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Come on up! As promised, here is the horrible pink, padded-cell wallpaper. We do not plan on covering this paper up...at least not for a while...just as we are not planning on painting over the current aged white paint. Both has so much charm that has endured so many years.
Just inside the doorway to the attic are two cabinet doors. Olwen told us that these were hidden by layers of wallpaper. One day she started to pick at the peeling paper and discover the cabinets. Below are the two cabinets that she found. Today we use them to store items of historical significance to the house. We will not be painting these anytime soon. The hardware will be taken off and the paint removed though.
When James Kendrick III came to visit in the Spring of 2009, he said that when he was a child, the grandchildren were not allowed to go up in the attic. This was where Rachel stored things, and she did not want the children to play in the area.
The attic is pretty much the way that we found it when we moved in. We have not done any improvements to it. A previous family had the space insulated and updated it with full electrical. They also had a heat duct installed. David did tap into the swamp cooler ducting to provide much needed cooling in the summer. Currently, Nicole uses the space as her art studio, where she creates masterpieces made from rubber stamps, inks, ribbons, and numerous other tools of the trade.
The attic serves as a storage room. In the future, we plan to finish off the space with sheet rock ceilings and numerous built-in shelving, cabinets, and access doors along all of the walls. An artist rendition to the right shows one idea that we have for the space. Currently, the attic looks considerably different. The photographs below show the blank slate that we are working with.
The first picture is Nicole's studio. If you look at the "You Are Here" map, Nicole's Studio and the artist rendition are the section to the left. The next photograph is the portion of the attic under the small turret. For the Historic Tour, we walled off of the unsightly storage closet with a sheet. This will become a formal storage closet with actual enclosed walls someday. The third photograph below is the section to the right of the "You Are Here" map. Nicole has set up living space where family and friends can visit and relax while staying with us. Note the continuation of the chimney that originated in the Family Room between the windows.
Another historical highlight is that Terry Mendenhall pulled up the floor boards to the attic back in 1966. What he found was very interesting. He discovered an old (original) photograph of President Herbert Hoover, a letter written on December 5, 1927, from Elberta Curtis to a friend named Von, and other paper memorabilia. We did find that there was a Curtis family that lived in the house in 1929, and possibly as far back as 1927. In addition to these items, Terry also returned to the house a couple of old bottles that were found. The photograph to the left shows these items on display during the Historic Home Tour.
We have scanned the paper items and are making them available in pdf format. Click the links below to see them. If anyone knows who Elberta Curtis or Von from the letter might be, please e-mail us at info@1007LakeAvenue.com.
Photograph of Herbert Hoover
December 5, 1927 Letter
A Pueblo Chieftain Article from December 1967. The note was written by Terry Mendenhall.
An undated news clipping with other paper memorabilia
Head on down to the Workshop in the Basement