Traipsing Through Berks County

One of my all time favorite hiking parks is right here in Berks County. Although Neversink Mountain has become my number one favorite spot, Nolde Forest held that position for many years and now is not far behind Neversink in the number two spot. So, when Nicholas' Cub Scout den planned on taking an autumn afternoon walk in this beautiful spot, I quickly volunteered to be the adult to go with him. We headed to the North Pond where we viewed autumn in all its glory, both on the trees and in their reflection in the pond.

The boys were excited to see the turtle sunning himself on the little board in the center of the pond. And I was happy to see a group of little boys enjoying the trails on this beautiful day.

Even the view from the parking area was lovely to see.

But Nicholas and I had an added benefit on this afternoon's walk. In all the years that I have been hiking at Nolde, I have never been in the mansion. Today was my lucky day, there was an open house going on and several other functions which we couldn't take part in due to the hike. But after the hike was over, we had time to go visit the home of Hans Nolde, son of Jacob Nolde who is also known as the Hosiery Baron. Nolde was an early conservationist who set out to make the acreage that his family lived on into the "most beautiful pine forest in Pennsylvania." I think he succeeded although I was sad to see that so many of the trees had been removed this past year because they were the victim of a disease.

The first thing that Nicholas noticed was this weather vane. I had seen the witch on the vane many times before but it took the eyes of an eight year old to point out the bat and the magic wand. After I posted this picture, I looked for one of the front of the mansion and was horrified to discover that I hadn't taken one today. I knew I have taken photos of this house many times in the past so I started going through old photos to find one. Do you know what happens when a person begins to go through thousands of old photos? Of course, the one that you want can't be located but the memories that the other photos brings sure can slow down a project.

So, back to the mansion....one of the most outstanding things I saw inside the house was the varied and unique shapes of all the interior doors.

Nicholas loved the curving staircase which was really beautiful with the stained glass windows surrounding it.

The glass case in front of Nicholas at the top of the staircase is the permanent home of a grey fox.

Not too many homes have a showcase of stuffed birds. Nicholas recognized the great blue heron which is behind him in the glass case.

Below is one of the very unique closets or chest of drawers or a combination of both.

This little alcove with the chipmunk was another rather unique display in the staircase.

One thing that really disappointed me about the interior of the house is that everything that was open to the public is currently being used as offices for the DNCR so very few of the old features remained. A few stained glass windows were intact as well as the intricate crown molding but they were ruined by the appearances of modern desks and computers under them.

If you can read the fine print on the posters below, they do share some of the history of the Nolde hosiery business.

We moved outside and I found Nicholas reading the info boards. I love seeing him read!

Nicholas found a little hidden door. We were trying to imagine what it might have been like to be one of the children who grew up here. There seems to be so many little nooks and crannies that kids would love.

Below, I did manage to get a back of the house shot. It really does seem like a castle.