Have you ever watched the HGTV show If Walls Could Talk? It's a reality series where they highlight old home renovations and the discoveries the homeowners make along with the valuable objects they uncover. Well, despite my efforts to get our Burwell Building featured on an HGTV show, we do have a few discoveries we'd like to share with you that we feel are worthy of our own version of If Walls Could Talk. As we have been cleaning up the Burwell Building and demoing some of the plaster walls and ceilings, there are 7 curious things we have discovered.
(side note: if you know someone connected with HGTV, a production company who produces HGTV content or are close friends to Chip and Joanna Gaines or Ben and Erin Napier hit me up!) LOL!!
1. The doorway that used to connect the first floor to 109 N Sangamon Avenue
I've been told that back in the day of Loy's Dime Store, the first floor used to be connected to 109 N Sangamon Avenue and was an extension of the store. There is evidence of this in an archway near the front of the 1st floor doorway. It has since been boarded up - sorry, can't get to the other building from there now.
2. Original stenciled walls
Due to the lack of a functioning HVAC system in the building, the paint on the walls upstairs has started to peel. What they have revealed is beautiful artwork in the form of stencils. I'm not sure if these are all hand stenciled or not. One of the guests who took our Walking Tour this past summer told us her grandmother had the same stencil in her kitchen. So, either it was something that was mass-produced or we got very lucky in having the same artist create these works of art. I tend to believe in the former!
We also found beautiful Masonic symbols stenciled on the walls of the 'closet room'. Why do I call it the closet room? Because it's a room full of closets (duh!). If you've seen pictures of it or been in there - you know what I'm talking about. We believe it was a room used by the masons to hold all of their regalia, robes and hats.
3. Wallpaper hidden within the walls
The 2nd floor Opera House has gone thru several renovations since 1883 when it was first built. We know of 2 for sure. One was in July of 1902 while M.T. Burwell still owned it and the second in July of 1914 when the Masonics were getting ready to occupy it. What we don't know is when the wallpaper was put in the Opera House. We discovered the wallpaper as we were peaking into the wall between the front room and what I call 'the grand ballroom'. I apologize for the quality of the picture. The lack of light really impacted the quality of the photo.
I tend to think that the wallpaper was added during the 1914 renovation. Why? That leads us to #4 curious discovery,
4. Plaster on the walls came after electrification
There are not many light fixtures left in the upstairs. Most of them have been taken down, which is a shame. What is revealed in it's place though, is the fact that electrical wire was 'plastered' into the wall. When the Opera House was plastered, it was after electricity had been added. So, the plaster was just slapped right over those wires. I guess that's one way to do it...
I'm not 100% sure when the building was switched from gas lighting to electric lighting, but we do know that in April of 1909, motion pictures started to be shown in the Opera House. I don't know about you, but I believe you need electricity to show motion pictures, right? If wallpaper was added on top of the plaster walls and we know the plaster was there after electricity was added, I'm thinking the wallpaper was added during the 1914 renovation. All of this research is like putting a puzzle together - you have to make all the right pieces fit together or it doesn't come out right. It's kind of fun!
5. Stained Glass windows
Like most older homes/building with tall ceilings, at some point false ceiling were put in because it made it easier to heat those rooms. The Opera House is no exception. There were false ceilings put in the front rooms of the Opera House, possibly when the Wachs family moved up there after buying the building in 1942. When the false ceilings were put in, they not only covered up the top portion of the outside windows, they also covered up some beautiful stained glass windows put in an interior wall. Not sure why anyone would want to cover those beauties up, but in hindsight, it probably helped save them. Even so, they are in pretty rough shape.
Some of you may be saying "why would they put a window in an interior wall?" Well, while we aren't sure, we think it might have been to allow some natural light into the hallway and front room at the top of the stairs (which we think was used as a living room by the Wachs). The North wall of the Opera House has no windows at all because it shares a wall with the building next door, Those interior windows probably allowed some light to come into that room from the tall windows on the front of the building which face Sangamon Avenue.
6. Key hidden over the door!
As we were demoing some of the ceilings to reveal our #7 curiosity (no spoiler alert here), we discovered a key sitting on the molding above one of the few doors we have left upstairs. Like the lighting, most of the doors have been removed and lost throughout the years. We also don't have a door knob for that door, but luckily the rest of the door hardware is there. We have purchased a door knob and, now that we have found that key, we will have one functioning door upstairs. Woo hoo! It's the little things like this that excite me!
7. A Skylight!
The most curious discovery we have had is finding a skylight in the hallway of the upstairs Opera House. As I have mentioned, we've been tearing out all of the false ceilings and discovered that overlooking the hallway in the front of the building is a skylight. It has been covered over by roofing material, but like those stained glass windows, it has helped to save that skylight.
Why a skylight? Again, probably to let some of that natural light into what would otherwise be a dark hallway.
So, there you have it. The top 7 interesting discoveries (to date) uncovered during our restoration activities. What will we uncover next? Who knows. Will it help us to learn more about the history of this building and those who occupied it? Who knows...
If only these wall could talk...
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