The Designing Women house! Historic House Tour: Stunning Second Empire
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ค. 2024
- Welcome to the Villa Marre, or as you probably know it, the home of the Sugarbaker Design Firm from the legendary TV Series, Designing Women. When show creator and Arkansas native Linda Bloodworth Thomason was imagining the perfect façade for the antics of her characters Julia, Suzanne, Mary Jo and Charleen, she imagined them inside this amazing Second Empire masterpiece. But this iconic home had already lived a remarkable life in the 100 years prior to the television shows premier!
Built after the Civil War, at the height of the Victorian Era, this Second Empire beauty is one of only two of the type in the Quapaw Quarter in downtown Little Rock Arkansas. The home was built in 1881-82 by Angelo and Jennie Marre. Marre was an immigrant from Italy, who operated a number of successful liquor stores and Saloons in the area. With his fortune he built this amazing home as a sign of his success and wealth. The only thing more impressive than Marre’s home was his temper, which landed him in jail on more than one occasion, and caused public run ins with everyone from business competitors to judges and lawmakers.
Over the years and through multiple owners the home has undergone multiple facelifts and makeovers. Many hands have touched these walls, including famed architect Charles Thompson, who gave the interior a trendy update in 1910 by blowing out walls and covering up original flooring: a design trend that sounds extremely modern!
Having long outlived its infamous builder this historic home still pulls visitors from all around the United States to tour its halls. This stunning tour home hosts dinners, weddings, engagements and more. For the historic preservationist it is a joy to see such an exquisite example of the Second Empire style at its height; for a GenX-er, it’s fantastic to look at it’s façade and remember the REAL night the lights went out in Georgia!
Villa Marre Website: villamarre.com/
BECOME AN OUR RESTORATION NATION OFFICIAL CITIZEN: www.ourrestorationnation.com/...
www.ourrestorationnation.com/
Instagram: / ourrestorationnation
Facebook: / ourrestorationnation
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@ourrestoratio...
Omg!!! I’ve always wanted to see the inside of this house! THANKS, from all of us die hard Designing Women fans! 😊
Yes! Love it! Thank you!!!
I always love Disigning Women .
Of course like almost all television productions, they only took exterior shots of the house one time. All of the filming was done on a sound stage in Los Angeles. I have a friend from Pennsylvania who was floored when I told him The Office was never filmed in Scranton. Like a bunch of Hollywood actors would want to live in Scranton half the year to film a tv show. 😂
SO funny! Hadn't thought of the Sugarbaker Firm for years! Just today, I did! I served for lunch a QUICKIE. (Quiche). Which got me laughing and remembering this episode. Anyone else remember?:
... She didn't twirl just A baton, that baton was ON FIRE and when she threw that baton into the air it flew higher further faster than any baton had ever flown before hitting a transformer and showering that darkened arena with sparks, and when it finally did come down, Majorie, my sister caught that baton, and 12000 people jumped to their feet for 16 and 1/2 minutes of uninterrupted thunderous ovation as flames illuminated her tear stained face AND THAT Majorie, just so you will know, and your children will someday know, is THE. NIGHT. THE. LIGHTS. WENT. OUT. IN. GEORG AHHHH!
Thank you for the historical trip to Arkansas and wonderful tour of Villa Marre...TRULY ENJOYED IT! And forgive my taking liberty in sharing my most favored line of the series. Yes, Julia said that in ONE line. Dixie was quite skilled in the art wasn't she? 🎭
This is absolutely one of my favorite scenes of DW. It was so strong
Gotta Love “The Terminator!”
I still watch it nightly...and still hilarious
I was never sure this house actually existed. Thank you!
Well alrighty then…quite the colorful character, Mr. Marre! I love the mirrors and mantles. So beautiful. Thank you for showing this lovely home along with its unique history.
Oh my gosh, I love the floors! I don't care that they were placed over the original, I've never seen anything like them. Unless one has deep pockets, you probably won't see them anytime soon in today's buildings.
Fascinating history of this gorgeous home. Loved watching Designing Women back in the day.
How wonderful that this house has survived and is so beautifully maintained.
I love your production on “intimate portraits” of olden days Houses. The History, editing, drone work, presentation, personality, etc. This channel deserves far more credits it receives. Keep doing what you’re doing. Love-love-love ❤
Second Empire is my favorite of all my favorites, of which there are many. What a perfectly beautiful house!
I’m always excited to watch Our Restoration Nation episodes. These homes and mansions are a true “wow” factor for me every time. I appreciate the hard work put into these historic homes, the wood used, the craftsmanship, decor, the beautiful fireplaces, etc…
Oh my gosh!! Thank you soooo much for letting us, your viewers, see these magnificent and very stunning homes. Great story of the owner Mr Marre, the infamous owner.
I keep running to watch your videos to heal my heart after watching what Cole the Cornstar did to his 100+ yo home that 6 generations had lived in.
I lost it when cole tore out all of the beautiful trees that had been planted decades earlier.
Haven't been able to bring myself to watch the house "restoration" series. His great, great grandpa must be turning in his grave. 😢
i can not believe I spent time in Little Rock in the 90s and did not know of this house, I am mad now I would have loved that!!!
Absolutely stunning!!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! The roof is fabulous!! The round topped windows!!! Colors!!! Doors!!! And what a STORY!!! WOWWWWW!
So happy this building is being cared for and used.
Awesome!! What beautiful, I love watching restoration nation!!
That was really fun. I had always assumed the house was in Atlanta! Thanks for explaining the pier mirror…at first I thought it was a “pure” mirror, then a “peer” mirror 😂
Always thought a peer mirror was just a mirror allowing you to peer into one room while being in another room
I wish when we were in the dining room we could have seen the wall with the two doorways so we could reference how it would have been divided when it was two. It’s beautiful home with an interesting owner/history! I wish we could have seen the upstairs too. Thank you so much for giving us what you can in each of these beautiful homes!
I've always loved this historic home. I remember catering an anniversary party there back in 1988. I so loved the architecture then but love it even more now. I have a better appreciation of the historical significance it has and even more so since you've shared some of the more scandalous details with us. Great presentation and thank you so much for bringing back some fun memories for me.
I attended a wedding there in the 90’s. Absolutely elegant. Thank you for this video. I can only imagine what you guys would have done with her?!!! ❤
I love learning about architecture and history, and you educate us so well! Many thanks!!
It’s absolutely beauty of a house. Loved the history of it. So very interesting. ♥️♥️♥️😊👍👍👍
Homes like these stir something deep inside me
Thank you for the tour. I could watch you and Kevin all day.
What a beauty!! 😍
I've been watching this channel '2nd Empire Strikes Back' & he's been restoring a house for years that looks just like this!! I just thought he liked Star Wars!! Thank you for the lesson!! 😂
Also, another channel 'Cole the Cornstar' is remodeling his great grandfather's 1915 farm house. It's huge. All original hardwood, mantels, wainscoting, fixtures, wood pillars & ceiling beams. Original door mirrors & hutches. This place was spectacular & in perfect shape. I had to stop watching b/c he's removing it all. Wainscoting, doors, mirrors, walls...MANTELS!!! He's torn it all out!!! 😢
I know that Cole channel you mentioned-I quit watching too because he got rid of his grandfather's 1929 Ford out of the garage. And I just couldn't believe that. Then tore the back porch off of the house when upstairs his grandmother's quilt had the house with the porch embroidered on a quilt. Yep quit watching. Ha ha and for 2nd Empire strikes back channel-I know that one too, I loved when they did the 1800 portraits because. Kim I think looked spectacular!
Yup, I started watching Coles channel too, hoping he would restore the house, given that he spoke so passionately about the history and local importance of the house. Fx., that it had electricity, decades before anyone else, and so on. I saw all the original features, too, and I also saw, how he just ripped through the entire house, down to the studs.... The only original feature, I can spot now, is a mantel, standing in the middle of the old livingroom. I can understand, that the house needed isolation, and structural work... But I would have put back all that trim, doors and woodwork, and really tried to be sensitive to the history of the house. But it seems like he wants to create a modern, open concept home in the old shell, and wont really be saving much of the original features... Sad, really...
We do not support Coles channel and the horrid decisions he’s made destroying the home. We don’t understand his following.
@@OurRestorationNation My Hope is that he's not just throwing all the wood & fixtures. Maybe, just maybe, he donated them to someplace that will sell them to the responsible people restoring these pieces of history.
Omgosh! I have followed Kaleb on 2nd Empire Strikes Back from the beginning. I only live 2 hours from him. He is the one that recommended this channel to his audience and why I started watching them. I have also followed Cole the Cornstar since his beginning, because of his farming family. I, watched his latest episode and he tried to say why he wasn’t saving anything and it was not a good explanation for me. I started venting to my husband about the complete heartbreak I had over Cole’s and his wife’s decision to just keep the shell of the house and make a modern home. I’m devastated. 😢 He did talk like he was keeping a few things… but not much, and only if it would fit into their plans.
What I like the most about your video's is your extensive knowledge of all different types of architecture. That and your obvious love of architecture shows in all your videos. I must admit that I was a little bit disappointed that you didn't show the wall painting you said was stored in the basement. I would have loved to have seen it. Love this house by the way. Absolutely beautiful. Thanks for showing it.
I went and searched for it, but apparently somewhere in the 10,000 (no kidding) plastic tubes stored down there
@@OurRestorationNation -- My goodness.
Love this tour! ❤You always make the homes come alive with your history of the owners.
Beautiful!!!
What a fascinating history! Totally remember watching Designing Women and always wondered about the history of the house.
Thank you for telling me about the history of the house. I live in Little Rock and have admired it very much. I did not know Charles Thompson did work on the house. I worked for his architecture firm for 38 years and did not know this. He also designed the state capitol.
The firm is now called Cromwell and has been active in LR since the civil war.
I " ALWAYS" LOVED THOSE 2 SIDE BY SIDE HOUSES EVEN WHEN THEY WERE IN RUINS NEARLY around 1974. ALL MY FRIENDS thought I WAS NUTS BUT I was a visionary❗❗❗❗💛⭐⭐⭐💖
I for some reason that this home was located in Georgia.
It is indeed so very beautiful ❤❤❤
My mom had a restaurant on the corner of 17th and s. Main street and I drove by that beautiful home always wondered what it looked like and now I know thank you for showing it.
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL ❤️
Thanks for posting this. It was great seeing into such an iconic tv home.
Regarding my past comments:
I never intended to disregard your channel’s guidelines….”Teardown is my nickname and Money Pit is what I call my girlfriend. I LOVE your work!!
Love that house! Wish we could have seen the upstairs bedrooms. Great tour and history!
And we would have loved to show you, but the upstairs is their residence and the beds weren’t made and it wasn’t “presentation “ ready. I’d already tidied up downstairs to video, and as I’m not hired for maid services, I was NOT cleaning their upstairs
@@OurRestorationNation I don't blame you, I wouldn't have either.
Thank you for the history❤❤❤❤❤❤👍👍👍👍
Gorgeous home, I do remember loving it on Designing Women, and then finding out it's in Arkansas, where I'm from!
Thanks for a great history lesson and tour. I always assumed that house was in Atlanta…
amazing house
My first comment ever. Love all your videos and love this home.
Michigan here.
Thank you for sharing.What fascinating history.Loved the show.
You left out ANTHONY!!!
Meshach Taylor💕
The home is lovely the original owner was quite the ladies man thank you for the tour
Wow, what a treat to see the Sugarbaker house.🥰
This house is beautiful! The dining room is always my favorite!
I love this house. Always have.
It’s so wonderful to see this house intact. So many houses from this time have been destroyed.
Gorgeous. And those chimneys!! ❤
Beautiful home. I have never heard of the tv show but that doesn’t matter. What a story….
THANK YOU! Appreciated the nostalgia 👒 which the exterior brought, but REALLY enjoyed the history (Angelo was quite the scalawag!) and the inside tour!!! Gorgeous.
What a crazy life he had! The home is beautiful, stunning! I loved when they would show the outside of the house on Designing Women, loved that show, didn't realize that was in Little Rock. Wish you would have been able to snag her back then.
Thank you for showing us this treasure❤
Those fireplaces what a gorgeous house.
Really love all the features in this home. Thank you!
Oh, THAT house!!! Yes, I’d be a bit salty. I’d be the whole salt mine. ❤
There was such a blatant lack of architectural integrity on the TV show I knew it would be very different inside. This is better than I thought it would be. Thanks for the tour!
They just used the home for exterior shots, I believe the show was filmed on a soundstage.
I love this house!!
The stories of the Memphis Marre and beyond! He was a trip! I wonder if the Marre's were ever brought up in Designing Women?? Lovely venue for weddings with those amazing mantles for backdrop.
Love this house so much, thank you for showing it to us!!
Wow , what a crazy story about Angelo and his life . Enjoyed the share
I loved that show and miss watching. Lovely house
How stunning! 💚💜
stepping into another era, and a man's timeless vision
This was so good!! Made even better by knowing the story behind the title.
Love love love😊
I lived in Little Rock for many years & took visitors by the house. Also went to a few parties there. It’s beautiful. I miss Little Rock!
What a gorgeous house! If I owned it, I’m not sure I could resist removing some of the 1910 updates.
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen such a grand house without a single curtain in it, though. How bizarre.
Love the staircase!
Thanku so much for showing us beautiful places 🙏🙏❤️
I absolutely love the design so good
Thanks for the definition of a pier mirror, never knew!
Whoa! That mantel is off the charts! Thank you for all the great house tours, it really is such a treat to watch your videos!!!
That Staircase! 😍
🔹 I would love to own a home of this scale, design, and grandeur. The changes in 1910 were tastefully done. I actually liked seeing the tombstone of the scandalous Mr. Marre and it is on par with how he lived is life with great notoriety.🔹
That wood floor is amazing
Stop wait I have to change to my tablet for this❤
That light fixture!
So Beautiful ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Wow!. You guys tried to buy it?!??. Cool!... Yup, grew up watching Designing Women!!. LUV those women!!. 😂😂😂
I've seen inside it before, your tour looks different than what I saw before. Interesting...
But thanks for the incredible outside close-ups!!. Luv that part the best!. Now I know it was most likely red brick originally!!. How different that would make that house look! Imagine it!!!. Luv your channel!!. Can't believe I'm not subscribed already. Now I am!!.
I always enjoy your excellent commentary on the lovely properties you show and enjoy learning something from each video. I grew up in Arkansas--still the home of my heart.
The Villa Marre and the Hornibrook mansion are my two favorite houses in Little Rock! I love the original matching pier mirror and fireplace mantle, but the kitchen cabinets are a close second. I was hoping you would show that weird floor upstairs with all the inlaid patterns, like a page out of an aesthetic movement catalog.
That's beautiful inside &out. Both properties.
This video appeared in my feed a few minutes after I began watching DW on Antenna TV.
That’s crazy.
Any device with a mic is listening---mine is an 11th Gen Fire 10. Just last week a radio show host spoke of getting ads almost immediately after talking about a specific product.....with her phone was nearby.
Thanks for the tour! I actually have a painting of the Villa Marre hanging in my living room. So I’ve always wanted to know what it looked like inside!
wow!
I'd say infamous! What a story! Original or not, those parquet floors are gorgeous. The autumn colors on that second fireplace just glow. And the pier mirror! I can only imagine what other decor items of this level may have existed in the house before the remodel in 1910. I'd forgotten that the home was in Little Rock, not Georgia, but this is a definite plus, since it means you have more personal knowledge of the place. I would like to respectfully submit one correction: the carved figures on the main fireplace are winged lions (the symbol of Venice and other areas of Italy). Griffins (or gryphons) have long been associated with my family and I've incorporated a number of them in my home and garden decor (okay, I also collect them because they're cool). They typically have an eagle's head, wings, and front feet, with a lion's body. On occasion they may have a snake for a tail. One of my favorites is from John Tenniel's illustration from Alice In Wonderland. :) This tour was such a treat! Thank you.
Love the history!
Thank you!
I like that you added and now you know at the end! 😂
I love victorian second empire houses! ❤
Just beautiful!!
Oh My Thank You So Much for this Lovely Critique Showing of such a Gorgeous Home Well Done I want lie i kept looking for a Plaque a Picture Anything to honour The Sugar Bakers ❤
Thank you!! You always do such a nice job showing us these beautiful homes!!
OMG!!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Kevin and Laine, this was such an incredible home tour!!! Thank you so very much for making this home’s interior so enjoyable to see!!! Such amazing craftsmanship and history!!! As always, y’all did an excellent job!! 👏🏻
Dorothy Blum Cooper-
The Barrow House & Gardens of Louisburg
This is a beautiful home. I wish it could get restored with some updates. I know that Linda Bloodworth, executive producer of Designing Women had a painting done of the house by a local artist . In the early seasons of tv show it hangs on the wall as Julia starts to go up her stairway. I would love to have a painting like it. Designing Women is mu all time favorite show. I still watch the reruns.
Love seeing the inside of such a famous house!
One of my favorite styles of old homes. I love Empire style and Got his style. Of course and witch hat Victorian homes. Marre house stunning!
So beautiful!
Thank you for sharing!
So interesting!
Boy Angelo Marie was a real piece of work.
Love it ❤
Awesome video.