The monthly meeting of the Lewisburg House and Garden Club was held Apr. 27 in the Activity Room of the Old Stone Church. Peggy Brown and Jill Gwinn were hostesses. President Jeri Via presided and opened the meeting with the Collect.
The speaker, Debi Wardlow, was introduced to the group. Wardlow and her fiancé, Paul Skorich, purchased the Mathews-Moore house on Washington Street and began restoration in July 2021. Wardlow estimates they will be able to do fifty percent of the work themselves, and the balance will be done by professionals. They hope to accomplish all this in a two-year time frame. Wardlow told the club of their search for a home to enable them to escape the two-hour drive to work in Los Angeles. She went on to say they looked at different states and had always heard positive comments about West Virginia. They began the search in West Virginia in Lewisburg before going on to other communities in the state. They came back to Lewisburg and purchased the house of their dreams.
She pointed out that one of the most appealing things they saw in Lewisburg were the lights in the windows. She has a blog, Candles in the Windows.com, where she writes of their work on the house. Wardlow showed us a beautiful brass doorknob for the front door that she had cleaned. She had another that had not been cleaned and the difference between the two was dramatic. The house will be on the Greenbrier Valley Home and Garden Tour in June. It will be on the tour again in two years as part of the before and after.
Wardlow worked as a manager of an insurance agency in Los Angeles and continues to work remotely two days each week. Skorich spent many years as a professional musician and continues to write scores for films, work in editing and other post-production work. Most of his work is being done remotely. He has plans to build a studio at the rear of the lot.