In search of limestone

The BBB went to Paris - Ontario that is -  in search of a setting to photograph our new Antique Wax tote in the unusual shade we call Limestone.  We arrived at  Maus Park Antiques and the adjacent gracious manor Maus Park owned by  antique collector/dealer Douglas Stocks.  We soon left the 21st century and entered the rarefied world of 18th & 19th century antiques and hurrah - oodles of  stone, rock, granite and yes limestone too! 

The original owners, the Maus family, were United Empire Loyalists who moved to Upper Canada from Pennsylvania in the late 1700s.  In 1850 a Scottish architect was hired to build  the house.  On the front he used Scottish granite whose former function was as  ballast on the sailing ship over,  local fieldstone on the back, and sills, lintels and quoining all made from quarried Guelph limestone. 

The architecture is Georgian, but Maus Park reminded me - no pun intended - of a French mas, a house or farm found in the south of France typically made from stone.   I am not extensively travelled, but a friend of a friend rented her mas to us for a family vacation in a small French village called Uzes.  if building materials and structures have a personality, and I believe they do, Maus Park had the personna wrought of stone like a mas.  So there's the French connection for you.

Douglas was kind enough to give us a guided tour of his home; with his keen eye and colour sense it was quite a compliment that he seemed to be genuinely fond of our tote.  And then we were introduced to 'buddha'!  Douglas pointed up at a carved stone bust seated atop a cabinet that I could not begin to describe and commented " only 1000 years old".  Mr. or Mrs.? Not sure. It looked down on us with supreme serenity.  Douglas's second comment:  it's limestone.  So tote and Buddha hit it off, you might say. The colour of the limestone  and the hue of our antique waxed cotton were eerily in tune.

So it was truly a wonderful day amidst rare and beautiful objects indoors, amazing stone architecture and gorgeous grounds and gardens outdoors.  Thank you to Mr. Stocks.  And I highly recommend a drive to Paris - Ontario that is -  and a visit to Maus Park Antiques .