I grew up visiting Ardenwood Historical Farm and Patterson House. It was one of those places that everyone visited when they were growing up in the area.  It is a working farm with animals and the original Victorian farmhouse that is now a museum. (The “farm house” would have been more equivalent to a mansion during its time.) The house (and most of the surrounding city) originally belonged to the George Patterson, who made his wealth during the Gold Rush, not by finding gold, but by selling cabbages for $10 a head to miners. Highway robbery, but it made him a very wealthy man–as well as his descendants.

Growing up I  was always fascinated with the past. I loved historically based books, time travelling, you name it…  I enjoyed the real life part of things the most. The Patterson House gave a glimpse of what it must have been like to live during the Victorian times. So, I never tired of visiting the old house.

This past weekend, I visited the park for the first time in many years. Everything was still the same, except I saw the same artifacts and places in a new (adult) light. It’s amazing how things can seem the same and so different all at the same time!

Here is a little glimpse of the lovely, Christmas decorated, Victorian house!

P.S. You can really tell what rings my bell by these pictures–clothes, dolls, and sewing machines–oh, my!