Wyatt House | Restoration

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The restoration of the Wyatt residence began in March 2001 and was completed in June. On the exterior, the cedar shingles, which had been purchased in 1927, were replaced with new ones on the north side. During the work, birch bark was found on the exterior, apparently used as an insulator. At an undetermined date, clapboard siding had replaced the shingles on the other sides of the house, and is still in place. The Wyatts had also made exterior changes by adding the front entrance porch and the Palladian windows in the attic around 1928. At the same time, they enclosed the garden entryway as a sun parlour.

Wooden shutters, which were modeled after old ones that had been removed years earlier, were placed on some exterior windows. The exterior of the house was painted a pale yellow colour, and the shutters green. The roof had been re-shingled with cedar shakes in the summer of 2000.

On the interior of the house, no structural changes were made. The Wyatts themselves had made a few changes over the years. They moved the front staircase back to make a larger hallway on the main level, and they also changed the back staircase, which necessitated a new entry to the attic. Interior changes had also occurred as plumbing, electricity and radiators were added. During restoration, the house was rewired.

Plaster was repaired and the original lathe work was found to have horsehair embedded in the plaster mixture. Wallpaper was carefully peeled off and the walls were covered with paper that resembled as closely as possible the colour and design of an earlier time. Woodwork was painted, the floors were polished, and window coverings, where needed, were carefully chosen.

The house is decorated as it would have been in the early twentieth century, with the exception of the kitchen and upstairs bathrooms, which are shown in a typical 1950s décor.