The Stencil House
A Nineteenth Century Art and Architectural Treasure
Thanks
to the generosity and deep concern for the perpetuation of a
very special part of our history by Ms. Jennie Smithson, the
Ames Plantation is now the home of the early 19th century
Stencil House. The home, which has been in Ms. Smithson’s family
since its construction in the 1830’s, was originally located in
Wayne County, Tennessee outside the town of Clifton. With the
home in a poor state of repair and without a viable plan for its
preservation on site, the Stencil House was moved to the Ames
Plantation in 2002 in hopes that it could be saved.
Incomplete archival records leave many questions about the
home's past unanswered. It is thought that the house was built
around 1835 for John W. Nunnely, the first owner/occupant of the
land upon which the house was located. Over the course of its
history the house was passed down through the family several
times to include the extended families of Johnson, Dillon, and
Morris.
The
historic structure was originally constructed as a 1 1/2 story
dogtrot log house built primarily from beech and hackberry trees
that are still found in abundance in the surrounding
countryside. Not long afterward, possibly within a year or so,
the log home was extensively renovated. The walls were covered
on the exterior with beaded poplar siding and the inside was
modified to include a variety of wall coverings and decorative
painting. Hand planed poplar tongue-in-groove lumber was applied
to a portion of the interior while other areas were covered with
horsehair plaster above a wainscot of horizontal boards. A
highly crafted stairway and railing leads from the entry hallway
to the upstairs landing where a banister rail protects the stair
opening. The level of workmanship exhibited in the structure is
remarkable, representing the finest in wood craftsmanship.
Luckily, most of the home’s historic architectural features have
remained intact due to the absence of modernization, which so
often contaminates such structures.
The
home is most noted for its interior stencil painting,
representing one of the most extensive examples of this style
interior decorative painting known in the region. Stencil
painting found in the home is of the style of Moses Eaton, Jr.,
a very popular itinerant painter during the early 19th century
from Dublin, New Hampshire. It is unlikely, however, that Eaton
produced the painting himself. Detailed inspection of the
stencil work found in the Stencil House reveals small but
significant deviations from Eaton’s work. More likely another,
currently unidentified, traveling painter who was utilizing
stencils very similar to, if not copied directly from the Eaton
collection, did the work. Interestingly, work that shares many
of the same distinctive touches as the Stencil House stencils
appears in homes located elsewhere in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio,
and Indiana raising the possibility that the Stencil House
painter traveled throughout the region plying his trade. There
are more questions than answers at this time relating to the
true identity of the artist. Hopefully further research will
shed some light on the issue. The very fact that such a
decorative application was utilized in a middle class rural
farmhouse is in itself an anomaly.
The Stencil House is now safe and secure with a new tin roof.
Future plans for include its restoration, involving both
architectural and artistic components. This process, which will
be both expensive and labor intensive, can only progress as
funding permits. If you would like to get involved in the
Stencil House Project, either through a tax-deductible
contribution or by volunteering your time, contact Jamie Evans
at the Ames Plantation by calling (901) 878-1067.