I learned lots of interesting things about the family, but I'll save those tidbits for my story. In the mean time, there were lots of quirky things in the house. Check out this small cabinet of drawers. Victorians were superstitious, so there's no number 13.

Notice the iron tobacco box on the right of the pen and ink stand on the desk. I couldn't get closer to get a real clear shot, but the embossment on top is that of a slave. Not that the Darby's were pro-slavery. Quite the opposite, bringing attention to the plight of slaves.

When I think of a dumb waiter, I think of a tiny elevator-type shaft that one can send food up from the kitchen to the dining room. Not in this house. See this terraced stand that was in the corner of the dining room? Yeah. That's a "dumb waiter."

Moving upstairs to the bedroom . . . even back then reading in bed at night was a relaxing pleasure. The reading light was a candle and see the porcelain upside-down little cup next to it? That's the snuffer.

And last but not least, umm . . . what if you had too many glasses of water before you went to bed? I'll just leave you with this picture and let you figure it out. This is what's in the bottom drawer of the night stand.