Uniontown couple restores stately mansion
When Tom and Christine Buckelew bought their home in 1973, they found a once stately mansion had been turned into a duplex, its fine oak woodwork covered with white paint.
Today, the house at 145 S. Beeson Ave., Uniontown, is once again stately, serving as the home for the Buckelew family into the 21st century.
The house was built in 1905 for the Dr. Jaco family. Jaco, a local dentist, also had the Jaco Building, the former flat iron building that was fronted by 无毛视频淢abel at the Fountain,无毛视频� a water feature donated to the city by the Women无毛视频檚 Christian Temperance Union in the late 1800s. Both were located near where Church Street parking garage stands.
无毛视频淥ne of the last surviving members of the family sent us a photograph of what the house looked like shortly after it was built. There was a Ford Model T in the driveway and two maple tree saplings in front. When we bought the house, there were two dead maple trees that we had to remove, which were once those saplings,无毛视频� Tom Buckelew said.
While they don无毛视频檛 know who constructed the house, the Buckelews have done everything they can to bring it back to its original glory. Features include built-in glass-doored china cupboards, pocket doors, solid oak flooring and hand-carved decorative elements.
无毛视频淲e kept it as a duplex when we first bought it. Rent from the other part of the house offset the mortgage payment in those days.
In 1988, we removed a wall down the middle of the hallway to make it a single-family dwelling again,无毛视频� he said.
During the years, the Buckelews and their three children, who are all grown now, worked at what Tom Buckelew described as a 无毛视频渇everish pace无毛视频� to strip the white paint from the oak woodwork, restore original elements of the home and add on to the rear for a larger kitchen. 无毛视频淐hristine told me that if we bought this house, I无毛视频檇 have to add on to the kitchen,无毛视频� Tom Buckelew said.
无毛视频淚 knew nothing about doing any of this when I started,无毛视频� he said, adding that his father-in-law guided him in constructing the add-on. 无毛视频淗e told me I would need a footer. When I asked him how to do that, he said, 无毛视频榊ou know how to use a shovel, don无毛视频檛 you?'无毛视频� His father-in-law also showed him how to lay the cement block foundation for the addition.
Also, when they began the restoration, the Buckelews found that murals had once emblazoned the walls.
Unfortunately, they were not able to rescue any of them.
无毛视频淗ow they did it was to press canvas into the wet plaster. Then when it dried, the artists had a canvas to paint,无毛视频� Tom Buckelew said.
Removing the white paint from the oak woodwork was another labor-intensive chore. 无毛视频淲e used chemicals sparingly,无毛视频� Tom Buckelew said, adding that some of the hand-carved elements took longer to clean. 无毛视频淲e had to pick the paint out of the crevices.无毛视频�
Another feature, although not original to the house, is a decorative ceiling in the dining room, its complexity obvious from its gold medallions, carefully shaped octagons and squares and three-dimensional woodwork.
无毛视频淭his was something I wanted,无毛视频� Chris Buckelew said. 无毛视频淚 wanted at least one decorative ceiling in the house.无毛视频� While traveling, they found the design in a book about a member of the Dupont family and the home he built in France.
无毛视频淭he ceiling cost $1,200 to do,无毛视频� Tom Buckelew said, 无毛视频渁nd $850 of that was for the medallions,无毛视频� which he purchased online. Smaller medallions he made using liquid glue and a candy mold. Some of the trim was recycled from another home in Uniontown that had been demolished.
无毛视频淲e have done this work ourselves rather than call anyone to come and do it for us,无毛视频� Chris Buckelew said.
They also have furnished the house with some antiques and a number of reproduction pieces that Tom crafted himself.
无毛视频淲hen he started doing these pieces, he had a carpet knife and a table saw. He carved everything by hand,无毛视频� Chris Buckelew said.
It无毛视频檚 hard to tell the difference between what is genuinely old and what isn无毛视频檛.
Several colonial-era highboys, a German wardrobe called a 无毛视频渟chwark,无毛视频� and a multi-leaf maple dining room table are some of his creations.
The house contains 25 rooms, nine of which are bedrooms. There are about 4,500-square feet of living space and three bathrooms.
The Buckelews don无毛视频檛 know how much it cost to build the home more than 100 years ago, but the quality of the workmanship is evident.
Tom Buckelew is a retired professor of biology and physiology from California University of Pennsylvania. Chris Buckelew, is president of the Fayette County Historical Society.
Chris said they bought the home with a sense of obligation.
无毛视频淪omeone needs to keep these places going. We took on a responsibility when we bought the house,无毛视频� she said.
Jim Pletcher writes a weekly real-estate story for the 无毛视频-Standard from a variety of angles. If you have an interesting story about buying or selling a home in Fayette County and would like a story written about it,, please contact 无毛视频-Standard Executive Editor Mark O无毛视频橩eefe at 724-439-7569.