Several grants were received for the 1850 Beith House to restore grain painting of the woodwork from the United Arts Board of the Fox River Valley, reproduce original wallpaper from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, and acquire period-appropriate furnishings for the parlor from the Questers. All of this was done to bring the house back to the 1850s to demonstrate both how the house would have looked back then and how preservation is done. Faux wood-graining was an artistic practice done in the nineteenth century to make wood finishes inside a home appear to be of a more expensive wood since labor was cheap compared to acquiring materials.
PHOTO: Parlor of the Beith House, by Al Watts, May 7, 2024. Contact us for a tour of the Beith House!
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SOURCES: "RKC Receives Grant," Restoration Advocate 5, no. 10 (February 1986), 7; "Illinois Heritage Grant Awarded to Beith House," Restoration Advocate 5, no. 12 (June 1986), 4; "Grants from Questers and Illinois Humanities Council," Restoration Advocate 5, no. 13 (August 1986), 1, 3.