If you came to call, you would come up the wonderful horseshoe stairs and ring the door bell. A staff member would greet you and take your calling card. You would then be shown into the Reception Room to wait until whom ever you called for came to the room.
If you were a man, this is as far as you would generally get. Your visit would take place in the Reception Room.
Now, if you were a lady, you would be taken across the hall from the Reception Room into the Parlor and there you would visit and enjoy tea and sweet things.
Looking East in the Parlor 
Parlor fireplace
Below is one of Edward Hegeler’s calling cards when he went to visit.
