ingles_castle  

Ingles Castle

  This house was built by the grandson of Mary Draper Ingles   It is a wonderful place to visit, but has fallen into abysmal disrepair.  Roberta (Ingles) Steele lived here until her death; afterward, her husband, Paul, was unable to remain there on his own.  Roberta showed me through a portion of the house.

This is what I remember of the tour.  My memory is not what it used to be, but I’ll be as accurate as possible.  The wrap-around front porch gives access to two entrances.  Facing the porch, the door on the left is a Dutch door that can open top, bottom, or as a whole.  That entrance leads to the foyer which is large and wood paneled.  A two-part stairway leads to the second floor with a large landing between them.  Under the higher set of stairs is a fireplace which warmed the foyer as well as parts of the upper level when the heat rose.  There are tall stained glass windows at the landing level rising to the second floor.  I did not see the second floor and do not believe it had been in use for years.  As I recall, the stairway was in the turret portion, but I may be mistaken.

After entering the Dutch door, there is a parlor to the right with sliding doors making it possible to close that portion off.  The parlor remained furnished in a civil war and anti-bellum fashion with many family pieces.  There was a mannequin with a lovely black lace dress on; an upright piano with an old silk covering across the top; a lovely antique settee and chair (more than one chair?).  That room also had a fireplace.

The second outside door is the one commonly used by Roberta and Paul and it gave entry into the family/sitting room.  There were pictures of the old log cabin, which I believe Roberta said was still standing during some portion of her life time.  That room was furnished with furniture common to present day.  There was a fireplace along one wall.  The mantle had some columns which framed a mirror.  When you looked in the mirror, you could see the faint outline of an old lady in a bonnet.  Roberta said that was one of her ancestors who had been sitting in a rocking chair during a storm.  The lightening came through the room and her image was burned into the silver backing of the mirror.

Contributed by Irene Underwood