So now that the Andrew P. Hill House has been moved to the San Jose Historical Museum, what's in store for it?
When we started looking for a house to restore, our main purpose was to have a "restoration laboratory" where we could train ourselves and the public in the restoration process. With the Hill house we also have the added goal of highlighting the life and work of one of San Jose's most important citizens.
Like most of our own old houses, we don't plan to ever really finish the Hill House, it will always be a work in progress. Each time you visit the museum, we hope to have something different for you to see. We will be using the house to hold training classes on such topics as plaster repair, wallpapering, paint stripping, and other restoration skills. Whether you visit the house to help work on it, or just to see the latest progress, you'll always leave with new and useful information.
While phase one of our project will be concerned with digging and pouring a new basement, putting on a new roof, weatherproofing the exterior and painting it, we do have an initial outline of what you will likely see while visiting the interior.
The Hill House is a three bedroom, one bath house, with a central hallway. Entering the house from the front, the hallway provides access to the front parlor, back parlor, and kitchen on the left, and the three bedrooms and bathroom on the right. There is also another bathroom that was a later addition on the back porch. The addition may be removed to return the house to its original footprint.
Front Parlor
The front parlor is what we would now call a living room. As Victorians were much more formal than we are today, their houses were setup so that guests could be greeted and entertained in the parlors. Guests seldom saw other parts of the house. This room will be decorated and furnished to represent the lifestyle that Andrew Hill might have enjoyed at the turn of the century. We will conduct research to see if we can find out what the room originally looked like, but given the hard use the house endured, we may not find out much.
Back Parlor
Connected to the Front Parlor by a set of pocket doors, the back parlor served as the dining room. This room will also be furnished and decorated to the period of the house.
Kitchen
Victorian kitchens were a far cry from kitchens built a hundred years later. Since kitchens are usually the most renovated room in an old house, it is unusual to find an old house with an intact original kitchen. The Hill House is no exception. The existing kitchen is a really bad remodel, probably done in the 50s or 60s. We will redo the kitchen to put it back to how it may have looked in the 1890s.
Front Bedroom
This bedroom will house exibits on Andrew Hill. We hope to display some of his paintings and photographs that the museum has in their collection, and any others that we can get loaned or donated. We will also provide information on his life and his founding of the Sempervirens Club.
Middle Bedroom
This room will be our before & after room. We plan to split the room right down the middle and only restore half of it so visitors can see exactly what we started with. Holes in the walls will allow visitors to see lathe and plaster construction, knob and tube wiring, and other construction features unique to Victorian structures.
We will also document the restoration of the Hill House with videos and photos, perhaps interactively.
Information on the VPA will also be presented, along with membership information. Before and after pictures of member's homes will be displayed to show visitors how run-down old houses can be turned into the jewel of the neighborhood.
Bathroom
As with kitchens, in the 1890s bathrooms were just being introduced into homes. No longer did you have to make a trip out to the backyard. The VPA will restore the bathroom with period fixtures such as a clawfoot tub, high tank water closet, and wall sink.
Back Bedroom
This room will have exhibits of the homes and buildings that San Jose has lost, along with interpretive text that explains why it's important to protect what remains.
Basement
The Hill House originally did not have a full basement, although many homes from that period did. We are incorporating a full basement under our house to provide room for storing salvage materials, a reference library, and a house restoration workshop. The basement will not be open to the public.