Oliver House gets first facelift in 20 years

When a house has been around more than 150 years, it begins to show its age, so the historic Oliver House in Jackson is getting a facelift.

The Jackson Heritage Association is overseeing the home's largest exterior painting project in 20 years. Association president Pat Fosse is an active participant in the home's rehabilitation and recently spent an entire day helping painting crews with some of the work. He said the work is important because it is critical to preserve the past.

"You don't know where you are going, unless you know where you've been," he said. "We firmly believe that Jackson has a rich history and the citizens of Jackson should be very proud of that history. This is just a symbol of that history. That is one our missions at the Jackson Heritage Association to preserve history and make it available for future generations."

Crews completed an exterior paint project Monday and will be replacing rotting exterior bannisters in a few weeks. All of this summer's work follows repairs made last summer. During that project, the organization was able to seal the exterior walls and have the roof and the heating and air conditioning unit replaced.

After the bannisters are replaced, Fosse said, he would like to start interior repairs. He said plaster and wallpaper need to be replaced inside due to water damage and age.

Unfortunately, he said, the group needs to find funding for the project and he has no idea when the association will be able to do that, nor did he have an estimate of how much the interior work would cost. Current and past projects were funded by the group's endowment fund, which gets money through private donations and fundraising. However, there is a stipulation governing the fund that requires a minimum of $40,000 be in the fund at all times. Fosse said the group has used between $15,000 and $20,000 to fund recent repairs and the fund is teetering on that minimum balance. He looks on the bright side, though.

"We are really using most of our endowment fund to fund all of this. It is well worth it. The old air conditioner was installed in 1976. This has cut our heating and cooling bill by half. We are saving money on that," he said.

With historic houses, rehabilitation projects are always a bit more expensive, but Fosse said the group works carefully to maintain the look and feel of the home's past, while being cost-effective.

Fosse said while there is no definite date when the Oliver House was built, all of the organization's literature indicates the building was constructed between 1855 and 1858. In addition to being more than 150 years old, the house is notable because of two of its former occupants. Robert Burrett Oliver was a Missouri senator and helped secure funds to rebuild what is now known as Southeast Missouri State University following a fire. His wife, Marie Watkins Oliver, helped design the Missouri state flag. The couple purchased the house in 1881.

cbartholomew@semissourian.com

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224 E. Adams St., Jackson, Mo.