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THEY SAVED CRAFTSMAN; RESTORATION ONGOING
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Jane Gilman
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STAINED GLASS WINDOW in the dining room was one of the few fixtures in the house that didn’t need repairing, said owners Rory Cunningham, right, and David Pacheco.
It takes patience, perseverance, imagination and a love of beautiful design to restore a house. These are the traits that Rory Cunningham and his partner David Pacheco bring to their restoration project on S. Manhattan Pl.
Their 94-year-old Craftsman Bungalow suffered from its years as a child care center and a boarding house. There were holes in the walls, and the dirt was so thick, it covered up many of the murals which decorate the rooms.
Built in 1915, its wood-paneled walls, floors and canvas ceilings are being restored by the pair.
Not only are they saving the interior, they saved the house from being torn down.
Their neighbor Patty Carroll and other St. Andrews Square residents helped Cunningham file with the city for landmark status on the house. The campaign to achieve Historical-Cultural Landmark status was successful, based on its architect, R. S. Hiss, the original owner. The landmark designation protects the home from demolition. The status prevented the previous owners from razing the 5,000 square foot house. As a result, they put it on the market—and Cunningham and Pacheco purchased the property.
The house wasn’t livable until the plumbing and electrical had been upgraded. The original woodwork was in fairly good condition, said David, a creative director at the Disney Corp. Cunningham is a costume manufacturer. Entire ceilings had to be replaced, and the white tiles in two of three bathroom showers were replicated to match the original.
The library required the most work in the seven-bedroom home. “It had been the place for the children to play. We had to replace the ceiling and the walls. David repaired a hole in the wall the size of a grapefruit and matched the pattern perfectly,” Rory remarked.
Throughout the home are murals, even in the bathrooms. Sometimes the pair had to scrape off the layers of paint to unearth the artwork. They had a restoration expert from The Getty Museum apply a chemical to remove the paint. When either of the pair does the stripping, he uses paint remover and a toothbrush. “One time, we got lucky and all it took was 409 and cotton balls moistened with Comet cleanser,” said David.
A mirror over the living room fireplace hid a landscape painting that they uncovered, still in good condition.
Many of the original fixtures are still there, although before they moved in, the hall light fixture was stolen while the early upgrades were being installed. The leaded glass doors on the built-in buffets in the dining room were also taken. But Rory found a similar pair on E-Bay.
The owners had the windows replaced; the previous owner had used plexiglass. “We even had the screens integrated into the double- hung windows.” David said.
The first floor contains the living room, dining room, library, study and solarium. A floral and swan motif decorates the kitchen walls. And there is a “California Cooler,” a closet to store root vegetables where cool air comes in from the ground. Each of the shelves is vented. The breakfast area is called the Dutch room after the skaters illustrated on the mural.
Upstairs, the bedrooms are in different states of needing repair. However, the guest room is immaculate. “We tackled that first,” said Rory.
The restoration is a never-ending job. The owners have been working on the house since they bought it in 2004, and are turning a derelict into a showplace.
PAINTING in living room was hidden under coats of paint.
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