Investigating History

In association with the History Department of Clemson University, Regina Mize recently joined the restoration staff at the Lunney House Museum. She is currently evaluating the museum’s historic book and document collection for applicable historical content that speaks to the life journey of Dr. William J. and Mrs. Lilian Mason Lunney.  These items will be prepared for display in the museum’s permanent exhibit.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

 Betty Arnold, Detty Piper and Laura Cowsar at Lunney House Luncheon

Seneca residents, Betty Arnold and Detty Piper were invited to the museum for an intimate luncheon to take a stroll down memory lane. Over lunch the ladies reminisced fondly of childhood days spent at the Lunney House with Mrs. Lunney, as they shared their recollections and experiences with Dr. John Martin, House Museum Manager. 

Some of the things they remembered…

• Young children playing in Mrs. Lunney’s oak-shaded yard.
• Mrs. Lunney driving her black Packard.
• Ealier times of a horse and buggy parked in the carriage house.
• Sunday afternoon etiquette lessons.
• Music lessons with Edna Holleman on the Chickering “cocked hat” parlor grand piano.
• An immaculately kept house wiht highly polished floors.
• An array of spring blooms in vibrant colors in the back yard garden – tulips, hyacinths, jonquils, and forsythia.
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Stripping Away Time

Mebers of the Lunney House restoration team recently stripped away multiple layers of cerulean blue paint in the Arts & Crafts style dining room to reveal the natural beauty of the underlying slow-growth, long-leaf pine framework.

The Lunney House Restoration Team Hard at Work

 The wainscot wall treatment reaches 72-inches high and is crowned with a 5-inch plate rail. The wood will be stained highlighting the original woodwork and the original forest green burlap inserts will be replaced.

The fireplace is laid in English tile and is framed with quarter sawn oak and the mantel and wainscot above the fireplace has also been stripped and is being restored to its natural finish as well.

House Museum Manager Welcomed

Lunney House Museum Manager Welcomed

In the library of the Lunney House Museum, Seneca City Councilman, Dana Moore, welcomed Dr. John Martin as The Lunney House’s new House Museum Manager.

In this stewardship role, Dr. Martin will direct and coordinate the museum’s daily operations, focus on the integrity of the museum’s current collection, and will work toward creating an environment that stimualtes community interest and involvement.

Dr. Martin has graciously agreed to volunteer his time and expertise to the museum. Dr. Martin is a native of Indiana, but has resided in Seneca for the last ten years. He has a PhD in History from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and completed post-doctoral work at  Le Sorbonne in Paris. Dr. Martin  retired from a long and successful career in  academia, where he became well versed in hisotry, historic properties, and fundraising.

His ongoing interest and involvement in restoration projects is rooted in his ancestor’s participation in the founding of Jamesotown in 1607, and the New Harmony Movement in Indiana in 1825.