Responsible for the future......

"The vast possibilities of our great future will become realities only if we make ourselves responsible for that future."

~ Gifford Pinchot (1865 - 1946) ~

One thing that I have been learning a lot about on this trip is environmental science. In fact, it is one of the classes that I just finished for my associates degree. I was excited to visit Grey Towers National Historic Site in Milford, Pennsylvania.

http://www.fs.fed.us/na/gt/index.shtml

Besides being a beautiful old historic mansion with lovely gardens and landscaping, it was owned by an amazing man who was a pioneer in conservation. We took the tour through the mansion. I was disappointed that it only showed the three downstairs rooms and the grounds. From what I understand, the first tour of the day on Saturday does a complete mansion tour and if we were staying in the area, I would definitely do that tour.

A view of the hills

Tower

A view of the back of the mansion

The guide had a scavenger hunt book for the kids to do while on the tour. They really enjoyed that. They got to get a prize at the end of the tour for completing it.

Sky and Liam with the scavenger book

The great hall had a lot of furniture that the Pinchots had collected on their travels. This was their summer home.

The building itself was based on a French chateau design. In France, the home owners were taxed by the amount of closets they had... so people used wardrobes instead of closets. The Pinchots followed this tradition in the mansion.

A corner of the library

The library was immense and very impressive. There was a set of hand tinted books on New York that were appraised at $10,000 for the set.

The last room of the tour was painted with "trump de l'oeil" paintings throughout. This room and fireplace were painted with a nautical theme.

The grounds had some interesting buildings and walkways. Everything was done in stone. We really enjoyed walking the grounds and learning about the Pinchot family.

The reflecting pool

Stone walkway

The baitbox - a "playhouse"