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Jerrilee Cain applies milk paint to new wood in an attempt
to replicate the patina of the original boards in her Worthington,
Mass., John House homestead, built in 1703. Photo by Carol
Lollis courtesy of the Daily Hampshire Gazette
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Addicted
to Restoration
By
Angela Dahman
Jerrilee Cain, BS Ed ’52, isn’t ashamed to admit she
has an addiction. “I’m obsessed,” she says. “I
guess you could say I’m 75 years old, I ought to quit this.
But I can’t. I just love it.”
Cain is talking about her love for restoring historic homes. She
got hooked more than 50 years ago in an art appreciation course at MU, when instructor Ed Denyer showed the
class a picture of the John Whipple House in Ipswich, Mass., built
in 1677. “That was it,” says Cain. “I’d
never seen one, never been out of the Midwest. But as soon as I
got out of school, I went [to the East] as fast as I could.”
Over the years, Cain honed her knowledge of historic architecture
and building techniques. She completed two 18th-century restorations
while balancing a career in art education and administration. Currently,
she is restoring and living in the John House homestead, which was
dismantled and moved from Glastonbury, Conn., to western Massachusetts
in 1997.
“It’s a slow process,” says Cain, who has been
working on the home for three years. “Most of it is handwork.
You know, nothing’s true, nothing’s square, so everything
has to be scribed to fit.”
Hand-planing new boards to fit smoothly next to worn original ones
is only half of the challenge. Cain spent two years removing paint
from the old floorboards using steel wool. “You never use
sandpaper, because that cuts through the patina,” she explains.
Other obstacles include matching original paint colors — complicated
by legislation outlawing many of the ingredients that contributed
to the original hues — and making a few modern concessions
to appease building inspectors. But Cain says the frustration is
worth it.
“The reward is the thrill I get when I go into a room that’s
finished right, and there’s a total sense of proportion that
these indigenous craftsmen had,” Cain says. “Decisions
are made in modern houses according to the standard length of board
you get. But for the old guys, the way you placed a dormer depended
on the aesthetics of where that dormer should be. And it looks beautiful.”
Editor’s Note: This story was published
originally in the summer 2007 issue of MIZZOU, the magazine of the
Mizzou Alumni Association.
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Last Update:
March 12, 2007
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