Cincinnati Preservation Association Home Tour May 13 from WCPO

Photo from WCPO.com Josephy Fuqua II 

Brent Coleman of WCPO stopped by our Old House with photographer Josephy Fuqua and wrote this excellent article that captures the spirit of the Gideon Palmer House.

WYOMING, Ohio -- Margee Moore feels as if her family is a perfect fit for the late 1860s Wyoming home of flour manufacturer Gideon Palmer. He and his wife, Mary, had six children, one of whom, Lizzie Stearns, went on to rear two children in the house and undoubtedly hosted many a social event for locals connected to her husband's family's cotton wadding and mattress business.

The five-bedroom, 5,394-square-foot house is brick and three stories high. Its ample front porch sits a stately distance back from the street. It might look intimidating to some, but first and foremost, Margee said, the big old house is a people place where the Irish-Catholic Moores host annual St. Patrick's Day and Wyoming High School homecoming float-building parties. 

Read the article Home Tour: Wyoming's historic Palmer House, 'a house that needed love,' is getting plenty of that now on WCPO.com.

 The Cincinnati Preservation Association and Wyoming Historical Society's spring house tour to be held 1-5 p.m. on May 13. (Tickets for non-CPA members are $35 at 513-721-4506 or cincinnatipreservation.org.)

The Three Reasons Why … We're Doing the House Tour from the Cincinnati Preservation Association and Wyoming

When my neighbor Jenny asked if we would put our historic 1870s home, The Gideon Palmer-Sterns House on the Cincinnati Preservation Association’s Spring House Tour, I laughed.

“Seriously?” I asked. We have only been in the house two and a half years and I feel like there is still so much work to do.

“Seriously,” she replied. “People will love it and it will be great press for our community.”

I told Jenny that I only have one room that I considered finished (the guest room), halls that need painting, front rooms with no furniture and family style (worn out) furniture in the TV room just to name a few challenges. “It’s not in the least ready for any home show,” I said. “People will want their money back. Come over and see.”

My mistake.

Jenny popped across the street and we walked around the rooms. I pointed out the flaws and she exclaimed how beautiful it was and how much people would love seeing how modern families live in these historic old houses.

Well, sometimes flattery will get you where you need to go.

So, with about two weeks until the big show, here’s why we’re doing it and what I hope people will take away.  

1.  Showcase the Community

We live in a little hidden gem of Wyoming, Ohio with historic houses, walkable neighborhoods, super cute restaurants, great schools, small classrooms and the friendliest people I have ever met. The tour offers a rare chance for Wyoming to open its doors to the rest of the city to show our stuff.

2. Spread the Love

When the Gideon Palmer-Sterns House was for sale, it was right after the recession. The house endured a family split and sat on the market for a long time empty before going into foreclosure. We lived a block away and passed it every day. This stunning Italianate beauty was going into disrepair. But it had strong bones. It just needed to be loved. My husband and I both grew up in old homes and love them. We put in a bid to make sure it didn’t go below a certain price. Three years later, we were just about to take our bid out when the bank called. It was ours. Did we still want it? Sure. Why not. You only live once.

It needed a ton of work removing old debris, putting back pipes, electricity, the works. Oh and by the way, the yard was almost completely overgrown as well.  We think of ourselves as stewards of the house for the next generation. Since we’re not independently wealthy, we work on projects when we can and are big into DIY. We’ve probably gotten an estimate from every plumber in town along the way. It’s a labor of love and this beautiful Italianate beauty would benefit from an audience (beyond us) to admire her.

3. Grow the Old House Fan Base

There’s something about turning a corner and seeing an historic beauty that stops your breath. Growing up, my father restored a Victorian in Virginia and a Row House in Charleston. On Sundays, we used to drive around neighborhoods looking at houses for entertainment. (I think it was an inexpensive way to keep the 5 kids quiet for an hour or so.) Old homes are the work of many hands, many builders, architects, bricklayers, masons, craftsmen and owners poured their lives into these homes. In some small way, by sharing our home, I hope others catch the old house bug too.

So, old homes take work. Unexpected things happen like pipes break and paint peels. These homes are never done. Most weekends mean work on projects or on the yard.

Which brings me to my new favorite saying, “it is what it is.” Life is throwing some job changes at me and I’m launching a new independent freelance business. My husband’s work is busy and the kids have 3-4 sports or so. Though I’d love to have the home in pristine condition when we throw open the doors. It is what it is. Budgets and family schedules mean that people will see peeling exterior trim that we will paint in the summer, a back porch that may or may not be painted by then. You get the picture.

At a track meet recently, I was lamenting to my friend Shauna that we are not completely prepared, people may judge me, projects are incomplete… and we don’t even have furniture in the Music Room.

“Well,” she broke in at last. “Um, at least you have a Music Room.”

Ah. Too true.

I am the steward of a home with a Music Room. A room with dark woodwork, a tile fireplace, high ceilings, crown molding and carved acorns in the mantelpiece. A room from a time when people built homes with rooms for music. And so, here we go. We’re throwing open our doors so people can see and hopefully love a home from another time. 

It is what it is.  

Margee Moore is a freelance marketing professional, owner of MooreMKTG.biz and author of Sleeping with the Laundry. You can follow her parenting humor on SleepingWiththeLaundry.

Movers and Makers: https://moversmakers.org/2017/04/18/wyomings-gems-on-display-for-cpa-home-tour/

You can get tickets here: Cincinnati Preservation Associations Spring Home Tour: http://cincinnatipreservation.org/events/2017-spring-house-tour/

Love Cincinnati's Music Hall? Well, Now You Can Take a Piece Home

Last week, Cincinnati.com shared the news that the long anticipated sale of several artifacts from Music Hall will star on November 11, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. We are huge fans of the Wooden Nickel shop and regularly love to browse their architectural antiques. Here's the inside scoop on how to get your own piece of HISTORY!

For starters, the sale will be similar to a tag sale. The doors will open at the appointed time. And it works on a first come, first serve basis. The items will be tagged with a price. If see an item you want (and can handle the prices, OUCH) you purchase the item.

The guys at the Wooden Nickel recommended getting in line at 5:00 for the ticketed early-bird pre-sale. And NO, you can't get a free ticket by being a good customer...or a highly-persuasive person...the ticket sales go to benefit the restoration as well as the sale of the contents.

Here's what you can do though...for the first time ever, you can walk up to the ticket window at the Aronoff Center and purchase tickets to go into the Wooden Nickel warehouse.

The guys at Wooden Nickel got a kick out of that.

Here are all the goodies on sale from Music Hall on the Wooden Nickel site for preview only. 

Need a large Rococo Gilt Mirror? This is your chance to take one home.

From Cincinnati.Com: Music Hall Contents to Go On Sale

Now you can take home a piece of Music Hall. Theater seats, chandeliers, mirrors, a wooden bar with brass railings and even a pair of large wooden double doors that once led into Springer Auditorium – all part of Music Hall's former decor – are being offered to the public for purchase.

The sale, Nov. 11-20, will be coordinated by Wooden Nickel Antiques, a store specializing in architectural recycling in Over-the-Rhine. An inventory of items and other sale details will be available at woodennickelantiques.net/music-hall beginning Friday, Oct. 28.

A ticketed “early-bird” pre-sale event is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. on Nov. 11 at the Wooden Nickel Antiques’ warehouse,1515 Central Parkway. Tickets, $25, go on sale at 10 a.m. Oct. 28 at www.CincinnatiArts.org, by calling 513-621-2787 and at the Aronoff Center Ticket Office. Tickets will also be available at the door. A free public sale is scheduled for Nov. 12 through Nov. 20. The times are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 12; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 13; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 14 through Nov. 18; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 19; and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 20.

Exploring a Drop-Dead-Gorgeous Victorian and Why You Can Never Go Home Again

There’s an old saying that “you can't go home again.” It comes from a Thomas Wolfe novel. And though I’m a fan of Southern literature, I found the book to be perfectly unreadable. So the phrase’s meaning has never been clear. For our recent vacation, we combined a trip to Williamsburg and Gettysburg with a visit to my old home in rural Virginia. I think I now understand the meaning of that phrase. Here’s my story of our old fashioned road-trip.

Beautiful murals of the Homestead Hotel in the Homestead Hotel in Hot Springs, Virginia. A must-see sight. 

Our first stop, once we entered Virginia, was my hometown of Hot Springs. Though my family has long since moved away, the 1899 Victorian where I grew up has become the King Family Victorian Inn. Our hosts and everything was elegant, right down to the breakfast served with crystal and china. But, more about going home later. Down the road, we toured our town’s resort, the Homestead. Part of the National Trust’s Historic Hotels group, it is a beautiful sprawling place, steeped in history. As part of our visit, we also swam in the 250-year-old Jefferson Springs and visited my old BFF Nancy.

The water at the Jefferson Springs really is this crystal clear and beautiful.

Next, we drove to see Yorktown, site of the last major battle of the American Revolution. It was hot as Hades that day. We drove the historic driving route in our air conditioned car and got out to walk quickly around the sites before running back to our car. The funniest thing of all was an entry in the Visitor’s Center registry where guests share comments. One person had written, “It is so hot I could cry.” That was it. Nothing about history or the park. We cracked up.  

Our trip went next to Williamsburg where we stayed in a Colonial Lodge right beside the historic area. The best part of all was walking the deserted streets at night. Looking through a Tavern window (tip: make dinner reservations in advance), we saw women wearing colonial caps and a man played the fiddle. It felt like a hundred years ago. It was eerie and thrilling.

By day, Williamsburg is a must-see site. It was preserved in time because of a passionate history buff with a big idea and a Rockefeller with loads of money. There are blocks and blocks preserved in the colonial period and reenactors. We were pleased to get our walking tour guide all to ourselves. We strolled at our leisure and learned all the great stories. Did you know Martha Washington was probably a babe? And a rich babe at that. It turns out that many scenes from the AMC series Turn on Washington’s spies are filmed there. And like proper parents, we endeavored to show greater excitement for the real historic sites than the filming sites. I think we pulled that off pretty well.

Gettysburg was our last stop and well worth a full day. We took a bus tour, but walking the hallowed grounds would have been even better. Many Americans died there and fought for their beliefs during the Civil War. The Gettysburg Address was of course delivered there too. The kids will hopefully remember that or at least the apples they fed to the re-enactor’s horses. We can only hope.

With this trip back through the past, I find myself thinking more about home. The house where I grew up was restored by my dad and mom. As kids, we spent our weekends helping sand floors, sheet-rock walls, paint, wallpaper and garden. 

As I walked around the old place, I found myself looking for traces of my family. I snapped a picture of an old bathroom heater switch my dad installed to show it to him. 

All touches of my late mother’s wallpaper are gone. But she would be pleased at that. Ever a woman of class and style, she would eschew wallpaper now too. She would certainly be proud of the elegance too. I told our host Mrs. King that. 

As I toured my mom’s old room though, I found myself whispering her name, “Mom.” Really. I did. I'm not kidding. I guess I was missing her. But she’s not there. She’s elsewhere, someplace better. But not there. My siblings, aren’t there either. They are all well and living elsewhere from California to New York to Georgia. But my mom, it has been a long time.

So from this trek through the past, I think I finally understand the bittersweet truth of why “you can't go home again.” 

It's because truly, home is only a memory. 

It really never was just a place. 

Margee Moore is a marketing professional and mother of two. She is author of the book, Sleeping with the Laundry and you can follow her on the Facebook of the same name.  

Why Historic Hotels of America Matter

As a fan  of historic homes, I also appreciate the important place that the National Trust's Historic Hotels of America group has in preserving the past. This grouping of elegant and timeless properties give us all a chance to visit and experience firsthand what travel was like in a more social time.



From the Homestead in Virginia to the Peabody in Memphis, these great hotels are treasures. Check out this wonderful video from Historic Hotels of America.

How to Lose an Afternoon on a Simple Chore Yet Find Yourself

This past weekend, I was simply going to touch up our pool's gate. All We had to do was sand down, steel wool and paint up some rust spots on our iron gate.

But is anything ever simple when you own an old house? So my husband and I started with sand paper to get off rust.

A small chisel works well too for bumpy spots. Then after sanding, smooth it out more with steel wool. Next, we wipe off the debris with a dry rag and spray paint. 

The Rustoleum Stops Rust version works well. So one thing leads to another and you fix one thing, you start seeing more to fix. 

I guess I'm glad we started this chore because every panel needed help. The husband had to mow the lawn. Sadly, this small chore that became huge was mine all alone. So the way I turned this into a positive event was I went in and got my daughter to come help.  

She did the sanding and chisel. Me, steel wool, wipe and paint. We chatted and it was much more enjoyable. Not quite fun but not bad either.  We also decided maybe two panels a day after this was plenty. 

  

So for my OldHouseDiary Tip: Make the work more fun with a pal. But do the work because your fence may be ready to fall apart like mine. 

Stops Rust® Rusty Metal Primer Spray Product Page http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/stops-rust/rusty-metal-primer-spray/#.V6kVmF82mg4.twitter

Fake It Till You Can Replace It

If you are an old house fan, you know sometimes your budget can be tight. There are times when you need to conserve money so you can fix a screened-in porch or the garbage disposal that chose to go on the fritz right around Thanksgiving. Yes, Thanksgiving!

So here's a quick budget decor tip. 

I have some boxwood shrubs in planters that needed to be replaced. But budgets were tight. 

Boxwood shrubs are only able to survive for a few years in pots, especially when you forget to water them a few times during a hot summer. 

With the help of a forest green or dark green can of spray paint, you can turn them into something that can get you through the winter. In the spring, many garden centers, Lowes and Home Depot, have big sales on boxwood and other perennials to lure you in.

Spray painted shrub looks good enough to last till Spring. And it never needs watering.

I was discussing front doors with my friend and co-worker Scott who also lives in an old home. We were trying to determine if our front door was original or later. 

Though it has leaded glass in the surrounding panels, it is only one solid beveled panel in the middle. Scott thought it looked to be a 1910ish style. 

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 From the little pieces of house history that we have, we know that there was a major renovation in 1917. Many items were updated at that time.

So our guess is this door is probably circa 1917 and not original. 

Proper care and feeding of this door includes an annual coat of the min-wax with stain. We paint it on and immediately rub off any excess. It takes a beating from the sun and it is a fun treasure to care for. Our National Historic Register plaque for 1870, the Gideon Palmer House. Love it!