THE CULMER HOUSE Restoration of Stencils and Wall Paintings by Larry Jones& Louis Harris
I
am constantly amazed at the quality of the things that I discover here. To realize the amount of time by a very skilled man that was put into something like this is amazing. Henry Culmer was very involved with this project; I would say obsessed with this project. We owe it the respect, any respect, that we are able to give it," recounts Dale Jolly as he painstakingly removed years of built up dirt and grime from the delicate, painted stencil work in the dining room of the William Culmer House. Dale is a talented art restoration specialist, hired by the current owners of the house to preserve and restore the delicate stenciling and paintings which adorn the walls and ceilings of the first floor rooms. The Culmer house was purchased in a condemned and run down state in 1972 by the Lamar Merrel family who set about to restore the house from a nine unit apartment to a single family dwelling. While steaming off built up layers of paint and wall paper, the Merrel's discovered room after room of intricately painted wall and ceiling decorations. In 1977 the house was once again sold, this time to its current owners, Don and Jane Stromquist. Mrs. Stromquist, when asked about their
restoration plans, quipped "Well we hope to fully restore the house inside and out and then live in it happily ever after!" Armed with that plan, the Stromquists moved quickly to install a modern bathroom and kitchen prior to commencing work on the paintings. As the restoration work got underway this winter, it quickly became apparent that only a portion of the original art work had been uncovered and that much still remained hidden under old wall paper and sprayed on acoustical ceilings. While some of the landscapes are signed and dated by Henry Culmer, all of the stenciling, floral painting, wood graining, and marbelizing found in the house are no doubt his as well, It's unknown exactly why Henry invested so much of himself and his artistic talents in his brother's home; it can only be assumed to have been a relaxing hobby and, indeed, a labor of love. LYhen asked to venture an opinion as to how long such an undertaking might have taken to complete, Dale remarked, "I couldn't begin to guess, particularly considering how much thought went into it and how many changes have been made. We have discovered obvious changes that he has made as he went along. It is incredible the amount of time he spent,
and his stature as an artist adds considerable weight to that as well. He was not unknown; he was a minor artist; he was one of the leading people in this area at the time. For him to put this much time and effort into a thing certainly makes it significant. " Apparently, Henry never totally completed his in-house masterpiece. A blank area on the ceiling of the turret adjacent to the southeast parlor is framed and bordered by painted decoration as if to form enclosures for a landscape which would have been completed at some future date. Henry painted directly upon the plaster walls and ceilings of the house in a process known as Secco painting (painting on dry plaster). His mastery of brushes and technique enabled him not only to create excellent Utah landscapes but also allowed him to simulate wood, marble, and granite in the wainscotting and mouldings found in various rooms. His subtle use of light shadow gave his painting and stenciling a life-like three dimensional appearance. Culmer's artistic achievements in the house are further enhanced by intricate parquay flooring which tastefully repeats the designs painted in the stenciled ceiling borders.