"I
am so grateful for my beautiful new roof. I stare at my roof in the
sunshine, the rain, and from the Towpath too. I truly believe that [the
NARI community service team] saved my house and have given me a chance
to remain a resident of Bucks."
~Gloria Kosco, Point Pleasant
Odell
Painting is proud to chair the Community Service Committee of the NARI
(National Association of the Remodeling Industry) Bucks-Mont chapter.
For more on this project, click on Gloria's house.
The Story of a House (a Love Letter)
The
first time I went to the house, in 1993, I nearly missed the driveway.
But as I turned off of Route 413 in Buckingham and stepped out of my
truck, I truly felt as if I’d crossed a threshold in time, my feet
firmly planted in yesteryear before an imposing stone house standing
like a sentinel to a property that yawned to the acres beyond. In the
ensuing years, I worked on and off for the family – some large, some
small jobs – growing quite fond of Judge Isaac Garb and his wife, Joan,
as well as of their grown children, Maggie, Charlie and Emily – with
whom I mourned the passing of, first, their mother in 2009 and then of
their father three years later.
One
of the last jobs I did for them was putting in and painting a new
handrail on the grand center stairway for Mrs. Garb as movement became
more challenging. After that the Judge brought me in to do some small
handyman work, ending the day by sharing a cup of tea before I departed.
But as is often the case, as children have moved on and parents have
passed on, there comes a time to sell the family house. It’s not hard to
find the turn now; a Mazaheri Realty signs marks the drive.
I
want to tell you about this house, and its family. And why a particular
spot on their property provides me with a warm and loving memory.
First, the house. Maggie provided a bit of published history: The
oldest part of the house dates back to about 1740. The newer rooms –
the front hall, two living rooms and large bedroom – were completed
around 1810. Its Federalist-style façade and elegant front door with
Palladian window were typical of stone houses built in the first-quarter
of the nineteenth century. The house’s large, gracious entry hall,
however, is unusual, a sign of the prosperity—and perhaps social
ambition—of its early owner [Joshua Anderson]. ...The house remained in
the Anderson family...[and] changed hands just once in the mid-twentieth
century before Judge Isaac and Joan Garb bought the property in 1966.
“I
was only four, but I remember coming into the house for the first
time,” Maggie told me. “It was dark and scary and Mom took down the
heavy dark curtains and brightened up the house. They particularly liked
the location because my father was now a judge and he wanted be on a
major road so he could get into town and never be stuck when there was
bad weather.”
So
here’s where I tell you about the Judge. If you’ve lived in the county
for a time, his name might be familiar. He presided over the infamous
“Mainline Murder” case where William Bradfield was found guilty of
murdering Upper Merion schoolteacher Susan Reinhert and her two
children. He was also the judge who ruled in favor of the much-needed
Point Pleasant pumping station – an issue over which environmental
protestors, including Abby Hoffman, were jailed and over which the Judge
received death threats. As it turned out the pump had no effect on the
river.
Last,
I’ll tell you about why a particular spot on the property is so
important to me. Early in my business, I worked with a very close
friend. We called him – and you can see why in this photo – “Big
Michael.” Here we are in front of the Garb barn in 1999, our last job
together. A few weeks later he was diagnosed with a fast-growing cancer
and gone a month after that.
We loved spending our lunchtimes, sitting behind the barn and stone guesthouse, which I believe was the original kitchen house.
We’d lean up against the cool stone of the old well...
...near
the tree swing where long-ago children pumped their legs back and
forth, and where I one day watched Michael, climbing higher into the
summer air.
Until
the house is sold, Maggie is living there, and I’m helping with the
little things the house needs as it waits for its next owners, families
who will gather around the dining room table in what is the oldest
section of the house to celebrate holidays together and perhaps throw a
wedding or two, as the Judge and Mrs. Garb did for their daughters. “Of
course we wanted to be married here,” Maggie says. “There’s a magical
quality to the house; we could feel it as kids.”
I
feel that magic every time I return there. So early in July, I asked
Emily if we could take some of the plantings the Garbs so lovingly
tended all those years. Carla and I spent a morning, walking much of the
property - which backs onto 50 acres of preserved open space - gently
digging out and wrapping ferns, morning glories, and bleeding hearts,
which have taken a liking to our soil, about 15 miles north. A little
bit of what was there is now with us, growing and thriving. As Maggie
remarked the last time I was there, “This house carries all the lives
that were part of it. Now we’re all part of its story.”
In one way or another, all things endure.
Winner of the 2013 CotY for Residential Interior Specialty; Photo: Brian Krebs/Fred Forbes Photogroupe
