5hensandacockatiel

[5hensandacockatiel]

I feel like we all can agree that Kaya is one of the most underrated American Girls.

[5hensandacockatiel]

Kirsten and I had a fun time celebrating her birthday last night 💕

[5hensandacockatiel]

And the second post of Wallpapers from AG’s website, circa 2007!

[5hensandacockatiel]

Just went through AG’s website from 2007 and found all of these old “wallpapers”! Wanted to immortalize them here. I’ll be sharing another post with the rest. 

[5hensandacockatiel]

Live the American Girl Dream in the Home of Samantha Parkington

Here’s a grand Second Empire style mansion in Westchester County brimming over with 19th century charm and enough 20th century pop culture bona fides to give it some extra cachet.

Depending on your cultural touchstones, the house on the market at 81 West Main Street in Mount Kisco, N.Y., might look familiar as either the “Ragtime” house or the Samantha Parkington house.

To architecture buffs the house is a textbook example of Victorian style with mansard roofs, a tower, bay windows, a heavy bracketed cornice and iron cresting along the roofline. Alas, no architect has been identified as of yet. Pattern books were plentiful during this period, providing inspiration and even architect-designed plans for local builders to follow, though whether this was the case for the Mount Kisco house is not clear.

What is generally agreed upon is that the house was built after the Civil War and likely around 1877 — although at least one source cites an 1865 construction date. A date in the 1870s makes sense stylistically for the house and also based on the early ownership. Locally it’s known as the Carpenter house after 1870s owner Theodore Carpenter. Carpenter was there at the official beginning of Mount Kisco, serving on the first board of trustees in the newly incorporated village in 1875.

The cover art for the American Girl Doll book ‘Meet Samantha’ features a likeness of the Carpenter House. 

For American Girl Doll fans who grew up immersed in the tales of the plucky turn-of-the-century orphan Samantha Parkington, the house should be instantly recognizable as the home of Samantha’s grandmother, Grandmary. Samantha was one of the original history-based dolls launched by American Girl in the 1980s with period appropriate clothing and accessories as well as books to go along with the dolls.

The writer of the early Samantha books, Valerie Tripp, evidently grew up in Mount Kisco and used the Carpenter house as the model for Samantha’s family home.

This association led to a bit of a preservation scuffle in the 1990s when Pleasant Rowland, the founder of American Girl, announced plans to purchase the Carpenter house and turn it into a house museum based on the fictional Samantha. According to a New York Times article of 1995 [x], the town objected to a business in a residential district, the plan was rejected and the house stayed on the market.

The home sold to the current owner in 1997, and it certainly is a looker, with tons of original interior detail to match the grand exterior.

There’s over 3,600 square feet of space and while no floor plan is included, the listing images show plenty of spaces for hosting tea parties, literary salons or whatever your time-travel entertainment fantasies may be. If you are a true Samantha devotee you might take up some needlework in the parlor for the designated hour as Grandmary insisted Samantha do.

The house is listed for $1.6 million by David Turner of Houlihan Lawrence.

Link to full article (including interior photos) at Brownstoner.

[5hensandacockatiel]

Laughing so hard at this. As a 13 year old I reached out to every former AG theatre actress on YouTube (of all places) and asked for Circle/Revue stories.

unstoppable force of my obsession with american girl and burning desire to finally hear kaya’s ag revue song vs immovable object of me being anxious and not wanting to bother the actresses by asking if they have a recording

[5hensandacockatiel]

Welcome to book edits for  the gals who never got them! AG for the love of God bring them back,,,

[5hensandacockatiel]

Absolutely fantastic.

sometimes you have to make the american girl fan art you want to see in the world

[5hensandacockatiel]

This is one of my favorite things! Haven’t heard this song in years. 

Kirsten’s Webpage Theme -2005

I wish this tune was longer :’(

[5hensandacockatiel]

Watching Doctor Who for the first time in ten years!! I finally understand “Ten and Rose” 😭 Currently on series 4, and I am LOVING Donna so much. Can’t imagine any other companion topping her. Who’s your favorite doctor/companion duo?

[5hensandacockatiel]

Corinne and Gwynn hanging out by the fire 🥰

[5hensandacockatiel]

A photo of my new Corinne!! I love her to pieces!!

[5hensandacockatiel]

I’ve always loved this moment in Elf so much 😂 Absolutely needed to recreate it.

[5hensandacockatiel]

“The puffiest in the world.”

This scene between Anne and Matthew will always have my heart! I never fail to cry whenever I watch it.

[5hensandacockatiel]

Felicity tried to get out of apple butter making, and instead enjoyed the sunny morning on her roof ☺️

[5hensandacockatiel]

Kaya’s enjoying the last of the lovely autumn weather before the rain sets in! 

[5hensandacockatiel]

Just a sweet, simple portrait of Evette. She’s become one of my favorite dolls over the last couple of weeks. I always reach for her for a photoshoot!