Presidential Sites Part 3: James Buchanan's Wheatland

Do you know who our only bachelor president was?

How about who was president when South Carolina seceded from the US?

I’ll give you a hint…

Yup, it was our 15th president James Buchanan and if you’re wondering why on earth I would care to share this with you, well I’ll tell you.  

Last summer when I was in Lancaster PA for a few days off with some wonderful friends we decided to swing by James Buchanan’s home and take a tour.  There is no question I am the “house tour” junkie of the group but I somehow convinced my pals to go along with me on my tour….miracle in itself since my friend’s husband is not so much of a history buff (I think he’s secretly coming around though…).

James Buchanan moved to Wheatland in 1848 so you might expect a 19th century version of a bachelor pad for our bachelor president but you’d be very wrong…there were no beer light signs or pin up girl paintings anywhere in site.  

Wheatland from the front
photo source

The back entrance of Wheatland...the tour starts from here.

Wheatland is a magnificent Federal style house on a country estate. It is presented in such a livable way you can almost imagine him welcoming his cronies in his library.  

James Buchanan wrote the story of his presidency from this desk.  All of the furnishings in this room are original
to Buchanan and the flooring is copied from documented etchings of the time 

One of the terms of Buchanan agreeing to run for president in 1856 was that Wheatland would be his campaign headquarters so he could remain on the estate he loved so much…as a result the home was well documented in newspapers of the time so the interiors today are decorated as they were in James Buchanan’s time.

Pictures of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert hang in the parlor...they were sent to Buchanan by the Queen
herself!

Since James Buchanan was never married he designated “first lady” duties to his niece Harriett…you can definitely feel her presence in the furnishing choices at Wheatland…can you imagine a President of the 19th century selecting this fabulous pink china pattern?

Wheatland changed ownership a couple of times after James Buchanan’s death but luckily it underwent no major renovations and in the 1930’s was bequeathed to the Lancaster Junior League for preservation and eventually opened to the public.  

James Buchanan's bedroom

One of the things I liked best about Wheatland was while this is a museum in the sense that today it’s open to the public and honors the life of an American President this home really is true to presenting Buchanan’s home life not his presidency.

Amish Country Antiquing - Adamstown Antiques

I have needed an official vacation for a while now…one of those vacations where nothing is planned and there is no stress what-so-ever.  I try to get at least one in during the summer since it’s such a short season here but this summer has been busy and tough to find a place in the schedule where it would work…finally I just blocked the time and have been off all week. 

It’s been wonderful but has been packed…that’s ok, I don’t do “nothing is planned” well anyway.

  

My vacation started with a short trip to Lancaster PA with some excellent friends.  Not planned on my part but I was happy to accept the invitation to join them for a few days and see the sights of Amish country as well as a few other fun things.

Adams Antique Mall
2400 N Reading Road (Rt 272)
Adamstown, PA
photo courtesy of google images

 We spent one very hot afternoon hitting the antique shops in Adamstown…Route 272 is packed with every kind of vintage shop you can imagine from mid-century to primitives to French country…it’s all there (and at every price range).

It took an impressive amount of restraint
(on my friend's part) for this to remain in PA

Our first stop was at the AdamsAntique Mall and we instantly knew we were in the right place with the most wonderful industrial looking pieces in front of the shop. 

it took an impressive amount of restraint (on
my part) for this to remain in PA...second guessing
that now though 

There was a momentary hesitation on our part when we walked through the front door and was faced with row upon row of locked glass cases.

An amazing array of jewelry - talk about self restraint...
would have been harder if it wasn't all behind glass though

We quickly by-passed these and found tons of open booths with wonderful things to browse.  While I understand why shops install these glass cases there is just something very unwelcoming about looking through glass.  I want to see things up close and be able to touch it if I want to (understanding the “you break it, you buy it” rule).

It has truly been a very long time since I have seen
so much depression glass as I saw in the many
shops we visited in PA...so pretty!

Lot's & lot's of vintage Christmas goodies

Loved this piece but it had been "refinished"
and had lost a bit of that rustic charm that
many of these kinds of things have

 This place is huge with more than something for everyone and a fantastic respite from the July heat we were feeling last week.  Even my friend’s husband (who by the way, hates anything “old”) had a fun time rummaging and walked away with some way cool old record albums. 

I ended up picking up the most wonderful pictures….not everyone saw the fun in these that I do but they will learn to enjoy them on future visits to my house (since they are going to be hung in my guest room).

Michael Berry whimsical prints...I don't care I say fun,
fun, fun!

Beautiful piece of wrought iron I am going to hang with
some bone china pin tray's in my dining room.  Friends
husband thought it looked like a large trivet...kinda does
but so much prettier!