Price Anniversary House: Upstairs Bedrooms Project
By LaDean Talcott
The restoration and preservation of a historic home are never finished! Friends of Price House was formed in April 1992, a group of dedicated, all-volunteer individuals, who over the course of 30 years, restored and furnished the home John Michael Price had built as a 50th wedding anniversary celebration in 1893.
From ruins to restoration. What an accomplishment!
The furnishings were limited to the downstairs. The two upstairs bedrooms were used for storing Victorian Christmas decorations and archival records. Just about everyone who comes to tour the Price Home wants to see the upstairs, and it was a decision of the FOPH to take steps toward allowing visitors to do just that.
Safety being the first concern, we started with adding a railing on the way up the steep steps, in addition to the beautiful balustrade going up the first portion of the stairs. Thanks to volunteers who made this first step happen.
Safety first
Once the new railing made the upstairs more easily accessible, volunteers spent more than a year going through all the archival materials, saving precious records of all those years of restoration.
A grant was written to fund the hiring of professional movers to handle the task of moving all the upstairs storage and archival records to the other historical home in the park, the Meherin House. Some potential pieces of bedroom furniture were also moved from the Meherin House to the Price House.
FOPH is most fortunate to have a retired professional set designer on its board. He has designed sets for Disney films, and museums as well as taught design students. He made detailed plans for the painting of the Price House interior as well as the plans for furnishing the two bedrooms upstairs, all based on careful research of what would be appropriate to the era.
Ready for furnishings!
Another gracious volunteer came forward to paint the first bedroom, designated as the Price bedroom. Now, this room is ready for furnishings!
The design calls for a bed with a side table, an armoire, a washstand, some rugs, a desk, and a chair. So far, we have a wash stand, a bed, and a desk.
The desk was an important purchase since we know that John Price kept meticulous records of his business for over 40 years. (That is another story!)
John Price desk
We don’t know if John Price had a desk, but we are hoping he had a nice one like the one we purchased for his bedroom. Our set designer is already planning what to put in all the little cubbies!
When this Price bedroom is finished, we will start on the other bedroom which will be furnished as a bedroom for children. Again, we don’t know for sure what this room was used for but do know that having had 13 children, there were certainly some grandchildren who came to stay with John and Andrea!
Thanks to volunteers for the Upstairs Project: Jeannie Nix; Mike Devine; Ed Waage; Eddie Salame; LaDean Talcott; Paul and Maria Talcott. Thanks to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors for the grant money funding professional movers.
