downstairs are the original wood floors; the upstairs wood floors were added years later.  You can tell from the first two pictures that the TV
house was bigger than the real house in Virginia.

The upstairs hallway --

and the girls' bedroom.  My sister and I shared a bedroom until I was ten years old.  We had spool beds very similar to these, but ours weren't painted white.  Notice the ruffles on the window shades coordinate with the curtains.

This is the boys' room.  I absolutely love those quilts.  We were told that Earl (John-Boy) shared this room with three brothers.  By the time the fifth boy was born, Earl was ready to leave for college, so apparently there were always four boys sharing this room.  I don't see how the beds were big enough, do you?  Earl Hamner, Jr.'s parents actually had eight children -- five boys and three girls.  The show's producers pared it down to seven children in the show, four boys and three girls.  This was done purely to save money and avoid paying another actor.  We were told that Earl's mother used to say that she could afford eight children, but CBS could only afford seven. 😉

This desk represents John-Boy's desk, where, in the show, he usually stayed up late at night writing.  The guide told us they hung this light over the desk as a tribute to Earl Hamner, Jr. (he died in 2016 at the age of 92) and this light in the window will always remain on.  These windows had the prettiest, blue ticking-stripe curtains with shades made of matching fabric.  It's hard to see the stripes on the shades because the sun is so bright in the pictures.

This was Earl and Doris Hamner's bedroom (John and Olivia Walton on the show).  Another pretty quilt; with a double wedding ring pattern.

This lamp is like the pink lamp that we saw in the show.  I didn't notice when we were in the room, but in looking back at the pictures, this dressing table is similar to the one in our guest bedroom below.

Did you notice all the colorful braided rugs throughout the house?  They looked so pretty on these wooden floors.




Now for the kitchen.  :)  This buffet looks like tiger oak to me.  We were told that the dishes are Spode "Red Room."  I like the twisted walking stick in the corner.

Now this is what I call a farm table.  Our guide told us it took five people to get this table into the kitchen.  It was handmade to replace the one which was originally in the house.  The original went with one of Earl's sisters.

These green and white gingham curtains were so cheerful in the kitchen.

Aren't these floors in great shape?

Here's the other end of the kitchen -- love that skirt under the counter, the farm sink, and the wooden ice box.

I (mostly) cropped the people out here so you can focus on the details of the room.  Our sweet guides invited us all to stay for iced tea and cookies after the tour.

I cropped this picture to give you a closer view.  The black part of the sign represents a young man with glasses sitting at a desk writing.  The inscription at bottom reads, "In memory I go there each night, I stand beside the gate, look up to the house, and once again I hear the voices of my mother and father, my brothers and sisters as we call goodnight to each other before we sleep."
-Earl Hamner, Jr.

Registered Virginia Landmark
Est. 1915

Good night John-Boy -- Rest In Peace
1923-2016

Thank you all for stopping by and have a great week!

XX,

Denise