This is the A.J. Stephens House in picturesque mode during yesterday afternoon's light snowfall. Designed and built during 1911 by Chariton contractor Andrew Jackson Stephens for his family, it was refurbished and opened to the public as the first building on the Lucas County Historical Society campus during 1967. Since then, six more buildings have been added --- but this is the one visitors and those who drive through see first.
The architectural historian who prepared nomination papers that earned it a place on the National Register of Historic Places many years ago agonized over exactly what to call it. He finally decided on "American Vernacular." I'd probably call it "Classical Revival" --- because of the porches.
Whatever the case, I shared a few snapshots yesterday on the society's Facebook page, taken and/or posted by Casey Peasley, of some of the work Cameron Shriver, of Shriver Painting and Finishing, has been doing there during the first days of the new year --- restoring and repainting wall surfaces that in some cases, I'm guessing, haven't been touched since 1967.
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| Second-floor hallway. |
The areas involved include the entrance hall, front stairwell, a small hallway that divides the entrance from the dining room, the back stairwell and the back hall downstairs; the hallway, bathroom, dressing room, dressing room closet and a ceiling or two upstairs.
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| Entrance Hall |
Some of these areas, especially the back stairwell, present major challenges as they stretch upward two full stories.
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| Cameron at work in the back stairwell. |
Once Cameron's finished, we'll return furnishing and accessories to the public areas, archived costumes and such to areas that are used for storage.
We're also preparing to move the bulk of the society's toy collection, currently displayed inefficiently in two bedrooms, to a newly designated toy display area in the Lewis Building's Crist Gallery. And anticipating the arrival of a new showcase (purchased with memorial funds) for the dining room for fine glassware.
Hopefully, we'll have all of this done --- plus a few other projects in the Lewis Building --- by the time we reopen for regular hours on May 1.
As anyone who deals with a vintage building knows, their natural inclination is to fall apart unless consistently maintained. Without going to the books, I guesstimated the other day that we've spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000 on the Stephens House during the last 10 years --- rewiring the entire building, a new roof, new roof drainage system, attic insulation and a variety of smaller projects. Our partner in major projects, gratefully acknowledged, has been the South Central Iowa Community Foundation, which in several cases has matched expenditures from historical society funds.
There's still a lot we'd like to do, but progress is incremental so we'll just keep plugging away.
The Lucas County Historical Society is governed by a board of sixteen. The office currently is open 10 a.m.-3 p..m. Tuesday-Thursday and tours of climate-controlled buildings (and others, depending upon weather conditions) may be arranged at any time by appointment. We'll open for the 2020 season on May 1.
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