EXCHANGE: Restoring Victorian home is man's labor of love

QUINCY, Ill. (AP) - Before he bought the two-story Victorian-era home in Quincy, Illinois, Paul Kevin Geers would sit on the curb across the street and stare at what he describes as an "imposing house."

It was a house he knew well. After all, he had grown up next door.

"I would just sit across the curb and envision the possibilities," Geers said. "I would think about what colors of paint I would use, of where I would plant shrubs, of how I can restore the home and make it better."

In 2016, Geers purchased the home and immediately went to work on implementing his vision for the home, which was built in 1889.

"Nothing had really been done to the house in 40 or 50 years," Geers said. "It was a mess."

One of his first projects was to scrape away centuries of paint.

"I scratched and scratched away layer after layer of paint," Geers said. After repainting the exterior in a traditional Victorian-era color palette, Geers said he remodeled the back porch and made it resemble the front porch, including the railing and lattice work.

He also had the roof replaced, which revealed a shake shingle roof underneath the layers of various other types of shingles.

Geers also has nearly completed an extensive remodeling of the interior of the home. He hopes to have that completed later this year.

Once completed, Geers will turn his attention to building a one-stall garage on the property, redoing the driveway, adding shrubbery, planting trees, and other landscaping materials to the front yard.

Geers acknowledges that restoring the Victorian-era home has been a labor of love for the man, who splits his time between his home in Quincy and in St. Louis.

He said the satisfaction of seeing a home he knew as a child restored has been worth it.

"I've always liked north end houses, especially the big homes on Sixth and Fifth Streets," Geers said. "The houses are all so unique. In one or two blocks, you may have a house from the 1860s, the 1850s or the 1830s. They are going to all be built with different styles of architecture."

Gees said he hopes his work may prompt others to purchase and restore homes in the oldest section of the city, which he says has "pockets of houses in bad condition that are craving tender love and care."

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Source: The Quincy Herald-Whig, https://bit.ly/2ZmaKQQ

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Information from: The Quincy Herald-Whig, http://www.whig.com