Restoration Projects

2009: Gable Gingerbread Trim rebuilt & replaced

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Thank you Don & Thompson Crew!!!

Mrs. Lund had a passion for decorating her home. In 1901, when whopping real estate sales by the Lund Land Agency made John G. Lund famous throughout the state and a bona fide millionaire, Mrs. Lund began adding new rooms, balconies, porches, and greatly expanded the living area. With each room addition, the interior appeared to be haphazard with different woods and trim styles, with woodwork ranging from light to dark colors. The exterior changes displayed none of the distraction of randomly placed architectural elements.

Mrs. Lund was very particular about her 'outside appearances'. Although she didn't care whether there was continuity inside, the exterior was a flowing, intricate style with gingerbread eaves, complex shingle patterns, brackets, friezes, balconies, spindles, a turret, numerous inviting porches, and a simple green and white paint scheme which provides continuity for all the elements.

The Lund-Hoel House is the best representation of Victorian Era architecture in Canby. Included in the abundant traditional "gingerbread" trim, the Lund-Hoel House has seven large, detailed gable fan pieces which hang in the peaks of the seven gables. Each is unique. None of those pieces are the same size nor design. (See page 2 and 3 for additional pictures.)

During the early restoration in the mid 70's, the gable fans were spotted in the attic of the old barn (now the Carriage House). They were saved by Henry Jemmings when the old barn was razed. They had been stored in the hay mow perhaps by Nella Hoel. At that time, they were repaired, repainted and re-hung.

Last summer an intricate rebuilding project to completely replace the deteriorated gable fans was undertaken by dedicated craftsmen. The fans were rotted and fragile after almost 110 years of storage and weathering. Each were originally crafted of lathe with hand tools. It was a long but rewarding project. More than 156 hours of labor went into the finished gingerbread fans. That would be almost 20 full 8 hour days. The use of power saws and power nailers made the project easier, and also helped a great deal to cut the time needed in rebuilding them.

We want to thank Don Berndt for his expertise and for supervising the project. Mrs. Lund would be proud of a job well done!

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(Museum Encompassing Canby Community Area)