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Site Dedication Ceremony for Historic Stone Home
On September 17th, I attended the Historic Site Dedication Ceremony for the landmark property located at 124 E. Stein Street in Saint Louis, Missouri that I recently portrayed in an original 11″ x 14″ pencil illustration. This 160 year old house was a stone shell in serious disrepair when it was acquired in 2014 by Tim and Marcia Dorsey because Marcia had many fond childhood memories there during the years when it was the home of her Italian immigrant grandmother. The Dorsey’s began the tedious process of restoring the small building as authentically as possible, using skilled craftsmen to repair the stone walls using clay-based mortar, and roofed the structure with early 19th century style wood shingles, and installed wood framed windows with small panes. They named the small home “Mio Nonni’s Casa” in honor of Marcia’s grandmother.
At the ceremony, the Dorsey’s were presented the official marker plaque by David Bouchein and attendees had the opportunity to enter the interior and learn of the history of the house and details of the restoration process — all quite fascinating, especially to those like myself with a deep appreciation for older homes.
The original pencil house portrait I was commissioned to create was on display during Sunday’s event and now on permanent display at the Carondelet Historical Society museum. To learn more about this organization and their dedication to promoting the heritage of the Carondelet community, visit http://www.carondelethistory.org/home.html
Congratulations to Tim and Marcia Dorsey, and all the craftsmen who contributed their skills and talents to make the restoration possible — it’s truly amazing!
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Pencil Portrait of Historic Stone House
This historic building was so interesting to portray!
On September 6th, the finishing touches were put on this 11″ x 14″ pencil portrait of a renovated 160 year old, rough cut limestone house in Saint Louis, Missouri, that will be honored at an upcoming Site Dedication event by the Carondelet Historical Society. Built in the 1850’s, this single room house at 124 E. Stein Street was a sound structure for the first 100 years, and was once the childhood home of Marcia, the mother of Twitter founder and St. Louis native, Jack Dorsey. She lived in the house with her parents and Italian grandmother until she was 10 years old, and after they moved, it changed owners several times, and eventually fell into disrepair due to a fire and the elements. Abandoned for many years, the roof was gone, the exterior walls had begun to deteriorate and were covered in vines and weeds — sadly, time and nature reduced it to just a shell. Thankfully, she and her husband Tim reclaimed it in 2014 and restored the home they fondly call “Mio Nonni’s Casa”, in recognition of Marcia’s heritage, and they will be presented a plaque at the ceremony on September 17th. My original illustration will be framed and displayed at the Carondelet Historical Society Museum with many other portraits commemorating historic buildings over the years, and I was honored to provide it. For more information on this organization, please visit http://www.carondelethistory.org/
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