ESTEVAN HALL, HELENA, ARKANSAS

                                                 Estevan Hall after its restoration
 

Estevan Hall, built in 1826, has additions from the 1880s through 1917. In 2012 I was lucky enough to manage its restoration from March until September. I say lucky enough because of how proud I am of the fine result, mostly due to the craftsmen that spent five days a week three hours from home turning it from an abandoned, empty shell into a sight that still turns heads when seen from the road. Its future is intended to be the Visitors' Center for the Helena Civil War Sites Park, which is still in development. It was one of the most difficult restorations with which I've ever been involved.

 

                        As it appeared in 1870; not much has changed except the times and grounds. Note the slope away from the house on its left side. The outbuildings behind it were gone long ago, likely a barn or detached kitchen.

How it appeared when I first saw it in early 2012. Note the differences from the first picture; the huge carport and retaining wall were removed, being products of the mid-20th century. The metal railings were replaced to match what was in earlier photos, as was the staircase. We sloped the soil  under the carport to reflect the other side of the house, which is built into the southernmost reaches of Crowley's Ridge. Crowley's Ridge is a geological anomaly made of wind-blown sand called loess that runs from here to Missouri, nearly the entire length of the eastern part of the state. 

On the second day of the project, one of our demo crew came running down to my center of operations (a plywood table with plans) and reported that he'd found some pictures behind a second story kneewall, hidden in the attic. All the craftsmen were told to save anything that might be historically significant, no matter how trivial.

Since the house had been inhabited by many families over the years, there was a lot that was inconsequential, so when he said he'd found pictures in the attic crawlway, I expected a few curled-up photographs, or something from a magazine.

Wasn't I surprised at what he DID find.

 Tim with a big smile behind his mask

There were a number of framed photos, but it was the hand-painted sepia portraits of the son and daughter-in-law of the original builder  that took center stage. Dating back to the 1840s, they were in perfect condition, right down to the matching frames and wavy glass. Too valuable to remove by dragging them out of the crawlspace, I opened a hole in the wall so they wouldn't get scratched and we brought them downstairs. I called the architect, the head of the Delta Cultural Center (in charge of the project), and my favorite newspaper editor. The story got nearly an entire page in the Saturday edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and Tim's smiling face made up a good deal of the top half of that page.

 

 

This appears to be the same gentleman in the larger portrait, only older. Same beard, though.

I've found a few interesting items in my nearly forty years of restoration, but this find took the enchilada. They are slated to grace the main room of the house once it is open to the public.