Victorian House restoring elegance one brushstroke at a time

As a tourism attraction, the Victorian House in Millersburg has presented a charming, beautiful step back in time that beckons to visitors both far and near.

However, as is the case with any structure, time tends to wear out the exterior, something that has taken a bit of shine off the Victorian House.

The members of the Holmes County Historical Society are currently in the process of rectifying that, presenting a series of fundraisers in order to repaint the entire exterior of the house.

According to Mark Boley, Victorian House director and president of the Holmes County Historical Society, the project is one that is of the utmost importance and also long overdue.

“We are just now beginning the fundraising campaign for the project,” Boley said. “We have created a number of ideas for fundraisers, and then hopefully, we can mix in that with grant money and use the funds we receive from our fundraisers as matching money, depending on which grants we receive.”

Boley said he has begun exploring possible grants for the projects and has quickly found applying for and receiving grant funding for paint projects on historical buildings is a more difficult path than was applying for grants for construction projects.

“We’re excited about this,” Boley said. “We’ve been talking about this for quite some time, probably a couple of years now. It’s really getting bad, and some areas are worse than others, but the entire exterior needs repainted.”

Boley has had discussions with the team from Mid-State Contractors, the same company that rebuilt the clocktower on the courthouse in Millersburg, and they presented him with a very general quote of around $75,000 to repaint the entire Victorian House exterior.

Therefore, the HCHS is aiming to raise that amount in its efforts, combing fundraisers with grants to reach that number.

“We’re not sure we will go with Mid-State because we are going to reach out to a number of different companies, but they gave us that ballpark figure to get us started and to give us a sense of where we needed to be financially to make it happen,” Boley said.

The painting project would include painting the entirety of the exterior including all the trim work, which will add to the cost significantly because of all the detail in the museum.

According to Boley, the porch of the museum has been repainted twice while the actual steel siding has never been painted. He said it has become so faded it is now somewhat unattractive after so many years.

The siding now in place was applied to the Victorian House sometime in the early 1970s.

Boley said they would like to raise the funds this year, hopefully by mid-year so work can begin to take place in 2025.

He said they understand construction and painting work is in high demand right now, so they realize that schedule could get pushed back, but the HCHS board has high hopes that by this time next year, the Victorian House will take on an entirely new look, thanks to having a fresh new coat of paint.