When moving into an old house we usually inherit a grab-bag of ‘updates’ done over the years. The details of those changes are often anecdotal. That’s the case with Jim Owens, whose family moved into 2636 Roseland Terrace in 1998.
One detail that stands out on Owens’ home is the carved stone columns, especially the capitals.
He said one thing he knows for sure about his house is that it was built in 1914. He said once a man driving down the street told him he installed the columns about 30 years ago but Owens said he’s not putting much faith in that being accurate.
He also said that the street name, Roseland Terrace is named for a rose garden that was once part of the property on 2637 Roseland Terrace, the home built by Catherine “Kate” Compton Sutton, daughter of James C. Sutton, right across the street.
See also: Maplewood History: Ellendale Home Place, Maplewood History: Close Examination of Historic Thomas Photos Leads to Some Surprising Discoveries
A friend worked at a stone quarry, his little clapboard house had a huge stone wall inside, because it was made out of cast off stone from the quarry. It really didn’t belong in that type of house but it was there because of the owners job opportunity to repurpose materials.
We had another friend who had a trailer off the Gasconade river, it had beautiful handmade kitchen cabinets made by the carpenter that owned it.
My own father used every left over pipe from his job to plumb our house. It was great until he passed away and an actual plumber came in, shook his head and found every pipe had threads cut to a different size. LOL maybe the columns came from such an opportunity. Doesn’t seem like something you would pay to have carved for that house style but they sure are beautiful.
What I want to know is how do you carve something like that. What kind of stone is it? The carving of the columns are similar to what you see on some of the ancient structures so those I know can be done. But the head piece? I try to chip a piece of brick or concrete to fit a certain hole and end up with something nowhere near what I need. I simply cannot imagine carving that. I have to wonder if they aren’t some sort of plaster mold or something like that then textured to look like stone. I want to at least drive by and take a look sometime.
Wow! I googled that house after Editor Miner first mentioned those columns but couldn’t tell much about them. To tell you the truth I thought they were probably little more than some replacement columns a previous owner had installed. I had a notion to take a closer look at them someday but it could have easily gotten away from me.
What blows my mind is that they are stone. Incredible. I would tend to give credence to the man who says he installed them about 30 years ago. I have seen no architectural ornament in Maplewood to compare with these. Ironically a man who would probably be more likely than anyone else to say where they may have come from just passed away, Larry Giles.
As for the rose garden story…source? I’m not saying it isn’t true, it may be. Having read more about the Thomas family than probably anyone else, I have never heard that story nor seen it in print anywhere.
I’d say these are, hands down, the best porch columns in Maplewood.