Simply TeaVine: An invitation to explore

This 1800s cabin is one of two cabins ready for bed and breakfast guests. (Photo from Meador Homestead website)

After a Simply TeaVine luncheon tea Tuesday, Dean Meador Smith, tearoom owner, invited our little group to tour two rustic cabins that constitute the Meador Homestead Bed and Breakfast.

Dean and her husband Eddie Smith, are proprietors and innkeepers. (Photo from Meador Homestead website)

The original cabin is a dogtrot. According to Wikipedia here, a dogtrot house historically consisted of two log cabins connected by a breezeway or "dogtrot", all under a common roof. Typically one cabin was used for cooking and dining while the other was used as a private living space, such as a bedroom. The dogtrot house is typically one or 1.5-stories. The two rooms are about 18 to 20 feet (5.5 to 6.1 m) wide and each opens on to the open-ended central hall or “dogtrot.”

The cabin we explored also had front and back porches that extended the width of the entire structure, all under one roof. Similar to our luncheon experience with the tearoom, a pleasing blend of family heirlooms and finds with modern comfort furnished both the original cabin and a second cabin constructed more recently.

The newer cabin has a rustic look but includes “indoor plumbing” to accommodate guests who prefer not to go back in time to the extent of making treks to the separate “outhouse,” no matter how modern the restroom and bathing facilities.

I have to say, the huge copper bathtub of vintage design was something to see in the new cabin. I would have loved a photo of that tub, but by the time we made our way to the second cabin, I had barely enough energy left to enjoy the interesting décor that creatively featured the Meador family history.

Here are some snapshots from the historic family cabin, the first we visited.

In the cabin’s bedroom a crocheted canopy adorns the 1856 rope bed made by the current cabin owner’s great-great-grandfather. He presented the bed to his bride on their wedding day.

An 1856 wedding present

Hot-water-bottle foot warmer rests atop a vintage bedspread.

A cradle and hand-quilted coverlet also furnish the bedroom.

A sitting parlor across the breezeway is the second room of the two-room cabin. (Photo from the Meador Homestead website)

Vintage games await overnight guests.

The sound of a burbling copper tea kettle fountain and a gentle breeze flowing through the open dogtrot invite guests to enjoy rockers and a slower pace on the cabin’s front and back porches.

A whimsical fountain purchased from a craftsman exhibiting at the annual Mistletoe Market in Jackson. MS.

A child’s bonnet and rocking chair are additional reminders of earlier times.