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.)

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. 

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