We invite you to stay in the middle of the U.S. and experience REAL America.  We are near the Mississippi River and the Illinois River.  There are beautiful bluffs and trails to walk or ride.  All the St Louis and Springfield, Illinois sites and activities are an hour away.  Springfield is the home of the State Capital and the Lincoln Museum and Lincoln home.  Carrollton is a small town where you can walk to shops only 3 blocks away. You will find the people friendly and helpful. Our area has some of the best shopping in the country.  We are a 4 hour inexpensive train ride from Chicago. Our past guests have flown into Chicago to spend a few days and then taken Amtrak train down to Carlinville or Alton Illinois where we will pick you up at the train station, or we can have someone pick you up in St. Louis at Lambert Airport.  Our home is about 150 years old. It is a lovely Victorian home with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms and a library/computer room upstairs. The bedrooms are upstairs and are large and well decorated. Two have queen beds and the other one has a full size bed. Downstairs, there is a very large living room, a TV room, a dining room, a half bath, and an eat-in completely modern kitchen. There are beautiful stained glass windows throughout. Outside, there is a large yard with flowers, a wrap-around porch and a deck behind the kitchen with a bar-b-q grill.  The neighborhood is safe and ideal for walking. We have an aviary with finches and canaries. We also have cats which stay outside most of the time in the summer. Please consider doing something different and visiting the center of the US.  Our past guests have enjoyed their visits and we know that you will too. We enjoy having guests and would like you to visit us. We have done this before and enjoyed it thoroughly. Privacy is not a problem in this large house.