Although previously recorded by several different researchers, the colorful beauty and exquisite design layout of the Ephraim Cleveland House walls have not been fully appreciated publicly. The mere fact that they still exist in their exquisite condition after almost 200 years is a testament to the care that they have called forth. The Cleveland house was originally built in 1778 and expanded in the 1840s. Its distinctive Federal foursquare style was enhanced with a paneled front door embraced by half sidelights and a blind elliptical fanlight that was brought by oxen from Massachusetts. The house was put on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1994.

Clark family history has long credited their son Stephen with decorating the Cleveland house that is located near the end of the Clark farms.  According to family records, Stephen was able to attend Franklin Academy in nearby Prattsburg, NY because of a debt owed to his father. He enthusiastically responded to this unexpected exposure, writing “my ambition was improved, my aspirations raised.” This first taste of higher learning led him to develop his entrepreneurial abilities and he states in his diary “I engaged in the business of decorating walls of rooms- a sort of frescoing using pasteboard patterns. I made this a profitable business for the summer of 1828-making from 2-5 dollars a day mostly in Cohocton, Bath, Hammondsport and Penn Yan.” This is how he may have earned funds to go on to attend Amherst College. Stephen later returned to teach English grammar locally in western New York.

To date, stencil motifs similar to those in the Cleveland House have been found in the Davis House in Cohocton, NY, but identical motifs have been documented in many houses in western and central New York (Urn pictured is from the Noyes House, Virgil, NY~ note top of masonic symbol below urn) and as far away as Vermont and New Hampshire. Stencils were easily copied and traded and do not necessarily indicate who did the stenciling, nor do they readily show the creative ability of the artist/painter.  This creative ability and artistic technique is more likely to be indicated by the layout of the stencils within the room. The Cleveland House is a tribute to design and color. The vermilion and black stenciled overlays on the urn are well done for such fine elements as the thinner the opening in the stencil the more apt they are to be stretched out of position or clogged with paint

The particularly exciting part of the exquisitely stenciled second floor bedchamber is that the original pine fireboard still resides in the fireplace opening, and it too is decorated with the stencil units from the room.  The fireboard appears to have undergone some severe scrubbing or wear.This wonderful witness to man (or woman’s) desire to ornament their homes in the first part of the 1800s exists because of the preservation and care the owners have given these buildings through the many decades of ownership.  Cleveland House’s sleepy little town in grape country does not boast of a fast food or superstore chain, but we fear the location of this beautiful historic building is in jeopardy for just such a purpose.

The Center for Painted Wall Preservation is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization and is dedicated to the preservation of painted walls.  Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the address below to help us continue our work.