By Barbara Walker
The message is clear: preservation and conservation of native architecture can be vital to the integrity of a community and its spirit.
When Shannon Worrell’s father told her that she could have a property he owned if she cleared off an old building, she had no idea that she would be getting more than a piece of land. An old nursing home stood on the spot and was going to be demolished. Shannon’s grandfather had owned the property which was passed down to her father.
The property was sold in 1957 to a Mrs. Ana Lee, who began taking care of her parents. She added onto the building to take in patients and, over a thirty-year span of time, the building grew up to 10,000 square feet and became a nursing home. In the 1980s, when Mrs. Lee retired, the property was sold to Mrs. Worrell’s grandfather. When he passed away, it went to her father. There was a resident living on the property who had a business in the front of the building, as she had bought the property through owner financing. After many years, records state, she abandoned the property, and it was going to be condemned by the city. Mrs. Worrell’s father contacted her and asked her to foreclose on the property and clear the building. Once she did that, he told her, she could have the land.
During an inspection with the city inspector to discuss demolition, a curious section of exposed rock was found inside a narrow hallway. It was dark, but with the use of a cellphone flashlight more and more rock was discovered. Shannon thought it would be a good idea to try to save the rock for future projects, but the more they investigated, the more rock they found. They turned out to be walls. Then they discovered window lintels and a rock fireplace. To their amazement, they stumbled upon an entire house hidden underneath the old building. Two-foot-thick rock walls, bead board ceilings, long leaf pine floors, and a sleeping porch. Some of it was not salvageable, such as the bead board ceilings and sleeping porch; however, the floors were saved.
What is now known as the Fulton House story dates back to the 1800s. Mr. Marshall Fulton was a landowner in Mason. The original street was named Fulton Street, which is now Westmoreland – so-named after World War II. In June 1898, Mr. Fulton sold the land to William Adolph Zesch. Mr. Zesch built a home from native stone and started several businesses on the remainder of the lot. Then, in 1957, Mrs. Lee took this story down a completely different pathway.
After discovery, Mrs. Worrell set about resurrecting the original house and along with the combined efforts of her family and many others in the community, the Fulton House guesthouse rose from the ashes and is once again in the light.
“The experience was amazing,” Shannon says. “There was a lot of community support from family members and those who had relatives who lived in the nursing home...Obviously, I never expected to find this house.”
In talking with Shannon, she stated that HGTV hosts, Ethan and Elizabeth Finkelstein, along with their crew from New York and California, spent a day and a half in Mason filming for an upcoming show that will feature the house. They spent time touring Mason as well as finding out what Mason hospitality really means. The Finkelsteins also publish Circa Magazine and have published a piece about Shannon’s surprising find. Shannon stated that the film crews couldn’t have been kinder, more gracious, and grateful for Mason’s care.
Beautifully appointed, with nineteenth century details and modern conveniences, the house is being utilized currently as an Air B & B lodging. The house will be featured on HGTV’s “Cheap Old Houses” on August 16th at 8:00 P.M., Episode 4. In addition, the Mason County Historical Commission will be awarding a certificate to Shannon Worrell and Family for their preservation and restoration efforts on the Fulton House.
There is no doubt that other such hidden pieces of architectural history are buried within the walls of Mason’s buildings. And, as it is said, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Encouraging restoration and preservation can be enlightening and uplifting to a community such as Mason whose pride of place is directly relative to its history. The courthouse, the Odeon Theater, the Seaquist House and other structures in Mason have provided a time travel experience to visitors and residents and is absolutely possible through conservation and preservation.
You can learn more about the Fulton Guesthouse at www.FultonGuesthouse.com.
