Restoration of the Cook's Bedroom (2016)
The restoration of the Cook’s Bedroom was successfully completed at the end of March, 2016. The project, generously funded by the Long Beach Navy Memorial Heritage Association, the Evelyn M. Bauer Foundation, and the Rancho Los Alamitos Foundation, provided resources to restore not only the room west of the Ranch Hands’ Dining Room to its former appearance as the Cook’s Bedroom, but also to restore the adjacent hallway and bathroom, as well as paint and paper the old housekeeper’s bedroom. The restoration included repairs to windows, doors, and screens. The original 1920s linoleum floors were uncovered and refurbished. The original early 1930s wallpaper was meticulously reproduced and hung. Woodwork was prepped and painted in historically accurate colors. Furnishings in the Cook’s Bedroom are accurate right down to framed prints hanging on the walls and family photographs on the dresser. A period-appropriate two-piece toilet with a wall-mounted tank was even installed in the cook’s bathroom. In addition, the grants provided funds to re-create historically appropriate window coverings in the Butler’s Pantry, Kitchen, and Ranch Hands’ Dining Room.
Robin Herrera created the curtains in the Kitchen Areas, as well as those in the Cook’s Bedroom, Housekeeper’s Bedroom, Domestics’ Hallway, and Domestics’ Bath. (As with the Girls’ Bedroom and the Back Hall, Karen Highberger Designs provided the historically correct roller shades.) Robin and Curator Pam Young Lee conducted extensive research into what was hanging in the windows using the old appraisals of the ranch house, including the all-important 1931 appraisal. Robin also consulted interior design books and decorator magazines from the 1920s and ‘30s to help ensure that the window coverings are accurate to the period and to their function in a more utilitarian area of the house.
Click here to "Meet Lydia Shinkle - The Cook of the Cook's Bedroom"
Robin Herrera created the curtains in the Kitchen Areas, as well as those in the Cook’s Bedroom, Housekeeper’s Bedroom, Domestics’ Hallway, and Domestics’ Bath. (As with the Girls’ Bedroom and the Back Hall, Karen Highberger Designs provided the historically correct roller shades.) Robin and Curator Pam Young Lee conducted extensive research into what was hanging in the windows using the old appraisals of the ranch house, including the all-important 1931 appraisal. Robin also consulted interior design books and decorator magazines from the 1920s and ‘30s to help ensure that the window coverings are accurate to the period and to their function in a more utilitarian area of the house.
Click here to "Meet Lydia Shinkle - The Cook of the Cook's Bedroom"