Purchasing the “Brown House” in 1995 began another chapter in my adventures of rehabbing old houses. The two-story brick building was located at 730 East Chestnut Street in Louisville, Kentucky, right next to the “Pink House” which is why I thought it a good idea to sign for its ownership.
We had moved our non-profit Art Gallery to the “Pink House” and the newly purchased building had already been used as a studio for several artists.
When Gallery volunteer, John Martin mentioned that his son, Mike, was an electrician and a carpenter, I put Mike’s name at the top of the list to help renovate the latest Chestnut Street structure.
Leaning against the kitchen wall on his first day in the house, Mike discovered where we needed to start repairs. We both raised our eyebrows when the wall moved. After making a list of needed supplies, we headed for our favorite shopping place where lumber and plywood were loaded into the back of his truck.
While Mike worked inside, I faced the task of wedging myself in between the two buildings to hammer lap siding to the exterior wall. I was elected for that hammering job because I was a small featured person and there were only twelve inches between the buildings. Now it is not easy to put much leverage into swinging a hammer with only a twelve-inch space to hit forward. And then there was a problem of stacking up concrete blocks to make steps because a ladder would not fit.
The hardwood floors in the downstairs two rooms needed refinishing but I knew I would not be able to handle a large sander so when one of my students told me her daughter-in-law used a hand sander in her home, the job took on the day after day down on the floor with kneeler pads effort. Since I was an experienced renovator of paintings, I found touching up those areas that needed a matching layer of color a satisfying event.
The floor in the front room was built with parquet wood and finished with orange shellac which was troublesome, to say the least, to remove. But when both floors were finished and varnished I was quite proud of the accomplishments and moved on to lay vinyl for the kitchen floor.
Every time I see a TV commercial advertising a bathroom remodel, my thoughts fly back to the encounter with the “Brown House” first-floor bathroom and its tub which did not have claw feet when I first saw it. I have no idea why that tub was boxed in but I found out that it had been mounted on large blocks of wood when I removed board after board that surrounded it. Visiting the Broadway store where one could find whatever one needed to improve old houses, I returned to give the tub its proper claw feet for a cost of ten dollars each.
A gentleman showed up when we were almost finished with the second-floor repair. He wanted to buy the house. By the time he arrived on the scene I had just about enough of mowing down the poison ivy in the backyard, so we came to terms.
A few weeks later, looking out the next-door upstairs back window of the “Pink House”, I was shocked to see the prized clawfoot tub thrown out into the “Brown House” backyard. Its elderly years were no longer needed and the new kid in town, a walk-in shower had replaced it.
I think of that clawfoot tub when I see someone treating an older person with a dismissive attitude. I was glad to know. at least, for a short time, I had offered dignity to a disrespected tub. It taught me a lesson to remember later in life when I see the elderly whether that is a person or an object.