February 19, 2020 THE OAKWOOD REGISTER www.oakwoodregister.com Vol. 29, No. 7 February 19, 2020 Wright renovation unearths long-lost inscription Renovations at Hawthorn Hill, the Wright family home now pre- served by Dayton History, recently uncovered a long-lost inscription from a worker who helped complete the mansion in the weeks before Orville Wright, his sister Katharine, and father Bishop Milton Wright took up residence in Oakwood in 1914. As wallcovering was being Wright Library’s Adult Services Coordinator Brian Potts delivers books to Oakwood resident Wendy Boucuvalas. removed from the first floor sitting room by Kenneth Hill, a specialist in historic restoration with Architectural Wright Library’s home delivery Reclamation, a Franklin-based com- pany which has done extensive work service is making a difference on properties managed by Dayton History, he discovered a handwrit- Alex Heckman of Dayton History, left, and Kenneth Hill of Architectural Wendy Boucuvalas moved to tomize the experience to ensure they ten message, scrawled in carpenter’s Reclamation, right, with two signatures of workers at Hawthorn Hill dating Oakwood from another Dayton suburb are getting materials they will enjoy.” pencil, which read “This entire floor to 1914 and 1949. a year ago. No longer driving, she When Potts delivers Boucuvalas’ put up by F. Lutzenburger. April 12, missed her trips to the local library. new books, he makes sure to ask if the 1914.” Thanks to Wright Memorial Public last books met the mark, and they talk A second message, written beside Library, Boucuvalas now has the a while about what she has been read- the first, was added some 35 years option to continue her love of reading ing or would like to read in the future. later, when NCR purchased and and to interact with a librarian. She’s “Many of the patrons we deliver renovated the mansion. The second now using Wright Library’s Wright to tell us we’re lifesavers, which may inscription bears the name of Clem To Your Home service, which allows seem a bit much, but for someone who Welty Dieter and is dated from 1949. her to place requests for specific books cannot get out, a good book or film, or genres to be delivered to her home can make a significant difference in “It was a surprise,” recalled Hill. and later returned by a library staff their enjoyment of life,” Potts says. “I pulled a big sheet of wall liner off and saw it.” member. Boucuvalas enjoys not only the “You can ask your family to take reading, but the connection with a Hill summoned Alex Heckman, you to the doctor, to CVS... but to the librarian. Going to the library meant vice president for Museum library...they have to wait, you can’t you got to know the people who Operations with Dayton History, browse,” she says. “This is wonder- worked there. “I like that it’s not just a who just happened to be at Hawthorn ful.”” drive-up delivery,” she adds. Hill when the signatures were uncov- ered. Any Oakwood resident who is per- For Potts, knowing that getting manently or temporarily unable to visit books from the library really can “I saw that and said, ‘You might the library may participate in Wright to improve a person’s life is the reward want to take a look at this.’ We were Your Home. Requests can be made by for making deliveries. both flabbergasted,” Hill added. phone or online at wrightlibrary.org, “And it’s also a chance to talk about After researching an old Dayton The inscription found under wallcovering at Hawthorn Hill. and the materials are delivered and city directory, Heckman found that books, which really is part of why we ion thirty years earlier now looked “This type of fabric finish on the returned by library staff. read them,” he said. Frank Lutzenburger was listed as “Not everyone who wants to make a draper at the time Hawthorn Hill outdated and out of style, prompting walls was popular in the 1910s and Wright to Your Home also allows was constructed. “So he did all of the the company to renovate much of the ’20s,” he noted. “But by the 1940s it use of the library can physically come Boucuvalas to expand the variety of to the library,” said Wright Library’s damask wall coverings, apparently home, removing most of the damask was starting to look a little dated, and books she reads. Typically a lover of on the entire first floor, including and painting the first-floor walls – all that’s why I think NCR updated the Adult Services Coordinator Brian mysteries and Westerns, lately she’s Potts. “We also recognize that our the study where you can still see the except Orville’s study, which was look of the home.” enjoying biographies, especially after original fabric hanging on the wall,” preserved, along with the damask, in Today, the first-floor living room location offers some additional chal- reading Educated by Tara Westover. lenges for those with mobility lim- Heckman explained. its original state. in Hawthorn Hill retains a bright “I am maturing in my tastes,” she By the time NCR purchased “It was literally put up with yellow coat of paint which dates to itations. For some, our online digital jokes. “Reading is my pleasure.” collections satisfy, but for others a the property after Orville’s death thousands of little finishing nails,” the 1980s. “Every 15 or 20 years physical item is still preferred or even To learn more about Wright to Your in 1948, the damask wallcoverings Heckman said of the fabric which the company would have an inte- necessary. For those patrons, we offer Home, visit wrightlibrary.org/deliv- which had been the height of fash- once covered Hawthorn Hill’s walls. See Unearthed on page 5u our Wright to Your Home delivery ser- ery or call Wright Memorial Public vice. We work with each patron to cus- Library at (937) 294-7171. VISIT OUR PREMIUM OUTDOOR SHOWROOM 937534.1105 2601 W Dorothy Ln, Dayton, OH 45439 ENTRANCE ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE BUILDING MON FRI 10AM 5PM SAT 10AM 2PM reimagine your WWW.APPLIANCEGALLERYDAYTON.COM outdoor entertainment SYNCHRONY HOME C ARD FINANCING February 19, 2020 THE OAKWOOD REGISTER www.oakwoodregister.com Vol. 29, No. 7 February 19, 2020 Wright renovation unearths long-lost inscription Renovations at Hawthorn Hill, the Wright family home now pre- served by Dayton History, recently uncovered a long-long inscription from a worker who helped complete the mansion in the weeks before Orville Wright, his sister Katharine, and father Bishop Milton Wright took up residence in Oakwood in 1914. As wallcovering was being Wright Library’s Adult Services Coordinator Brian Potts delivers books to Oakwood resident Wendy Boucuvalas. removed from the first floor sitting room by Kenneth Hill, a specialist in historic restoration with Architectural Wright Library’s home delivery Reclamation, a Franklin-based com- pany which has done extensive work service is making a difference on properties managed by Dayton History, he discovered a handwrit- Alex Heckman of Dayton History, left, and Kenneth Hill of Architectural Wendy Boucuvalas moved to tomize the experience to ensure they ten massage, scrawled in carpenter’s Reclamation, right, with two signatures of workers at Hawthorn Hill dating Oakwood from another Dayton suburb are getting materials they will enjoy.” pencil, which read “This entire floor to 1914 and 1949. a year ago. No longer driving, she When Potts delivers Boucuvalas’ put up by F. Lutzenburger. April 12, missed her trips to the local library. new books, he makes sure to ask if the 1914.” Thanks to Wright Memorial Public last books met the mark, and they talk A second message, written beside Library, Boucuvalas now has the a while about what she has been read- the first, was added some 35 years option to continue her love of reading ing or would like to read in the future. alter, when NCR purchased and and to interact with a librarian. She’s “Many of the patrons we deliver renovated the mansion. The second now using Wright Library’s Wright to tell us we’re lifesavers, which may inscription bears the name of Clem To Your Home service, which allows seem a bit much, but for someone who Welty Dieter and is dated from 1949. her to place requests for specific books cannot get out, a good book or film, or genres to be delivered to her home can make a significant difference in “It was a surprise,” recalled Hill. and later returned by a library staff their enjoyment of life,” Potts says. “I pulled a big sheet of wall liner off and saw it.” member. Boucuvalas enjoys not only the “You can ask your family to take reading, but the connection with a Hill summoned Alex Heckman, you to the doctor, to CVS... but to the librarian. Going to the library meant vice president for Museum library...they have to wait, you can’t you got to know the people who Operations with Dayton History, browse,” she says. “This is wonder- worked there. “I like that it’s not just a who just happened to be at Hawthorn ful.”” drive-up delivery,” she adds. Hill when the signatures were uncov- ered. Any Oakwood resident who is per- For Potts, knowing that getting manently or temporarily unable to visit books from the library really can “I saw that and said, ‘You might the library may participate in Wright to improve a person’s life is the reward want to take a look at this.’ We were Your Home.