Restoration of Victorian home in Hamburg garners attention
BY MARIA HERNE ©Pottsville Republican
05/28/2007

HAMBURG — When Eric and Rebekah Armusik first walked through the doors of their 19th-century, two-story Victorian home on North Fourth Street, they knew they had found the perfect place. Built in 1865, the former mansion of a Hamburg carriage maker had not aged gracefully, and it wasn’t exactly a vision of loveliness.
Faded, garish wallpaper, ’50s style kitchen cabinets, ugly, peeling linoleum on the floor, unsightly dropped ceilings and other slipshod, ill-conceived repairs and decorating attempts by a series of former owners disguised the home’s true beauty. The Armusiks, both 33, were up to the challenge of fixing it up, but some of their family and friends were skeptical. “No one else seemed to have the vision that we could pull it off,” said Eric Armusik, a portrait painter and figurative artist. “It was like, ‘those poor kids, what are they getting into?’ But it was solid and well-made, and we knew we could turn it around.” With Eric’s artistic creativity and background in construction and the building trades and Rebekah’s experience as a former visual display designer for department stores, they transformed the home into a showcase. The Armusiks and their home are featured this month in the May/June issue of Old House Journal in an article that focuses not only their restoration efforts, but their work toward promoting historic and artistic efforts in Hamburg. It was hard work, but often exhilarating, Rebekah said. “I remember spending the whole day — we had just moved in, the boxes weren’t even unpacked — and I started pulling up the linoleum and underneath was this great hardwood floor,” she said. Restored pine floors, window boxes, a refurbished kitchen, decorative crown molding, ceiling beams, stained glass accents and four wooden fireplaces handcrafted by Eric have restored the home to its original splendor, reflecting the grand Victorian architectural style of the time period in which it was built. They paid $90,000 for the home, and have since tripled its market value in the last four years by improving it, they said. The Armusiks and their home are featured this month in the May/June issue of Old House Journal in an article that focuses not only their restoration efforts, but their work toward promoting historic and artistic efforts in Hamburg. Old House Journal is a bi-monthly magazine geared toward old and historic homeowners and enthusiasts, as well as for professionals who restore and renovate older homes. The national publication has a circulation of 110,000 and features articles about owning, renovating, restoring, decorating, and maintaining homes built before 1960, with articles on restoration and renovation, as well as reviews of architectural and decorating styles, old-house renovation and restoration case histories. “It’s kind of exciting to be recognized like that,” Eric said. “It takes a lot of hard work and patience to fix up an old house, but it’s worth it. I hope that we can inspire others to want to do the same with their historic properties.” The couple, who have two daughters, Nadija, 4, and Milla, 2, are relative newcomers to the Hamburg area, having lived in Wilkes-Barre, Philadelphia and Kutztown. When they started planning a family, they decided they wanted to live in a safe, small-town community, but one close to more metropolitan areas, Eric said. Hamburg seemed ideal. When the couple learned that Hamburg was going to have a Main Street program to improve its business district and restore its downtown historic properties, they were sold. Besides restoring their home, the Armusiks are also involved in Hamburg’s Our Town program. Eric created the logo for the Our Town Foundation and designed the Web site, www.historichamburg.com, which chronicles the work of the Our Town program and provides information on the arts, culture, recreation and history of Hamburg. Rebekah is also a committee member of the recently formed Hamburg Area Arts Alliance. “It’s amazing, the changes that have happened in Hamburg since the Main Street program started,” Rebekah said. “Things are so much better. Property values have gone up. People are really enthusiastic about fixing up their properties. The downtown is progressing. It’s exciting to be here, it really is.” As for their home, it’s a work in progress, Eric said. “It’s like our hobby,” he said. “We’re always getting new ideas, trying new things, finding things we can add to it to make it better. We’ll go to flea markets and antique stores, garage sales, and find interesting things to bring home. Whether something cost fifty cents or $50, we know what we like when we see it.” Their hard work has not gone unnoticed. “Sometimes I see people walk by and look up and see our house, and smile, or someone will say “what a great job you’ve done on the place,” Eric said. “Those kind of moments are worth a million dollars.”