Wow, what a beautiful old building! And that mahogany china cabinet is drop-dead gorgeous as well.
Those things you asked about on the worktable in the kitchen looked suspiciously like can lights to me, so I looked up the patent number printed on them. Sure enough, they're lights, though they're supposed to be a fire resistant type. Guess they didn't fare too well under real fire conditions, eh?
Did you by any chance get pics of the inside of any of the octagonal turret rooms? Those are my favorite things about Victorian architecture. swoon
Thank you for sharing!
!PIZZA