Formal Dining Room

The Main Dining area has been remodeled several times over the years. In 1799, it was a small cozy affair that was suited to Carters' modest needs. In 1883, Raymond Carter would expand the fireplace and add an intricate marble sideboard for displaying the family's china and silver collections. The butler's pantry was removed to make room for a larger dining table, and three ornate windows would adorn the north wall, allowing more sun into the newly oak-paneled room. In 1924, Lily Carter, wife of Wall Street tycoon Terrance Carter, remodeled this room again to accommodate her ever-expanding social roster. Adding an enormous maple dining table and a costly chandelier, Lily's efforts produced the most elegant and talked-about dinner parties among the social elite across New England. Her fame as a hostess would be short-lived, however. On Tuesday Oct. 29th, 1929, Lily sat down for an early supper at the head of the long table. Halfway through the meal a servant approached her and whispered some dreadful news: her husband Terrance had committed suicide in New York.(He had lost his entire fortune in the market collapse of Black Tuesday). Upon hearing this, the distraught widow began to choke. Family members and servants frantically tried to dislodge the blockage (it was a fish-bone), but Lily continued to turn blue, thrashing in her butler's arms. In desperation, Alphonse Carter rushed to perform a tracheotomy on his aunt using a silver butterknife. The procedure failed, and she bled to death. Follow me deeper into the house (North) to see the Kitchen.