A Folk Art Legacy of the Old House Kind

Early, woven, Ohio coverlet that came with our house.

     Our old house has a legacy. When we were looking for an early house to preserve, we could never have made a list of what we ended up with and given it to our realtor and said, "We needed a house, with a cottage to live in while we work on the main house, lots of walnut trees for dyeing wool, tons of rock to build walls all around the property, a great western view, and a history of folk art & antiques". That is just what we have been so blessed to find and be the stewards of.

     There were some items left with the house and we have been able to piece together quite a history over the years. We even had the opportunity to speak with a lady who had grown up in the house when it had been in her family from the beginning. There have also been a series of owners who all seem to have shared a love of antiques and collecting. There are stories of auctions being held in the living room and there was an "interesting" shed on the back of the house that was an antique shop at one time. We have heard from so many people how they would come to this house to buy antiques. My thought is that an old house inspires a love of all things old, and a shared interest in seeing these pieces preserved.

Hooked rug of a young girl who lived in the house.
It was hooked by her mother circa 1940's.

A view of the kitchen window

     The other legacy that was such a surprise is that this house had a previous folk artist in residence. She was an avid painter, rug hooker, and writer. A generous neighbor gifted us with one of her rugs soon after we moved here. In the sifting through of the items left in the house, we came across a painting of hers of a summertime view of the back of the house. We were also given a copy of a story she wrote about moving her family to this house (then an entire farm) in the 1920's. She recounts the hardships of no electricity or plumbing, some unwanted visitors of the furry kind, and views of our small town when it was dirt roads and still very rural.

So, now we have taken on the construction of the next part of our house's history. It is once again home to two folk artists, a writer, musician, and a builder of stone walls, among other things. We know that being the caretakers of an old house is a life-long job and not an easy one, but we couldn't picture it being any other way just now.