Issue date: 5/4/09 Section: News

People enter and exit an open house of the Lord House Sunday afternoon on Seventh Street. The house, which former Eastern President Livingston Lord lived in for nearly 30 years, was recently remodeled, and the open house was held to show the public what work was done. (Erin Matheny / The Daily Eastern News)

The house where Livingston Lord, Eastern's first sitting president, lived was on display Sunday following its yearlong restoration.

Lord, president from 1899 to 1933, resided in the two-story Victorian home for all but the first four years of his tenure.

Tom Olmsted, owner of the Mattoon-based Painted Lady Properties, said the time was right to show off its restoration work to the public. Painted Lady Properties is the owner of the house and began restoration in 2008.

"We feel like after a years worth of blood, sweat and tears and the outpouring of support that we've gotten from the community that we felt like we needed to open it up and let people see what we've got," Olmsted said, referring to the crowd of people who came to 838 Seventh St.

Olmsted talked with the steady stream of guests and answered many questions about what he plans to do with the now-restored house.

He said current market conditions were not conducive for selling but is leaving the possibility of a sale.

"If someone came by and opened a checkbook and made an offer, we'd have to talk," Olmsted said.

He said his company is looking at other options for the house.

"We're leaning towards renting out the property for special events, wedding receptions, bridal showers, overnight stays, that kind of thing," Olmsted said. "Any kind of use for the property that we can do that would generate income for us to try to keep it."

Gary Lovett, project manager on the restoration process, said he was pleased to see the turnout, given how difficult the restoration was. Lovett has worked with Painted Lady Properties for the last seven years.

"The side porch was completely rotted out," Lovett said. "So we basically had to take some pictures and some notes and to reconstruct it back the way it was originally."

One of the more difficult tasks for the restorers was using materials that matched the original structure. For example, the original handrails for the porches had been rotted away and needed replacing.

Olmsted took a sample of handrail from the second floor of the house and took it to a millwork in Decatur, who provided replica materials Lovett used to reconstruct the handrails.

Lovett said by going through that process, they were able to bring back the actual integrity of what the handrails had been.

He expressed his satisfaction with the finished restoration, given its state when they started.

"It's amazing isn't it?" Lovett said. "When we first walked in, I remember Salisa (Olmsted) saying, 'This is scary.' Whenever you look at something like this and you see such a big project, it's one of those things where ... to actually see the house now, it's amazing."


Doug T. Graham can be reached at 581-7942 or at dtgraham@eiu.edu.

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