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Whaley House gets Summer Treatment
By Robin Lakin
July/August 2019
 The Whaley House master bedroom looks and feels cooler for summer with new woven straw floor matting. Photo by Dean Glass |
Lillian Whaley recorded her earliest memories of her arrival at the Whaley House, in December 1868 at the age of four. A prolific diarist and correspondent, she revealed many valuable secrets about how the Whaleys lived inside this unique San Diego home.
"Then came the recollection of a room…," Lillian later wrote. "Mamma sat at a sewing machine. The floor was covered with close woven straw matting, the pattern of which danced before the eyes like shimmering heat on a sweltering day."
Typically, homeowners in the Victorian era seasonally "dressed" their residences for summer and winter. Once spring cleaning was done, out went the heavy wool rugs and carpets, and straw matting was laid in their place. Cotton and linen slipcovers came out of cupboards to shroud furnishings upholstered in velvet, wool, horsehair, and silk. The effect was both visually and physically cooling. In locales with consistently temperate climes, the straw matting on the floor was often left in place year round, particularly in bedrooms.
To help bring Lillian Whaley's vivid memory of her parents' bedroom back to life, SOHO recently rolled out a room-size version of that close woven straw matting, a floor treatment still popular for its functionality and appearance.
Stop by the museum and see the summery changes to the master bedroom. You might even catch a momentary glimpse of Anna Whaley, seated at her sewing machine, working on an ever growing pile of mending for the five rambunctious children who once darted about the old brick manse.
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