The Painted Lady

We almost lost her in 1993.  That August our cousin Emma died at 102, and my dad was offered 10K by a buyer who wanted take the bulldozer to her gables and columns and use the corner lot for a gas station.  Matt--fascinated by architecture in general,  spearheaded an effort to hang on to the Emma House and turn her into a family gathering place.  Dad relented, and now, almost 20 years later, we can say (with some chagrin) that Phil and I (with support from spouses and kids) have kept it together--  gathering here each summer for a ritual of visiting, wiring, peeling paper, painting,  and plastering. We've known for a couple of years that the lady was overdue for a painting, and this summer we decided to bite the bullet.

EHs 1907

Ken primes the front corner...where the old porch was

Originally The Emma House had a long porch running from the kitchen door out to the front of the house. The earliest colors are a big question mark...looks like the columns were white and the body of the house a medium hue. There's quite a bit of mustard and gray in our paint scrapings.  Beyond that the fascia and drip boards emerge as a darker color still. But within my memory the house has always been white.

So this time around we plan to add some drama and--in a moderate way--return to the look of the original structure.  We'll use a rich cream on the body of the house, lighter cream on the crosspieces and window facings, and a cedar blue-green and deep navy as accent colors.  If it looks ok we may throw in a little coppery russet color as another small accent.

Our painter,  Ken Jewell (no relation, as far as we know), is down with the color scheme.  Besides being a teacher, minister, deep thinker and good talker,  he's a dedicated runner,  in great physical shape (a requirement for this project),...and just crazy enough to be inspired by a job on this scale.

Robert Lee Johnson, Emma's father   1907

Clinton is in the midst of a "paint up" campaign, and everybody who's cruised by (that would be the whole town, population 1600)  is interested in the end result. Ken and I have made a pact that we'll be undaunted by any negative opinions.

The Emma House has a life and history of her own, continually colored with revisions and amendments, and this summer's changes will be a continuation of that.  She's always been a work in progress.