Late November – Exterior painting completed.  Rob from Canum Restoration is shown brushing the final coats of paint on the porch’s newly built rear staircase.  Warm daytime temperatures helped facilitate the final exterior painting projects but, on cool evenings, freshly painted areas were tarped and heated to allow the paint to dry properly.

Late November - Keeping the paint warm.  Paints and oils cannot be applied or allowed to dry if air temperatures get too cool.  Therefore, the rear porch was draped with tarps to keep it warmer than the outside air.  Final paint touch-ups were performed and Australian Timber Oil was applied to the porch floor to protect its original, natural finish.

Nov. 29 – Committee meeting at the house.  As the restoration project approached its final stages, the Emily McLaury House Committee moved its official meetings from Town Hall to the Emily McLaury House.  Pictured here are five of the Committee’s nine members as they conducted business in front of a roaring fire in the living room of the house.  From left to right are Maggie Feczko, Debby Angotti, Allen Bomes, Barlow Cutler-Wotton and Chairman, Morley Boyd.  Other members are off-screen.

Dec. 2 – The McLaury House on WHS Holiday House Tour.  The Westport Historical Society’s Annual Holiday House Tour included the Emily McLaury House.  Though the restoration was not 100% complete, over 400 people toured the house.  Members of the Restoration Committee answered questions and provided refreshments.  Many of the visitors claimed that the McLaury House was their favorite house on the tour.  This photo shows the house decked out with its holiday wreath, (crafted and donated by the Westport Garden Club).

Holiday House Tour continued.  The Restoration Committee decorated the house with items from their own homes to help the house look festive for the tour.  This photo shows the living room just before the start of the event.  A fire burned in the fireplace and a vintage train set looped around the bottom of the Christmas tree.

Holiday House Tour continued.  Pictured is Barlow Cutler-Wotton sitting in front of a roaring fire at the Emily McLaury House during the Holiday House Tour.  Barlow is a significant piece of the McLaury House story.  Barlow’s mother was Emily McLaury’s cousin.  Barlow’s father, architect Charles E. Cutler (whose old business sign hangs above the fireplace mantle), designed the house for Emily.  As a child, Barlow accompanied her mother to visit Emily at this very same house where they would share many cups of tea together. Eighty years later, Barlow once again relaxes with a cup of tea in front of Emily’s fireplace.  Barlow served as a member of the Restoration Committee.  Her historic perspectives were of tremendous value to the Committee.

Holiday House Tour continued.  During the tour, many of the people who had donated their time and talent to the restoration effort visited the house.  The photo on the left shows Restoration Committee member Wendy Crowther (left) with Melanie Beal Marks (right).  Melanie, a Fairfield resident and professional genealogist, donated countless hours of work to help Wendy delve into the life and times of Emily McLaury and to extensively research the McLaury family tree.  Their collaboration was documented in a 4-inch thick binder chock full of McLaury Family history and historical information about Emily’s life and home (seen in the photo on the right).   Their research will be donated to the Westport Historical Society at the conclusion of the restoration.

Holiday House Tour – Found Objects.  Throughout the restoration process, many old, lost objects were uncovered in the nooks and crannies.  These were placed in a display case for visitors to see.  Found objects like these add insight into the lives of the former residents and can help date when changes or additions to the house were made.  Items discovered at the McLaury House included old buttons, hairpins, milk bottle caps from a Westport dairy farm, two circa 1950 photos, a glass flask, a Thanksgiving telegram dated 1935, toy soldiers, matchboxes, old marbles, an ice pick, old wax night lights, a tiny Dutch shoe, and more.

Holiday House Tour – Mysterious name on old plaster.  Also on display was an old piece of plaster that had been removed from the dining room when the Town first began some early demolition work in 2005.  Because a portion of the last name was difficult to read, many names with the prefix Mac or Mc were investigated.  Restoration Committee Member Wendy Crowther searched genealogical databases and local indexes to try and solve the mystery.  Wendy’s best guess was that this might be the signature of George MacMurtrie (sometimes spelled McMurtrie), who was a Westport electrician.  In 1926, CL&P acquired the small electric company serving Westport and significantly reduced the cost of electricity.  As costs came down, perhaps George MacMurtrie was hired in 1927 to install electric power in Emily’s home and he secretly left his name behind.

Holiday House Tour concludes.  Light snow fell throughout the day making the event all the more festive.  As darkness set in and the tour ended, the house looked beautiful with candles lighting each of its windows and the Christmas tree visible through the living room window.  The candles (photoelectric) remained lit throughout the holiday season.

Dec. 12 – Final window work underway.  The restoration work was nearly done – only a few punch list items remained.  To add an additional measure of energy-efficiency to the house, new weather-stripping was custom cut and applied to each of the house’s thirty-plus casement windows to create a tighter seal.  In this photo, Chairman Morley Boyd cuts a section of weather-stripping to the proper length while General Contractor Bill Dohme works on the window hardware.

Mid December – Final painting completed.  The newly applied weather-stripping needed a coat of primer and a finish coat of paint.  Restoration Committee members spent hours painstakingly painting the miniature weather-strips surrounding each of the house’s thirty windows.  Shown here is Committee member Debby Angotti applying her painting skills to the ¼-inch weather-stripping.