The Final Push

With just two weeks until the Molette House is open to the public as part of the Historic Selma Pilgrimage, we are now in an all-out sprint to get the house ready to show and finish up some major projects that have been outstanding for the past few years.

Mark Manning and his crew have been phenomenal swarming over the house and fixing anything and everything that needs it.

They have corrected doors that didn’t fit, installed rim locks and other hardware on several doors, replaced rotten wood on the front porch that wasn’t properly installed or sealed, scraped paint off interior windows where spray paint drifted onto them from the original painting, installed the “window into history,” faux painted some boards in the gray bedroom that needed to match the original paint, re-painted all the porches, assembled and installed the porch swings, installed the school bell by the back door, and on and on!

Blake, Derrick and Roger have done an outstanding job of tackling issues and problems that have stumped us for a long time and coming up with quick and workable solutions.

Eleanor has led the charge on rugs, pillows, window treatments and paintings. She spent several hours in the master bedroom trying out different sizes and styles of window treatments (held together with painter’s tape!) until we arrived at something that we hope will look ok and that the seamstress could make quickly. We picked up several more window treatments and pillows from her, and she is now making the last treatments for us prior to Pilgrimage.

We also have searched and debated about rugs. For some reason, deciding on rugs has always been excruciatingly hard for us. We really needed a runner in the main front hall because it is long and very plain. Therefore, we decided to go with an oriental rug, which might also have been a reaction to the chilly drafts from the front doors. In winter the central hall is always so cold, and a thick rug just felt so much cozier.

We picked out four to try, and after agonizing over them for a couple of days, we decided on one. It is a beautiful floral pattern, and a tad on the large size, but we really like it.

Next, we were absolutely thrilled that master woodworker and craftsman Mary Weck was able to restore and/or replicate all the shutters on the front of the house, a total of 18 shutters.

We have searched for years for someone to restore the shutters but couldn’t find anyone. We located one person in Camden, but he retired years ago. We heard rumors that someone in Mobile could restore shutters, but we could not track them down.

Then Marty worked his magic and the restored shutters look amazing! He and his assistant Steve disassembled the remaining shutters, cut and shaped replacement pieces from old heart pine, treated all the wood before assembly and then painted them. They also were able to save many of the original hinges, which Marty tracked down another example of on display at Winterthur Museum. They were made in England in the early 1800s and the manufacturer went out of business around 1850!

The care and skilled workmanship that went into restoring and making the new shutters left us in awe. We could write a whole article describing the steps Marty followed in the restoration.

We can’t wait to get them placed on this house because just standing them up on the porch totally transforms the look of the house. The house will finally have all its distinctive architectural elements in place again!

Based on everyone’s feedback –and the fact that we couldn’t find a paint color we liked—we decided to stain the old pine cupboard in the mudroom. We pulled in our Stain Master (Charlton) and he went to work. After considering several options we landed on early American stain, and Charlton did the rest. When we saw the finished product, we were thrilled with how well it turned out!

As you know, we decided to replace the original heart pine front doors, and accordingly Brett worked with Marshall Lumber and Millwork in Montgomery to mill two new doors identical to the old doors out of old heart pine. They took a lot of care with the doors and even reworked a couple of sections that didn’t look right.

Brett brought the new doors out and sized them to the current openings. He then dropped with off with Charlton to be finished, and of course we agonized over the type of finish (Tung oil, varnish, polyurethane, etc.) and if they needed stain or not. We finally decided on special walnut stain and varnish. Charlton is working on the doors now, and we can’t wait to see them!

We will keep the original doors and perhaps display them somehow.

Lastly, Eleanor got a copy made of the portrait of William Page Molette as a 12 year old, who was the grandson and namesake of the William Page Molette who built the house.

And Eleanor’s cousin Robert graciously loaned us the original portrait of the first William Page Molette, the man who first came to Alabama in the 1810’s and built the house. It is now hanging over the fireplace in the living room where it could have hung originally. We think it’s been over 100 years since it has been in the house!

It is an exciting—but crazy—time as we stagger to the finish line to get as much work done on the house as we can before Pilgrimage and we can not begin to thank all the people who have helped us, help which is deeply appreciated.

If you want to see the finished product in person --and help support historic preservation in Selma and Dallas County by buying an admission ticket-- please stop by for the tour as part of the Historic Selma Pilgrimage March 15-16 1:00-5:00 PM Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $10 at the door (or $40 for all six houses on tour and the other exhibits and activities. )

Hope to see you then