I did a thing...

Yes... Indeed... I did a thing. I swallowed my pride. While I'm not admitting defeat, I AM admitting that assistance is very necessary and that being a two person army is only hindering us in our industrious efforts to take on the near Herculean task of restoring our historical marvel.

So...

Today, after a trying day at the house where further issues were uncovered and brought to light that made me want to rip my hair out and scream and cry and throw things, a decision was made that will effect the future of the Greensfelder Mansion in what I believe will be a truly positive manner. We decided to start a GoFundMe campaign and to write to This Old House in order to help get the historical community, and the community of Logansport as a whole, further involved with the restoration of the mansion. Let's be candid for a moment; she needs A LOT of work and we're pouring money into her on the daily. Progress IS being made, but that progress would be made so much faster with access to additional capitol or, more importantly, contractor donations.

This doesn't come without promises or careful thought and considerations. I've worked with non-profits for most of my adult life and know the benefit of keeping open books. A complete itemization of projects and receipts WILL be posted for every dollar of donated money spent. This open book policy will absolutely prove that restoration efforts are being undertaken and that hubster and I aren't simply stock piling cash for a trip to Fiji.

You can find our campaign by clicking right here. Photos of chunks of the damage we're contending with can be found there as well as a decent list of what truly needs to be worked on in a timely manner to preserve the home's integrity. We sincerely and humbly thank you in advance for your donation, consideration, and passing of the word so that we may breathe life back into the mansion and the town of Logansport as a whole.

We have new visitors... Of the winged kind.

My husband is a wise soul who decided yesterday to check the chimneys to see what kind of clearance they have, any down drafts, any debris etc. The fireplace in the living room is in working order. It has a down draft, the cob webs flutter, you can feel cold air coming down and a small kindling fire showed the smoke going up, which is the proper direction, and not out into the house. Excellent! Except... It shrieks at you. That was clue one that we were in for an interesting ride, clue two was the skeletal remains of a creature.

Moving on to chimney two... The parlor has one of the most amazing fireplaces I have ever had the privilege to lay my eyes on. However... It's filled with debris of all kinds. Leaves, sticks, you name it. We need it cleaned and a cap installed. Worse? We found another creature of the same variety as the first fireplace... Deceased...

Chimney Swifts. It seems that we are harboring at least two colonies of the bat-like birds and now comes the question of how to remove them without harming them because they truly are remarkable little things. I'm open to suggestion since I like winged squatters a lot better than the creepy crawly kind and would love to save them in some way. I will be putting out feeding stations for the area songbirds this winter and I plan on obtaining a colony of finches in a large flight cage in the living room or parlor... Maybe even the library. They'll be somewhere.

In other news... The garage is going to be reworked as well and will become a mancave/studio. Hubby needs a place for his toys and I need a private place to write, sculpt, and paint. It appears to be set up already to host a wood burning stove and the plan is to finish the ceiling after replacing the roof and installing infrared heaters to keep things toasty for the winter months. Hubby will have a ball decking it out with high tech security gadgets so I have no worries about anything out there. Plus it'll give me another place to move weather sensitive plants.

Slowly but surely, the plan is coming together. I think I may have a cleaning party complete with wine and cheese offerings at this point. We'll see.

So it's been a little bit since I last wrote an update, and I have to take full responsibility for the busy nature of life that has kept me from sitting and penning something for you guys to chew on. The house, for the most part, has been in a state of flux as we try to tackle the monumental task of cleaning her. There's a lot of dust, dirt, grit, and grime from her various repair projects of the past and, as all unlived in homes, she has one heck of a spider problem. I don't do spiders. At all. Ever. And there's several species and varieties of these eight-legged nopes for me to contend with all at once including a near see-through one that looks like dandelion fluff rolling across the floor until you get a good look at it and nearly come out of your skin. I STILL refuse to go down into the basement and have left my husband to handle that in whole. I'm sure you're asking "But there's thousands of treasures untold down there! Don't you want to see?!" The answer, my friends, is yes... But I've also been told by hubby and the municipal worker who turned on the water and electric that there are scary things down there that defy logic and explanation... And they're alive. No thanks. Needless to say there will be an exterminator brought in very VERY soon.

Other than that... There's a surplus of paint cans, trash, and various other items that are being gone through and removed. The dump is going to be our best friend for awhile. Coats that we've found will be donated to the Salvation Army and so on and so forth. Contractors have been called, a chimney inspector is being brought in, and we're ordering firewood in order to be better prepared to spend the winter in our new wonderland. Am I overwhelmed? VERY. But I think the feeling of being overwhelmed will cease to exist as soon as the house is at least clean and I don't feel the heebie jeebies brought on by the soon to be evicted arachnid tenants.

In AWESOME news, my husband was eyeballing what he thought was a hole in the "library" wall affectionately known as the "Purple Rain" room due to the color of the current paint. He discovered it wasn't a hole in the wall, but rather a hole in about 18 layers of paint and curiosity got the best of him, and I'm glad it did, because stripping it away bit by bit he's uncovered the original flocked wall paper. We're being VERY careful to gently expose this treasure and see just how much of it is intact. At worst we'll be having a pattern made to re-flock the room. Either way, it's a treasure not unlike finding little Sally Greensfelder's graffiti on an upstairs bedroom wall (we affectionately call that room the green room because of the flooring) or the incredible mantle in the living room.

Uncovered treasure; flocked paper

So all in all I'll be doing more and hopefully posting more as we continue on this monumental task of restoring the old mansion.

The kitchen is a point of serious contention at this point... The cabinetry does NOT appear to be original and appears to have been haphazardly done. We're having things looked at, but the general idea appears to be in favor of redoing the entire kitchen 100% but keeping the Victorian/Gothic feel that this home so deserves. It has an abundance of natural light and we're going to work with that. So far we're wanting stained wood cabinetry, flag stone floors and back splash, stainless appliances. We're going to resize the island in the middle of the kitchen and VERY likely set a gas range there in order to free up space for a double oven, space for a fridge, and more counters because counters are a very needed thing. The entire outside wall is basically windows and is off limits. Nothing will be going there aside from delicate window treatments to help preserve the view of the garden and the light afforded by those windows.

The back covered porch is going to be demolished. It's beyond saving with the amount of roof and exterior damage and the idea now is to preserve the windows, rebuild it larger, and do it in stone work to create a sitting/rear entry grotto complete with either a wood burning stove or another fireplace and hanging period correct lanterns for ambient lighting and enable it to be used all year round. Might make an EXCELLENT informal dining area.

I STILL want book shelves in the library. Floor to ceiling. But the integrity of the flocking WILL be preserved and these cases will be bolted as opposed to being built ins. It'll be a very special paradise filled with novels and legal texts and I envision a stunning area rug and period furniture stained to match the gorgeous window moldings. The ceiling will be done in a darker mural, maybe celestial, maybe as a map... Or maybe a large compass rose. We haven't decided, but it will be done. I get chills thinking about it.

Needless to say, this home is going to be a work of art once completed. I aim to see her chronicled in an architectural digest. She deserves it.

Ok class, today we're going to talk about the origins of the mansion.

We're going to start with her founding fathers, so go ahead and get your tea and crumpets and sit back as I try to pick through the - limited - information I have. I can assure you that the gaps will be filled over time as I plan to pick through the Cass County and Indiana Historical Society's collective brains to figure out the rest. So far I've been informed they have old photos of the home and documents pertaining to the house and her inhabitants... Needless to say, I want copies.

Anyway, on with the history lesson... Albeit a reader's digest version.

It all started when a stately Jewish man by the name of Eli Greensfelder opened a shop at 315 Marketstreet Logansport, Indiana in 1860. It was a men’s shop, selling the finest suits and accessories that could be found in that day and age in Logansport. At that time, Logansport was a bustling railroad city-town that also boasted a leg of the now defunct, and largely destroyed, Wabash-Erie canal that had reached the city in 1937 or 1938. So busy was this town that it garnered for itself the nickname of “Little Chicago” which, incidentally, is only a 2 hour (or so) drive away and perfect for a weekend day trip.

The Greensfelder Mens Store dated 1913

A generation later, and Eli’s twin sons, Herbert and Melvin, took up the reins to continue their father’s legacy of excellence. In 1902 the mansion was constructed, just a short hop away from their beautiful shop, and stood as a beacon of excellence in the city. You see, the Greensfelders were a minority family at the time as there were only a handful of Jewish families in the town, and even fewer running businesses. As such, the family was extremely influential and civic service minded. Logansport was their baby, and they treated it as such.

Herbert and Melvin Greensfelder

One of the most interesting pieces of history that I’ve found is the fact that the Greensfelders were absolutely fearless in their approach to keeping Logansport safe. When the KKK opened an office, they were the first to make it known that their formidable new neighbors weren’t welcome. This has been accounted for in several archives and texts, but the most compelling story of their bravery comes from Jan Lewis, a professor at the esteemed Rutger’s University, who happens to be the granddaughter of Melvin Greensfelder. Her story was accounted in the New York Times and speaks of the family legend in which the story is chronicled in great detail;

Herbet, Melvin, and their close friend Frank McHale, an Irish-Catholic lawyer, took a trip to Chicago where they hired a group of mobsters to handle business in the KKK’s Logansport office. Some accounts state the office was trashed, others state that KKK members were trashed, others speak of a clandestine op that MI-6 would have been proud of. Regardless, something monumental happened to the KKK in Logansport in 1933, and the Greensfelders were behind the infamous organization’s decision to pack it up and head on out of Dodge. Interestingly enough, there aren’t any police documents to back the stories… But… Let’s be real. We all know things get dusted under the county rug at times, and this was definitely for the betterment of Logansport. However, let it be known that a very interesting document was uncovered after Melvin’s death in 1975; a typed KKK roster outlining some 250 names of members… And it was dated, you guessed it, 1933, and was undoubtedly taken during the break in. The document is now housed at the Indiana Historical Society and I’m going to do my best to obtain further information about it, and a picture.

The rest of the information I've found were pieces of history pertaining to military history in WWI and WWII. These men were honorable and just, and I'm quite proud to be preserving part of their legacy via the restoration of the mansion. As I find more information and hear more stories, I'll be sure to include them and make amendments. I actively encourage people to eMail me with more information, and have reached out to Professor Lewis in hopes of uncovering more anecdotes and information about the house and Logansport in general. I can be easily reached at StormShyArts@gmail.com

Until next time!

When I was designing this blog, I was all gung-ho for keeping it completely professional with no personal flair what so ever. I sat here with my Earl Gray and literally watched the steam wither away while I hunted for the words to begin this first post with something other than a personal anecdote. I swear the house refuses to let me hide personality for the sake of professionalism. It has its own personality, its own charisma… A sort of flair and zest and zeal that begs for life and merriment… And who am I to deny the old lady? At nearly 115 years old, the Greensfelder mansion is, without a doubt, very set in her ways – in a good way. She just knows what she wants, and who can blame her?

It’s honestly funny how things work and plans change. When we, my husband and I, set out to purchase a home, we were looking at horse property. I wanted the acreage, the barn, the garden, the country life. We looked high and low, put offers in on several homes that all fell through because of the seller’s integrity, or lack thereof. One was so badly misrepresented that we literally stood there watching it rain INSIDE the house in teeming torrents that turned the dining room and master bedroom into indoor swimming pools. Needless to say, when the bank that owned the property decided they were sticking to their guns on price, and we knew it was going to cost close to $100k to even make the home LIVABLE, we chose to walk away… And it was stressful. So very stressful. A lot of days were spent sitting beside a friend of mine, her on her phone, me on the computer, digging through Zillow, Realtor.com, and Trulia searching for ANY shred of hope that hubby and I weren't completely crazy for uprooting and moving to Indiana. 

Day after day was spent driving back and forth to the stores and entertainment, staring wantonly at the old Victorians in Fort Wayne, wistfully sighing "Why can't I find one of those? Why can't those be on more than postage stamp sized property?"

I have always loved Victorians… ALWAYS. My mother was the Queen of restoring and decorating Victorians and my dream was to own a great big giant Queen Anne, but... I couldn’t find one on horse property and I was stubbornly sticking to my guns of finding a place where I never had to board my horses again. Like this blog, however, plans changed. One of my closest friends found Greensfelder on a historical home site that she frequently lurks and BEGGED me to go look at this home, and I agreed... Only because she begged. Ok I lied. It wasn't just because she begged, I did it because Victorian, because history, because I just felt drawn to the place through my extensive Googling of its story. It doesn’t have horse property, is smack dab in the middle of town, and requires so much work… But I fell in love. One step through the door and I just KNEW this house was the one.

While anyone who drives past the house probably believes its haunted and ready to crumble in on itself, they couldn’t be any further from the truth. The house, while needing extensive exterior work to hold a candle to her shining former self, is an architectural gem. Inside, the work isn’t nearly as daunting. Sure… There’s drywall work and restoring part of her lincrusta wainscot, repainting, and hunting down the tiles to finish her beautiful mosaic vestibule floors, and, of course, re-finishing her grand ball room – but all of that is the fun stuff. It can, and will, be handled over the winter of 2016-2017 when exterior repairs can’t be done. Which reminds me… Whoever the genius was that listed her as having “horse hide” on her walls needs to be tarred and feathered. I assure you, fellow lovers of equus, the wainscot IS lincrusta. Linseed oil and wood flour made into a gel and spread out over paper before being pressed and embossed and then applied and stained to that beautiful, rich, deep finish we see today. Reading that on her listing seriously resulted in me doing something very similar to this;

Moving on.

The plan for this home is to maintain her historical integrity. We’re considering all options and her wood working WILL be preserved, both inside and out. That being said, there will be some changes, for the better.

Example 1: Her study will have the addition of wall to ceiling book cases installed at some point, the natural light in that room is absolutely spectacular and it’s such a quiet nook that affords someone the chance to sit with a hot cup of tea, tuck their legs up into a comfy chair, and read to their heart’s content.

Example 2: Her kitchen will have its remodeling continued. It’s been modernized, to a degree, but has the original cabinetry;  complete with the hand painted enamel drawer pulls etc. We WILL preserve those while affording functionality. Off the kitchen is an unfinished small 3 season room that will be finished with another fireplace installed.

Example 3: The basement will be finished. I’ve heard multiple tales that it acted as servants’ quarters. While in great shape, it’s hardly habitable and needs to be finished. The added space down there is just incredible. One room will be reinforced as a storm room.

I could continue going on and on about the changes, but I’d rather not for the sake of brevity. If you’re interested in her restoration plan, you can feel free to ask for it. I may, at some point, actively publish it once its set in absolute stone. The one thing that IS for certain is that this home will never fall into ruin again, well… As long as my husband and I are alive, anyway. I can only hope our children choose to love and preserve her integrity as we do, but they’ll certainly be raised to do so. Not many of today’s youth can boast that they grew up in one of the most unique and historical homes in the country, let alone the state of Indiana. Nevertheless, in our time she will never become apartments, torn down, or re-purposed into a shop or office space. I can't promise that she won't hold some commercial value, but fear not. The only reason for that is there mere fact that I own and operate my own graphic design/art studio and just so happen to work from home. Nothing too incredibly crazy.

So… That concludes blog post one. My tea has hit the microwave (sacrilege, I know), and I’m now going back through all the historical texts I have found about the mansion, and her previous owners, in order to start penning a catalog of her history to share with you all… That will start next blog.