By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
The little white picket fence has always been the trademark of the house on the corner of Pleasant and Charles streets in Houlton, and is now the home of Tammy and Doug Ritchie. “In high school, I was drawn to that house,” said Tammy. But when she viewed the home, she didn’t see the potential that lay inside, but her husband and contractor did.
“We looked at the house several times,” Tammy explained, “but, the only part that drew my eye was the curved archways. But, Doug found it structurally sound and he realized, along with our general contractor Henry Transue, the value of the home.”
Built in 1937 by Sam Antworth, owner of the Atlas Plywood Company, the colonial revival-style home had recently been vacant and time had taken its toll on a prominent business owner’s home. Doug and the contractors could see beyond the tired exterior to what needed to be done to restore the home to its original state.
The Ritchies have been renting for about two-and-one-half years since selling their Littleton home. They wanted to stay in town, so they began looking for a lot to build a new home or tear down an existing structure. The former Antworth house proved to be the perfect location.
“It is a well-built house,” said Tammy. “Doug and Henry could see the character right away. So, we decided to restore it. We aren’t gutting it, we’ve left almost all of the features.”
Before attempting to restore the home, the Ritchies started researching the origin of the home through the Internet. They found after Antworth, the home was bought by Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Stinson (Gordon Bither’s mother and owner of Bither’s clothing store) in the1940s before being known as the Harry Bass residence. It is recognized as the Bass home because Harry Bass lived there from 1954 until it was sold in 1990.
What proved most beneficial to the Ritchies after their research was their connection to Edgar Stinson’s son, now in his 70s, who lives in New Hampshire.
“We needed to rebuild the chimneys,” Tammy explained. “Mr. Stinson’s son sent us photos of the way the house looked in the 1940s. We were able to bring the chimneys back, similar to their original look.”
The home’s walls are made of cement, instead of the horse-hair plaster, and inside, underneath the carpets are maple hardwood floors. In the basement is Russian birch paneling on the walls and ceiling.
“He built it to last and with style,” she said.
An interesting find in the home were names inscribed inside one of the rafters.
“The names of the carpenters and the date,” said Tammy. “George Graham and Jim Barrow. We couldn’t find much on these men when we were researching the home. We also found juice bottles from the ‘30s, as well as a few other amusing items.”
Walking through the home, Tammy said everything is in a state of disarray. But, that comes with remodeling or restoration. The Ritchies have found themselves closing in doors, opening new entries; creating a new bathroom area — though keeping the cast iron tub and original porcelain lavatory— along with putting in new windows. They have retained the stairway railings heading upstairs, and one room, even has the original curved arch and storage cubbies on each side of the inlet.
“We did add a new opening, but the archways are curved like the original ones in the downstairs,” said Tammy. “We have left the wooden ‘built-ins’ in the dining and living rooms and the three fireplaces.”
The Ritchies have completed more external work such as roofing, siding and the addition of a garage and deck.
When did Tammy finally catch the vision?
“We were probably a couple months into it,” she said. “I finally saw it when the partitions went up for the new walls making the garage into our master bedroom.”
The contractors said it would probably be finished in six months. They have done a phenomenal amount of work, said Tammy.
“They have even replicated the old crown molding under the eaves,” she said. “That is time consuming and you can’t see all the work that goes into creating patterns and cutting each piece to fit. They are true artists.”
The Ritchies are extremely happy with the progress.
“I’m very proud of these guys,” said Tammy. “They are doing an extraordinary job.”
When the Ritchies move into their new home, they will be able to recall the history of the home for any visitors.
“The house has great features,” Tammy said. “We wanted to keep it as original as we could, while making it functional for our family.”
