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Peoria Journal Star

Peoria Journal Star, The (IL) April 17, 2005 Redefining the Original - Washington couple uses photos and research as guides in restoration Author: SONYA EMBRY Edition: All Section: FEATURES Page: F1 Estimated printed pages: 5 Article Text: Walter and Joan Ruppman still marvel at the spectacular craftsmanship and detail found throughout the 1884 Victorian home they purchased six years ago in Washington. "It's like living in a piece of artwork," Walter says. Double doors with wheel-cut glass panes glisten in the light. Elaborate fretwork adorns the tops of doorways and large bays of windows. An extravagant light fixture sits atop the post at the foot of the curved staircase. Even the enunciator mounted on a kitchen wall - which the home's original owners once used to call servants - has decorative carved wood. Joan is fond of the original hardware found throughout the home, including engraved door knobs and hinges; Walter admires the abundance of woodwork. "All of the rooms downstairs have carved floral designs. Each room has a different theme, and each window and each door (within them) has a different design of the same thing," Joan explained. The Qu! een Anne-style home had been a funeral home for nearly 70 years when the Ruppmans purchased it in the summer of 1999. It was built by Henry Denhart, a local banker who lived there until he died at age 91 in the 1930s. The house was then sold to the White family, which ran White Funeral Home, later Mason-White Funeral Home. "The mortuaries in every small town were the big houses that weren't fashionable anymore," Joan said. Many of the home's original features remained intact during its years as a funeral home. The original woodwork is unchanged and many original light fixtures remain, as do four fireplaces with tile surrounds and elaborate mirrored mantels. Still, the Ruppmans have done a good amount of detective work to piece some of the decorative elements of the house back together. They have exterior photographs of the home in its original state, but there were no interior photographs to use as a guide. While a bedroom closet may seem an unli! kely spot to draw inspiration for restoration of an ornate Victorian h ome, the wallpaper Walter and Joan found in the upstairs closets - left untouched when the rest of the rooms were covered over - helped them piece together a design scheme for the rest of the house. The couple replaced wallpaper in most rooms except for the downstairs hall and dining room, which they believe have original wallcoverings. Wallpaper in the hallway - with panels trimmed in gold - resembles aged leather but is really quite thin, Joan said. The red parlor is papered in burgundy with a gold torch and wreath pattern. The design is similar to what's cut into the glass panes of the front double doors and also shows up on the white tiles of the fireplace. On display near the fireplace is the torch Walter carried for a kilometer in Chicago as the Olympic flame was passed across the United States for the 1984 Olympics. The green parlor across the hall features elaborate wallpapering. The ceiling is outlined with five layers of paper with various meda! llions, borders, fans and inlays. There are two wallpaper designs on the walls - a green base and panels with gold stars. The Ruppmans believe the wide-board pine floors in the two parlors and downstairs hall were always covered with carpeting. At the time the home was built, carpeting could only be loomed into 27-inch-wide strips. So the Ruppmans had carpeting loomed in England like the original would have been and stitched together in the United States. Original gas light fixtures, including an elaborate gasolier (a chandelier originally lighted with gas) in the red parlor, can be found throughout the 5,000-square-foot home. While they're now electrified, some are attached to actual gas piping discovered in the walls during remodeling. Adding to the home's authentic feel, rooms are furnished with period furniture that the Ruppmans have collected over the years, including a dining room set purchased in Philadelphia, fainting couches and parlor sets. ! Craftsmen working on the original home used combs or feathers to give the pine woodwork a faux grain resembling oak, the Ruppmans explained. Wood in the dining room and library was made to look like walnut. The library features oak hardwood flooring that the Ruppmans suspect was installed in the 1910s, shuttered windows and Joan's favorite wallpaper selection. "I had to have this paper. It's called iris frieze," she said of the floral print that runs along the bottom quarter of the room's 11-foot walls. "I like flowers a lot. . . . I think that's the only paper in the whole house I had to have." In the hall just outside the library, a 1916 thermostat is mounted to the wall. "The house was originally heated by fireplaces or stoves. They were burning coal," Walter said, pointing out a piece of flue still visible in the library wall. "At some point they went to a central heating system and they put in registers. . . . We now have geothermal (heat)." The Ruppmans installed a computer chip in the old thermost! at that allows it to continue monitoring the home's temperature. Much like the programmable thermostats popular today, the 1916 thermostat was originally connected to a clock that automatically adjusted a temperature control lever based on the time of day. The dining room, which can seat up to 18 people, leads to a small butler's pantry. Neighbors across the street gave the Ruppmans some pantry cabinets that they later confirmed belonged to the house because the wallpaper pasted between the cabinet shelves matched a layer of wallpaper the Ruppmans uncovered while stripping that room down to the plaster. "We believe that originally this room was a porch," Joan said of the pantry. "It would have been the place where gentlemen came out after dinner and smoked their cigars." An original built-in kitchen cupboard, complete with a flour bin, also was recovered. When the Ruppmans bought the home, a large elevator had been installed in what once was the kitchen! . When they tore it out, Walter and Joan discovered evidence of a back stairway and a built-in cupboard. Mel White, who sold the home to the Ruppmans, was able to produce the original drawers and doors for the cupboard, and the Ruppmans also re-created the steep staircase. Upstairs, the pink globes of an original light fixture cast a unique glow in the sitting room at the center of the home. Stained glass windows with songbirds overlook the street in front of the home. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs, each with a working transom atop the door and pine floors. The Ruppmans turned what once was the butler's quarters into a master bath and closets. "When we moved in, (the master bedroom) was the only room that was livable," Joan said, adding that work on the house continued for two years after they moved in. While the Ruppmans plotted out the work, hired professionals did much of the labor. "We do some destruction, but not much building," Joan said. The exterior of the home also has been almos! t completely restored over the past three years, except for a section on the south side still in progress. The Ruppmans had white aluminum siding stripped from the home, only to find that nearly all the original ornamentation was gone. "All the gingerbread had been torn off," Walter said. "Anything that stuck out, they cut off. . . . Window sills were cut off." Now, the exterior is alive with color and decorative pieces. Most were made specifically for the house based on photos and old paint patterns. The Ruppmans also had a carriage house built that's almost a replica of what once was on the property - in the same spot. "It's a big conversation piece about what's going on here," Joan said. "You can stand here and watch cars go by and you can see them slow down." But the Ruppmans don't really mind the interest. "We bought this house because it needed to be saved . . . but also to share," Walter said. "So that's what we're doi! ng." Caption: This colorful stained-glass window depicting a songbird is one of three in the sitting room on the second floor of the Roppmans' home</p><p>CAPTION: A number of gas light fixtures remain throughout the Ruppman's home. This one is attached to a gas pipe discovered in the wall during remodeling.</p><p>CAPTION: The ceiling of the green parolor in Walter and Joan Ruppman's Washington home includes five layers of wallpaper, including borders, inlays, fans and medallions. The east end of the room opens to the library, which features oak flooring that is thought to have been installed in the 1910s.</p><p>CAPTION: The Ruppman's 1884 Victorian home in Washington was a funeral home for nearly 70 years.</p><p>CAPTION: Walter and Joan Ruppman of Washington sit in the main stairway of the 1884 Victorian home they purchased six years ago. They have spent most of that time restoring the home.</p><p>CAPTION: An elaborat! e gasolier light fixture hands in the middle of the red parlor in walter and Jona Ruppman's Washington home. This room abd others throughout the 1884 home are furnished with period pieces the couple has collected over the years.</p><p>CAPTION: A torch and wreath design is found on the fireplace tile in the red parolor. The Ruppmans found wallpaper with a similar design. Also displayed in the room is a torch that Walter carried in Chicago when the flame was being passed for the 1984 Olympics. Return to Denhart pictures Copyright (c) 2005 The Peoria Journal Star, Inc. Record Number: 0000633248