Fireplace Grates With Baffles From Vail Mansion

Object/Artifact

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Vail Museum

Name/Title

Fireplace Grates With Baffles From Vail Mansion

Entry/Object ID

2024.001.1

Description

A pair of wrought iron fireplace grates, complete with baffles, from Vail Mansion at Lyndon State College. Salvaged from the mansion during its destruction in 1974.

Context

These were an integral part of a fireplace in Vail Mansion, location within the mansion undetermined. These grates were essential in the effective distribution of heat throughout the mansion, which could be regulated by adjusting the baffles with the control at the bottom of each grate. They could be closed down completely, opened wide, or any variation in between. The late Richard A. Walton, Lyndon State College Librarian in 1974, rescued these grates from the mansion during its destruction in September, 1974. He cannot recall the exact location from which they came, but he's reasonably certain it was an upper floor. He gifted these grates to the Vail Museum in 2024. The Vail Museum has not been able to verify the exact location of these grates within the mansion from any photographic evidence.

Cataloged By

Michael Thurston

Provenance

Provenance Detail

Richard Walton