Fire at the “Boarding House”!

Authored & Curated By M.J.G. Published 9/20/24

In 1895, a fire broke out, reportedly starting either in Belle's private quarters or on the third floor, though accounts differ. The fire caused significant damage to the top two floors, but parts of the first floor survived. Several newspapers covered the event. At the time of the fire, Belle was said to be out of town at a morphine sanitarium in Lebanon, Ohio, though some reports remain unclear. About 12 girls were in the house and ran outside into the cold, snowy weather. One girl, Flora, appeared at a front attic window, crawled onto the cornice, and jumped onto a mattress that some boys placed below. She survived but injured her back.

News of the fire spread across the United States.

A newspaper article was published on March 17th, 1895, in The Courier-Journal and can be read by clicking here.
Read about the fire from The Cincinnati Enquirer on Mar 17, 1895 here.
Another article about the "Exciting Scenes" showed up a day later in The Tennessean on March 18, 1895, here, and continued here.

Belle had an insurance policy on the house and its contents. She quickly repaired the house, converting the top floor into a full story and redecorating all of the rooms—which we're about to see now!

When the property was repaired after the fire, alterations were made to the house. A sunroom was added above the porch, the third floor was expanded, and the brick was painted white to cover varying brick color and possible fire damage. It isn’t clear whether the sunroom was added immediately after the fire or a few years later.

Redecorated

After a fire on the third floor, the second floor sustained smoke and water damage and needed to be redecorated. You can see that a new electric light replaced the gas/electric one, a new fireplace mantel was installed, and all the furniture is different. All of these photographs were clearly taken at night. Note the object hanging from the electric light. Was that a survivor of the fire or did Belle love these enough to buy more?

The window straight ahead goes out to where the sunroom is located. It is unclear if these pictures were taken before the sunroom was added. If you look close enough, you can also see this is a window that does not go down to the floor. So, you’d have to climb out the window to get to this room though we have seen this however in some homes from the day. Why is a lamp in front of this access area? Was it during the winter when she closed off this room? Take notice the child’s rocking chair? Who was that for? Also take notice of the asymmetrical, draping of the windows which is indicative of the more playful 1890s.

William “Billy” Mabon is seen here sitting in Belle’s sitting room. Billy was known by many for being very smitten with Belle, often staying with her and greeting her when she returned from her journeys, filling her rooms with flowers and gifts. Although it wasn’t his permanent residence, it is said that he spent most of his life with her until his death.

If we walk to the other side of the table, toward the fireplace, and turn around, we get a view of the other side of the room as well as a look toward Belle’s chamber.

Here is a closer view of the frieze paper and the ceiling paper pattern. Sadly we don’t know what color scheme this room was. The photographs just make them look darker but this room may have been brilliant in color along with some metallic touches.

A fretwork grille was added to the architrave. You can see the electric lights illuminated in the other room. If you look closely at the hooks holding up the curtains, you’ll notice there is no way to slide the curtains open or closed due to fretwork details, indicating that these were purely decorative portiere drapery.

A new étagère appears to have been added to the room, along with an enormous vase.

Like the sitting room, Belle’s chamber appears to have been completely updated with new furniture and matching wallpaper and ceiling paper. There is some speculation that the bed was a gift from one of her lovers, who purchased it for her in 1894. However, these pictures were taken after the fire in 1895, so it is likely that everything in her room was damaged by the fire. Was this just a legend? Note that the electric light has been turned off for the bedroom photo.

The furniture appears to have a French polish, which creates a mirror-like shine. You can see the reflection of the leather sofa in the footboard.

The large photograph on the wall appears to be a portrait of Belle. To the right is a photograph of her which is probably the same.

Previous Post:

1. The "Boarding House" & Its Parlors
2. Belle's "Boarding House" Bedroom Suite

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