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Decor goes old school
Vestiges of lessons, students remain in Jackson Home
Source:
Butler Eagle
Written by:
Sandy Marwick
Published:
August 18, 2010
JACKSON TWP — Jo-Ann Finch has no plans to sand over the initials carved into her house, or to bleach out the ink stains lingering in her hardwood floors.
It's all part of a history that Finch has incorporated into the decor of an 1800s schoolhouse the 64-year-old woman calls her home.
"It was never anything but a one-room schoolhouse until we acquired it," said Finch, whose family bought the former Schontz School in 1994.
Finch's son Jeff, 40, the principal at Hampton High School, negotiated the purchase when buying the house next door. Although separate properties, the parcels were being sold simultaneously by one owner — and Jeff saw an opportunity to create a retirement dwelling for his mom and his father Jim, who died in 2003, several years after moving in.
Careful to retain the 25- by 35-foot structure's original lines, the family remodeled the existing building, insetting a 12-by-24-foot addition so as to leave the school's original four corners exposed and intact.
That and other decisions resulted in the family earning a Historic Harmony Heritage Award for the project the year they moved in.
Some 10 years later, Finch's warm furnishings and decor enhance the interior schoolhouse theme.
The living room is graced by a George Washington portrait, much like the one likely present in the original classroom. Vintage desks, benches and other items are interspersed throughout the rooms, where Finch stores games and snacks for her grandchildren in a set of painted lockers.
Also on the wall are framed class photographs of the school's final three years: 1929, 1930 and 1931.
Finch originally had procured just one photo, but after a surprise visit several years ago from former student Loma (Dambach) Walczak, Finch was gifted with two more.
Along with identifying each person in each photo, the 87-year-old Walczak described the location of the school's blackboard, coat rack and pot-bellied stove while recounting anecdotes about students who spent their days there.
One such story led to a small scar still present near Walczak's right eyebrow, a souvenir from a childhood tumble.
"I was playing Red Rover in back by the outhouse," recalled Walczak, who now lives in Economy Borough.
Although the school was mostly gutted when the Finches bought it, Jeff said a few relics had fallen through knotholes in the floor.
"I have a box of old handmade clay marbles and jacks," said Jeff, who also found old papers that had been rolled up and discarded through the holes along with an opera house flyer that apparently slid behind the wainscoting.
The Finches said all other moveable items in the building were sold off before they bought the property.
"The blackboard was in here but we couldn't preserve it because it was falling part," Finch said.
Finch had no trouble filling the space with all manner of school-themed items reflecting the personality of her home.
"I don't think I could fit a toothpick in here now," she said.
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