Blue Room

Originally Sylvia’s room as a child, the bay and porch were added with the 1907 addition.  The original colorful Dutch style floral wallpaper was discovered behind a bookcase.  A new door gives the room access to a private bath.  The blue willow paper is called Standen, an adaptation of a Morris design.

Besides having a lovely view of the prairie through the west window, this room is significant for the part it plays in Audrey Niffenegger's best-seller The Time Traveler's Wife. The Blue Bedroom was the model for Henry's wife Clare's room, which enhances the mystique of Ragdale. In addition, the Blue Bedroom is the favorite haunts of the Ragdale ghost, purported to be Sylvia Shaw Judson, Howard Shaw's middle daughter and sculptor of the famous Bird Girl of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame.