W. H. Bickel Estate facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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W. H. Bickel Estate
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 Location in West Virginia
Location in the United States
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| Location | Number One Bickel Mansion Dr., Parkersburg, West Virginia |
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| Area | 5.4 acres (2.2 ha) |
| Built | 1928 |
| Architect | Tenney, Thomas |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 04000027 |
| Added to NRHP | February 11, 2004 |
The W.H. Bickel Estate is a large stone house built a long time ago, between 1928 and 1930. It is located just outside Parkersburg, West Virginia. This amazing house is two and a half stories tall. It measures about 1,800 square feet and has a main part with an extra section on the east side. People know it for its beautiful design and a ghost that some say lives there!
Contents
Inside the Bickel Mansion
The main house is filled with beautiful wood. You'll see fancy floors made of walnut and maple wood, with cool patterns. There are also wooden fireplaces and wood panels on the walls on all three floors.
Special Doors and Windows
On the first floor, there are French doors with 15 glass panes. On the second floor, the doors are made of solid maple wood and have a curved top. The house also has special built-in cabinets for dishes. All the main rooms have decorative molding around the ceiling. The windows are original and made of wood, with screens that roll down and brass handles.
Fireplaces and Staircases
There are five gas fireplaces in the main house. They have hearths (the area in front of the fireplace) made of marble or stone. The house also has two staircases. One of them is a beautiful circular staircase made of walnut and maple wood.
High Ceilings and a Ballroom
The ceilings on the second and third floors are curved, which is called "coved." The third floor has a huge room that is 28 feet long. It was once used as a ballroom or "dance hall." Imagine having a big party there!
Outside the Bickel Mansion
The outside of the house is covered in stone that is about four and a half inches thick. This stone came all the way from Philadelphia. The way the stone was put together is very special.
Driveway and Roof
A circular driveway leads up to a stone entrance porch, called a portico. This porch has a wooden ceiling and a Spanish tile floor. The roof of the house is also made of tiles. One part of the roof is sloped on all sides (a hip roof), and another part has a hip and valley design. Small, half-moon shaped windows stick out from the tiled roof. These windows let extra light into the rooms upstairs.
Amazing Grounds and Gardens
The land around the house is just as impressive as the house itself.
- There's a stone carriage house, which was like a garage for horse-drawn carriages.
- You'll see stone pillars at the entrance.
- There are two stone fountains. One is huge, about 30 feet wide, and used to spray water 50 feet high! The second fountain has a cool stone sculpture of a mill with a waterwheel.
- There are matching stone flower boxes.
- You can also find two stone lions carved out of sandstone, looking like they are fighting.
Behind the main house, there was once a wooden barn. This barn was sold and turned into four apartments. But later, it was bought back and is now part of the Bickel Estate again.
A Showplace in Its Prime
When the Bickel Estate was new, it was a truly amazing place. The beautiful grounds sloped up to the hill where the house sits.
Christmas and Summer Fun
During Christmas, the whole property would light up. Colored lights would glow through the tall water spray of the large fountain. A giant Christmas tree would be lit up near the main house. In the summer, the fountains flowed, and colorful flowers grew in huge gardens along the winding driveway. Shiny "Gazing Balls" also decorated the front and side yards. The gardens were always perfect and changed with the seasons.
A Huge Property with Unique Features
The property used to be much bigger, about 400 acres! It had some very unique things, like a half-mile horse track with grandstands for people to watch races. It even had a surprisingly large zoo! Today, the property is still very grand, even though the area around it has grown into a neighborhood with homes and small businesses.
A Historic Landmark
Thanks to the hard work of one of its new owners, the Bickel Estate was added to the List of Registered Historic Places in West Virginia in 2001. This means it's an important historical place that is protected. The Bickel Mansion is easy to find, located where I-95 and Marrtown Road meet in south Parkersburg.
