Lots of people are interested in whether or not an old house has ghosts. There are haunted house Facebook groups with many thousands of followers. For the home restorer, the good ghosts they should hope to find are paint ghosts, showing the locations and shapes of missing features.
The upper photo shows the paint ghost of a mantel removed in the late 19th century, after a chimney fire led to the removal of the fireplace in this 1827 kitchen. Cooking on a fire is dirty and kitchens like this were painted often, building up layers of paint to record the mantel profile. Although not obvious to the casual viewer, the profile remained visible if you looked for it. Once outlined in pencil it became obvious. The lower photo shows the replicated mantel installed after the fireplace and brick oven were recreated.
This project is shown in all its stages in “Restoring Your Historic House, The Comprehensive Guide for Homeowners.”
Signed and personalized copies of the award-winning and bestselling 720-page hardcover book are available from the author in our shop at YourHistoricHouse.com/shop/. Our shop also carries select preservation and restoration titles by other authors.
Save with our multi-book combo packs! “Restoring Your Historic House is also available in bookstores nationwide and from online retailers.
© Scott T. Hanson 2024.
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