Inside Marlsgate; The South's Gilded Age

Welcome back to Preservation Travels with Lane and Kevin here at Our Restoration Nation. Today we're so proud to bring you Marl's Gate, a neoclassical revival masterpiece designed by famed architect Charles Thompson and nestled here in the heart of our home state of Arkansas. This beautiful property was occupied by the Dorch family for generations and still stands today as a testament to neoclassical architecture. Come along with us today as we give you a tour of this beautiful home. Marl's Gate sits at the center of the Dorch Plantation, located near Scott, Arkansas. Marl's Gate occupies the site of a much earlier plantation house and faces Bearskin Lake, one of many small lakes formed by the changing course of the nearby Arkansas River. Designed by noted Arkansas architect Charles L. Thompson, Marl's Gate was completed in 1904. Together, the house and outbuildings represent plantation life in the Mid-South during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, while serving as the primary residence for three generations of the Dorch family. It was also the headquarters for farming operations of the Dorch Plantation under the stewardship of William Dorch. Approximately 100 tenant families lived on the Dorch Plantation. By the time of his death in 1913, the farm had grown to 7,000 acres. Over the years, farming operations included raising cotton and soybean, growing hay and corn for feeding cattle and mules, and dairy. More than 25 farm structures dating from 1888 to 1930 remain on the Dorch Plantation. Marl's Gate is a two and a half story structure crowned with a high-hipped roof. A two-story portico supported by square brick columns with ionic capitals dominates the facade. A second story balcony projects over the entry and features urn-shaped balusters and paired brackets. Many of the original buildings from Marl's Gate Plantation have been relocated here to the Scott Settlement Plantation site. This is the original main house for the Dorch Family Plantation. This home is representative of the architectural style of most southern plantations and farmer's homes, not the ideal we've been given to the movies like Gone with the Wind and Jezebel. This amazing property was built as the culmination of years of hard work by the Dorch Family and has every bell and whistle included in it to show off that hard work and wealth. So let's start here in the main entryway. Again, as always, the space that guests would have been greeted for generations as they came into the home and are still greeted today when they come in for tours, weddings, and social events. You enter through the original front door that has its beveled glass and two side lights that retain their original beveled glass. But one of the things that is so spectacular about this property is that every single room has a unique pressed tin ceiling. Here in the entryway, we have what is reminiscent of a coffered ceiling from Tudor-era England, stunning throughout the entry. And then the pièce de résistance in the entryway, this grand central stair flanked on either side by fluted ionic columns. And these are quintessential ionic columns with the egg and dart molding at the top and the fluting entering up on a grand oak staircase. Pretty impressive for your friends and guests who would have made their way out into the country across from Bearskin Lake to visit the Dortch family. Now let's go into the double parlor and see what treasures are in there. Here we are in the beautiful front formal parlor. Again, you can't help but have your breath taken away by these pressed tin ceilings in this room featuring putti and a griffin motif all around the perimeter of the room. I have to draw your attention to the incredible height of these ceilings. These are 13-foot ceilings and all the doors are 12-foot tall doors. They're absolutely monumental. I look minuscule compared to the size of these doors and I love that. But this room is full of opulent details in every corner. You'll notice all of the original glass is still intact and is beveled. You'll see that this room is set for entertaining. Can you imagine having your wedding or social event here? I certainly can. Let's take a look at the beautiful dining room. Here we are in the monumental dining room. Look at this table set for a dinner party filled with fine china and silver. The current owners of this home have absolutely filled it with exquisite 19th and 20th century antiques. And as a collector myself, I want to go shopping in here. But again, I want to point your attention to the ceilings. Another beautiful and unique pressed tin design featuring oak leaf acorn and flower swags. My favorite detail in this room is this beautiful Eastlake overmantel. The Eastlake period is my favorite period in decoration and design. And this is a stunning example of the period in gilt. I love it. A beautiful room that has hosted dinner parties for generations. I also love this incredible side door entrance into the dining room with the glass panel at the top. I have to confess to you, I'm a little puzzled as to the glass panel's purpose because it stands at about 10 feet tall. So unless the servants that served here were 10 feet tall, I don't know what that glass panel is for. It's a mystery for all of us to find out together. Let's go across the hall into the family's parlor. Through the opposing set of 11 foot pocket doors, we come into the family's private parlor. You'll notice this space is slightly smaller, relatively speaking, a little more intimate scale. Another beautiful pressed tin ceiling. You're going to hear me say that over and over and over in this video, but each room has a unique design. I don't know that I've ever had the privilege of viewing a property that has this many unique tin patterns in a residential property. But my favorite part of this room is actually what it's connected to. There's a four season room out here. That's my favorite space on the entire downstairs. It's informality mixed with just a hint of high style make it perfect for me. Come through. Don't miss this incredible egg and dart door with its dental molding and original beveled glass. If we had any doubts to the date of construction of this home, this door screams 1904 neoclassical revival that egg and dart design quintessentially this period. Well, here it is a four season sun room off of the informal family parlor. But look at this massive fireplace with its original mantle, which I imagine was originally stained from the patterning that I can see on the paint. I have a feeling that there's a shellac underneath here, but my favorite part are these hand painted tiles. Again, do we guess that maybe the first lady of the house painted these and have them installed here? It's a beautiful nature scene with hunting dogs in some of my favorite colors of the period. So yes, this mantle piece and this space are one of my favorites in the house. This is a first floor bedroom, and I have a feeling it served that purpose from the beginning of the construction of this property. This is one of my favorite bedrooms because it is decorated in mostly an empire style. Here we have an incredible empire full tester bed. I'll tell you the difference between a full tester and a half tester a little bit later on in the tour. Behind me is a beautiful burl wood chest of drawers with mother of pearl inlay on the pools. And in this incredible fireplace mantle with once again, these one by six tiles that you know are a weakness of mine. These in this incredible blue green glaze topped with a gilt over mirror. I love this space. And of course, what do we have but another magnificent, magnificent pressed tin ceiling. This house is full of treasures around every corner. So let's go up that grand stair and see what's hiding up there. Every inch of morals gate is literally filled with treasure, whether it be architectural or antique. Come up to the landing. Let's take a look at the stained glass that's hiding behind the beautiful portiers. Can you imagine being a debutante and making your grand debut down this staircase? Okay, now, some of you can't at all. That's beyond your comprehension in any way, shape or form, but I can. I would love to make a grand entrance down this stairway. But this landing has some really special elements. First of all, is the original stained glass that remains in the transoms above this huge pier mirror. Now, I do want to address this. Most people know, but some people get a little confused. The space in between two windows, like these, the architectural term for that space is the pier, P-I-E-R, not P-E-E-R. And this is a pier mirror designed to fit neatly into that architectural space to bounce light around a space. Here, we would not have had a lot of light. So this would have served to illuminate the area. We often see pier mirrors that are short and they have mirrors underneath, and people mistakenly call those petticoat mirrors. And it's a myth, it's an apocryphal story, that those mirrors were for young ladies to check their petticoats before they went out to make sure their petticoats weren't showing. But in fact, they're just pier mirrors that help bounce light around a space. So there's your little bit of antique history along with this beautiful homes history. Let's look at the bedrooms upstairs. Look at this enormous second floor landing. This is as big as a lot of people's homes. This is a huge home, 11,500 square feet total. And above us is another exquisite coffered pressed tin ceiling with egg and dart design, as well as a cornucopia filled with fruits and flowers. Kevin says this may be his favorite ceiling, but I'm not sure which one is my favorite. Let's take a look at all of these beautiful individual bedrooms. Well, here we have a half tester bed. Downstairs we had the full tester, here we have the half tester. Not a full canopy, only a half canopy. Full canopies, full tester beds were originally designed so that the occupant could be surrounded by curtains. Those canopies were made to hold full curtaining, which would have held in warmth in the winter, and then served in the summer with mosquito net to keep out insects. As ventilation improved, as time went on, we didn't need quite the full draping, so the trend went to the half tester bed, and this is an Eastlake half tester. I have two of these just waiting to be put back together and installed in Helen when we have her ready to go, so I can't wait to look at them like this. This bedroom also features an incredible pressed tin ceiling. The ceilings in the bedrooms up here are in the Art Nouveau style, so you'll see a much more free-flowing floral design in these pressed tin ceilings. And then, of course, we have this exquisite ebonized living room set. Full parlor set in this space. Bedroom number one, full of treasure. Let's see what else we can find. Well, here we're in a multi-purpose room between two of the large bedrooms. The owners currently have this gorgeous gilt French Provincial set in here, and a beautiful crystal chandelier. Again, the pressed tin ceilings have that Art Nouveau design, but originally, this space could have been a number of things, and I would love to know how it was intended. It could have been a bedroom, a small bedroom, which might have served for a servant for the two occupants of the larger bedrooms. It could have been a dressing room for the ladies. It could have been a sitting room, or it could have been a nursery, but this is a wonderful connecting space between two beautiful bedrooms. And this is the second bedroom that connects to that space in between, the in-between room. Another glorious Art Nouveau pressed tin ceiling. I'm going to point them out in every room because I may never get a chance to do it again. And here we have a full canopy bed. Now, what is this? Most of you know, but some of you may not. This is a bed warmer. Back when it was cold, you'll see these rooms don't have fireplaces. The bedrooms upstairs don't have fireplaces, and that's not unusual here in the South. It's very warm all year round. We rarely have truly, truly extended periods of cold weather, but we do get some cold nights. So you fill your bed warmer with hot coals from the fire, you run it under the sheets, and then you hop in, and your bed is toasty warm. Let's go on and see the other bedrooms. Another glorious pressed tin ceiling. What can I say? Absolutely stunning in the Art Nouveau design. This bedroom features a full four poster, full canopy, Eastlake design bed. So it's a really unique transition piece because usually by the time we're into that Charles Eastlake aesthetic, we have half testers, not four poster, full canopies. So it's a wonderful and unique example of the type. And then, of course, this Tremont mirror, which is beautiful in the French design. This house is filled with treasures everywhere I turn. There's something else I want to take home with me. And the owner of this house obviously has the same passion that I do for China. So it's a problem for me walking through here. Come along to the other rooms. One of the most difficult things to integrate into these historic homes are modern bathrooms that don't feel anachronistic to the space. And I think these homeowners have done an incredible job making this very functional, very modern bathroom feel like it was always here. This is the room that has my favorite pressed tin ceiling just because of the way that it's been painted. One of my favorite colors, a beautiful periwinkle blue with white trim. I love the ceiling and I love this very functional, very important, but very appropriately done space. And here we are in the last of the bedrooms upstairs. Again, you'll notice no fireplace up here. I am passionate about John Jelliffe designed furniture. And here we have a Jelliffe couch with the matching side chair. Absolutely stunning. And yes, I want to take it home with me. And another Eastlake half tester bed. The homeowners have done an incredible job sourcing magnificent period appropriate antiques to fill these spaces. Now we have a real treat for you. We're going to the fourth floor. All right, you want to get me excited? This is how you get me excited. You go downstairs and you visit with the current owner about all the beautiful China in the house. And you say to her, I collect China and I'm passionate for it. And then she tells you, well, you know that the last Miss Dorch who lived here had her own kiln. And anytime anyone in the area got married, had a baby or had their come out, she would paint China for them. And this cabinet is full of hand painted China done by Mrs. Dorch who lived here for many years. The thing that's really special about all of it on the backs, it's signed by her, the year it was painted and for whom it was made. Not only that, but do you remember when we were just downstairs in that sunroom and I was telling you how much I love those tiles and maybe they were painted by the lady of the house? We got it confirmed. They were in fact painted by the lady of the house, the great, great grandmother of the last occupant of this home. I'm not crying with envy. You're crying with envy. This space is my dream space, a conservatory or an orangery, whichever you prefer. This space is glorious. Kevin and I both agree that we would take this property and live just right here, very happily listening to the trickle of the fountain and watching the koi swim in the pond. What better place to wish you well and say goodbye than inside this beautiful dream space. Thank you for joining us today on our tour of Marl's Gate and don't forget, you can rent this space and make it your location for your dream wedding or corporate event or enjoy a tour with one of the many charter group tours that come through here every year. We'll see you next time.