Restoration Journal

The stencil below, found at the level of the chair rail (approximately 4 feet above the floor), is one of two beautiful sets of original frescoed stencils discovered in the best parlor. Embedded in what is probably the earliest plaster layer of the parlor's walls, the stencils once encircled the room as a primary decorative element. The other stencil is found at what used to be the height of the door frames, before the house was remodeled substantially in 1874. Therefore, we can date these stencils to the house's earliest era, 1848-1874

Will we reproduce these stencils in the parlor? No, because they pre-date the architecture that we see today. The Italianate architectural style of the 1874 remodeling features the arched floor to ceiling windows and doors that give the house its distinction today. The very earliest layer of wallpaper, a lovely rose colored damask print (below) dates to this period and a similar pattern will be used for the restoration of this room