Preserve The Historic Strawser House

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For the last few years, I have been blessed with the pleasure of visiting this incredibly unique and loving home. Known for many years as the Lauser residence or as I have come to know it, the Strawser house. Home of the famous third-generation self-taught Pennsylvania folk artist, Barbara Strawser, a kind and dear friend I met upon my arrival to this charming little historic village in Schaefferstown, PA. If you were lucky enough to have known Barbara, you would've almost surely been to her home for a cup of coffee and a meal in the kitchen during one of her art shows, or a stroll through the gardens over good conversation and a glass of wine. She was known for her generous hospitality, hand painted folk art, PA Dutch style cooking, and beautiful gardens. There are few people who come to mind who have been as humble and generous in many ways as Barbara has been to so many whom have known or met her.

We connected right away on our first time meeting a few years ago when she gifted me some delicious custard cups in handmade redware ramekins as a gift, welcoming me to the neighborhood my first week. A few days later I followed up with a visit to her home holding a basket of my famous blueberry banana muffins that became a favorite weekly treat of hers. It was instant friendship and over the few years we got to know one another, we shared our passions from our mutual love of cooking, gardening, art, crafting, old historical houses, and preserving history through community volunteer work. Her home was no exception to history and beauty. A truly magical place that envelopes you in a warm embrace as you cross over the threshold. The first dinner I ever had in her home took me back to happy memories in my youth when I would visit my aunt and uncles c 1740 home which brought me much comfort and peace. The house has always truly felt like a sanctuary ever since my first visit and so we bonded over mutual struggles that allowed us to take charge and pursue our dreams. As an independent female artist, persistent to take on the home nearly 40 years ago, who overcame obstacles and reached success, I've always found her stories inspirational. At a shifting point in her life, and with much success in a gamble at auction with the support of friends, she was able to obtain the house and make it her long-term home. Having been the second owner since it was constructed in 1890, the house has since been able to maintain nearly all of its original characteristics, down to the original kitchen cabinets and sink, bathroom fixtures, and ornate plaster ceiling medallions, windows, stained glass doors, and much, much more!

Over the last few years, it became more of a struggle to maintain things with limited funds as the home slowly began to slip into disrepair. From rotting wood, to leaks, peeling wallpaper, and many other things which have contributed to issues with the home. Of course, being Barbara, she always looked for the positive in each situation and never gave up. Trying to maintain a historic house and expansive gardens can of course become nearly impossible without additional hands. I only wish I could've helped more.

We frequently talked about the future of the house and how best to take it forward in assuring it could go on being preserved. My hope from the beginning was to fully restore the home over a 15-year period, while running a small 2-3 bedroom bed and breakfast revolving around old-fashioned hospitality and the comforts of 19th-century living with a few hidden mod-cons. Here guests would find traditional fresh and local in-season meals using culinary skills from my many years of studying from the age of six onward. In addition to a B&B, my hope is to host small boutique weddings out in the gardens once restored, overnight rental accommodations with plans for turning the carriage house into a small honeymoon suite and remodeling the chicken coop into a Victorian-style tiny house. There are also ample opportunities for special seasonal events, such as seasonal themed garden tours, specialty dining experiences, indoor/outdoor tea parties, a community vegetable garden, period cooking classes, tea and soap making workshops, and I hope to start a gourmet line of homemade canned and baked goods available locally. My mission is to preserve the home for future generations, while ensuring the property can become self-sufficient, allowing many business ventures to cover necessary costs to maintain the home, gardens, and living expenses once the home is purchased and restoration efforts are underway.

For the house as an operating part-time museum, once restored, I would like to file to secure the home on the National Registry of Historic Places, offering public tours of the home, incorporating history on both families who lived here. In so, creating a living museum which envelopes each guest, touches on all of the senses and giving each person a unique experience and a taste for the 19th century, somewhat similar in style as of the Dennis Severs’ house in London. How wonderful it would be to see the kitchen full of life, love, and laughter again as it always has. Bringing people together once more. My vision is to offer cooking demonstrations in the kitchen made with items sourced from within the local farming community and the home's future community garden. In doing so, I will need additional help in funding to maintain preservation of the home and grounds so that I may be able to open to the public. With volunteers, we can help maintain and run the gardens and public events throughout the seasons.

For those who might not know me, my name is Ryan McFadden. For the past two decades, I have had an avid passion for old homes, historical preservation, and studying 19th-century antiquities. Some of my earliest memories growing up in southern New Hampshire were my ever-growing fascination with old Victorian homes and their extensive history. While my career path has changed much over the years, at 36, I have had the pleasure of building many businesses, including the success of a private house museum in the area, online shops featured in magazines, vacation & home management, to curating and designing many interiors in the last two decades in multiple states, offering consultations and designing creative & unique spaces for individual clients. Some of my extensive hobbies involve drawing and creating various forms of art, from sketches of landscapes and architecture, to wood burning & hand carved signs, calligraphy & letter writing, working on a cookbook and other hand crafted goods. Just as Barbara was, everything I do is through years of self-teaching, learning new skills and incorporating them into an everyday lifestyle. A home as beautiful as this should be able to go on being shared with others, making memories and telling the fascinating stories of those who have come through its doors in the past 135 years.

This past spring was a difficult time, as I lost not only a close friend, but one of my biggest supporters and someone I thought of as family. After Barbara's unexpected passing, I was truly heartbroken. So much we were in the process of planning last year has been left uncertain now. Since then, I have worried about the homes future. In this day and age it's not hard to see the potential of this home being stripped of all it's character in the demand for contemporary modernization, or worse due to it's extensive current state, demolished for it's land and new development. To lose yet another unique house of a bygone era would be such a loss, to both the local community, myself, and the many years of perseverance by an incredibly gifted and kind soul who gave so much back to her community. While I thought there would be many more years ahead for us to continue planning things, I find I am now suddenly faced with new obstacles, and for that I know I cannot succeed without the help and generosity of others. For someone I greatly admired and looked up to, I hope to carry on where she left off and know I have her blessing. In return I hope to give back in any way I can to make things possible.

My hope this year will be to acquire the house while I am now independently employed, funds are limited until I can start up planned business on property. In the meantime I have reestablished in dealing in antiques part-time, selling off my own furnishings and have a small savings I plan to use towards a downpayment to procure the house. Due to limited time, I am reaching out for help to acquire and prepare the home for the upcoming seasons ahead which I expect will be the biggest challenge starting out.

Some mandatory repairs needed will be replacing some radiators in bedrooms for heat, repairs to soffits under the eaves, securing the ornate front porch from potential structural damage until I can begin restoration of the columns, supports, and a new deck, removing each of the original window shutters while some have begun to deteriorate in places, with plans for future restoration work, paint and reinstallation. I also need to install weather seals, replace the main bathroom floor and new Victorian period wall tile for the bathroom tub/shower and floor, tuning up the furnace for efficiency, and an added hot water tank to cut down on heating oil costs especially in winter. The home is also in dire need of new paint as it has been nearly 20 years and most of the paint has since worn away, exposing the original wooden features which have begun to stress from exposure of the elements. Additional restoration plans include updating some plumbing, electrical, and a temperature controlled environment with either geothermal heating & cooling or propane heat and central air to protect the interior and furnishings. For each year I will focus on 1 or 2 rooms of the 12 in total, restoring the original chestnut floors, new period wallpaper and paint, installing period gas (electrified) lighting over time and rebuilding a 19th century collection of furnishings consistent with the aesthetic movement and eastlake style design of the homes architecture for historical period accuracy towards a museum setting. With the additional of the WorkAway program, I can host volunteers throughout the year aimed at helping out with restoration projects and landscaping to complete goals for each year being budget conscious and offering opportunities for others to experience the 19th century through real time.

In return for your contributions today, I would like to express my many heartfelt thanks, especially to my Old House friends and community for their help. Additionally, sharing this with others is the greatest contribution you can do today.

Many Kind Thanks,

—Ryan McFadden