I searched in vain in my old albums for a photo of someone standing next to a chair (as in the Sepia prompt photo.) In my inherited photos, if there is a chair, there is usually someone sitting on it, though!
However, in one of the envelopes I've been going through recently, I found a photo of my grandfather Gustaf as a young man, sitting alone on a chair on/in the "glass veranda" at the farm Storegården, which belonged to my grandmother Sally's family. Gustaf was friends with Sally's younger brother Nils; and in the mid 1920s, when Gustaf was trying to change his career from a shoemaker's apprentice to becoming a journalist, Nils' family let him rent a room with them (probably in a small cottage on the grounds rather than in the main house). (Cf. my post for SS 773 - The Desk.) I would date the photo below to around that time (mid 1920s) - after Gustaf had recently moved to the farm to live, but before he and Sally became romantically involved.
It was not an open veranda, but more like an extra room with many windows - and probably no heating, so primarily used in summer.
In one of the albums, there is this photo of Sally and Gustaf. They seem to be sitting in the same corner of the veranda as in the first photo, but now with plants behind them. My guess is that this is from their engagement (Sept 7, 1929).
This photo shows what the veranda looked like from the outside. (The entrance door is to the right, I know from other photos.) Two of the women are unknown to me. Standing at the back are Gustaf, one of the guests, and Sally. Sitting down are another guest, Hildur (Sally's older half-sister), Selma (mother of Hildur, Sally and Nils), and Hildur's fiancé Olle.
To finish off, a photo of Gustaf some 25-30 years later than in the first photo; sitting and looking contemplative. Possibly on the sofa in his own kitchen (that door behind him could be to the larder). But I'm not sure. It might also be somewhere unknown to me.
Linking to Sepia Saturday 779
So the enclosed veranda was like a sunroom & as you surmised, probably used more in warm spring & summer weather. We'd use one here in the late spring, summer, and early fall to keep cool. We have a lovely patio, but when the warm weather temps start climbing into the 90Fs & 100Fs, we need somewhere else to keep cool, yet still seem like being outdoors. A sunroom with AC would be the perfect place.
ReplyDeleteIn the picture of Gustaf & Sally, likely to be of their engagement, he looks positively smitten. :)
I love how so many of your family's photos like these have a comforting quality of soft sunlight. It gives them a glow that adds a personality to the place. As i write this at my computer in my studio, I recognize that this room on the second floor of my house was once like your "glass veranda" on the farmhouse. It was originally called a "sleeping porch" and many historic houses in my neighborhood and throughout the southern states have them, though most were later enclosed like mine. Back in the era before air-conditioning during the hot summer months people moved their beds into an upper porch room with open or screened windows. It was especially practical for children or invalids. However recent climate changes have made our mountain summers much warmer so we've installed a heat-pump for cooling and heating this uninsulated space.
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