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Eric and Rebekah Armusik Have Transformed
Their 19th-Century Brick Victorian in Hamburg into the House of Their
Dreams.
by Bruce Posten, Photos by Ryan McFadden © Reading Eagle |
Date: 4/27/2007
 
AT THE DAWN OF THE 21st century in 2000, Eric and
Rebekah Armusik moved into a 19th-century, two-story, brick Victorian
home in Hamburg and managed to bring a 17th-century baroque artistic sensibility
to the rooms.
The Armusiks, both 33, (he is portrait painter; she is a former visual
display designer for retail stores and boutiques) might be viewed as time
travelers trading in a palette of hues in deep red, rich gold and shiny
mahogany. They also are community cultural catalysts and parents of two
daughters, Nadija, 4, and Milla, 2.
Their 1865 four-bedroom Italianate home, with carriage house at the end
of narrow backyard, took them nearly four years to artistically transform
from what they described as a sort of 20th-century fraternity house, with
torn out and boarded up fireplaces, mattresses on the floors and yellow
Formica counters and cobalt-blue wallpaper in dining areas that had flies
zooming in and out of unscreened windows.
But the Armusiks saw through all that.
"When I walked out of the rooms, I knew I just wanted this house
... I didn't care if it was a landfill," said Rebekah, the daughter
of an architect, insisting she was in full control of her faculties at
the time.
"I'm very good visually and (at) seeing the potential uses for a
given space," she said .
"We had just seen another house in Topton where if you took the wallpaper
off the place, the walls would have collapsed," Eric said. "We
knew the Hamburg house was really built well, but, honestly, we thought
we wouldn't be able to afford it."
They paid $90,000. They knew prices would be triple that in similar fixer-upper
homes they investigated in Philadelphia and surrounding suburban counties.
Growing up in Wilkes-Barre, living in Philadelphia and in Kutztown for
a time, but longing for a cosmopolitan life, the Armusiks wound up in
Hamburg, nestled at the foot of the Blue Mountains.
"When we lived in Kutztown, we were missing our friends and life
in Philadelphia and thinking about returning there," Rebekah said.
"When we saw this house advertised, we didn't even know where Hamburg
was. I grabbed a map and said to Eric, 'Oh, my God, it's just down the
road.' "
Events converging
In truth, events were converging in the Armusiks' lives: Eric, who had
worked as a graphic designer, illustrator and artist for area businesses,
was finally moving into a position where he could devote more time to
his portrait painting; the Armusiks also were planning a family and wanted
to live in a safe, smalltown community accessible to metropolitan areas;
they found a four-bedroom affordable house of their dreams they knew they
could restore; and Rebekah, the day after she found the house, learned
that Hamburg was going to have a Main Street program to improve its business
district and restore its downtown historic properties.
"It was serendipity," Eric said.
"I kept thinking that Hamburg chose us, we didn't chose Hamburg,"
Rebekah said.
And that's why they believe their adopted town, on the edge of a commercial
boom along Interstate 78, also is in the infancy of a cultural renaissance.
Yes, Hamburg!
And they said that for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is
a colony of some 50 artists like themselves -- painters, illustrators,
sculptors, jewelers, quilters -- in the borough and surrounding municipalities.
Proud borough boosters, the Armusiks are featured in a four-page article
in the May/June issue of Old House Journal that focuses on how they preserved
their Hamburg home and are in the vanguard of promoting historic and artistic
aspects of the town.
Involved in public life
Besides restoring their private residence, the Armusiks are heavily involved
in Hamburg's public life -- Eric creating a historic logo for the Our
Town Foundation (Hamburg's Main Street program) and establishing a Web
site, www.historichamburg.com, which displays artistic renditions of restoration
projects in town before they are renovated.
The Armusiks also are involved in the relatively new Hamburg Area Arts
Alliance that promotes cultural activities including holiday historic
home tours (the first held last year included their home) to monthly Art
Strolls in the borough with a variety of themes.
It is their house, however, that symbolizes their true passion.
There they entertain family, friends, art patrons and clients in a spacious
dining room and living room that boast white pine floors, decorative crown
molding, ceiling beams of Douglas fir and elaborate wooden fireplaces
created by Eric, a carpenter's son, who painstakingly strove to evoke
the home's original 19th-century architectural style.
The fireplaces, ornate and intricately carved, dominate the interiors
and incorporate Eric's own woodworking as well as curved table legs and
even a harpsichord shell the Armusiks found at flea markets or antique
sales. Mirrors above and marble bases below help frame the hearths
Besides that, many of the walls are decorated with Eric's oil portraits
of family members and models in the style of 17thcentury master artists,
both Italian and Flemish.
"We were just in awe of this place," Eric said. "We looked
at this house -- and all of Hamburg -- as outsiders. Where we grew up,
most of the homes were very cookie-cutter, functional or even made from
abandoned mining materials.
"We had some nice sections, but not to the extent of here with homes
of brick, stone and detailed wood carpentry. Generally, there is so much
more craftsmanship represented in this community."
Support and praise
The young and enthusiastic Armusiks, laughing while noting, "Some
of our best friends are in their 70s," said they have received nothing
but support and praise from longtime borough residents who have observed
their dedicated work on their home.
"I love Hamburg for all its charm and idiosyncrasies," Rebekah
said. "Sometimes, I think the borough has been painted negatively
as a more rural or backward area, but that's not what we found.
"The people here are extremely dedicated, forwardthinking. They want
to grow, but they also want to preserve what they have."
For an urban-oriented artist and visual designer, progeny of relatives
who happened to be architects, carpenters and upholsterers, an old home
and a certain style of living is important. But the place where the home
is and people they chose to settle among are important, too.
"After two or three years of making friends, we soon learned the
people here are genuine, honest and appreciate the simple things that
are often taken for granted," Rebekah said. "We were looking
for a home -- we found it in Hamburg."
About Eric Armusik
Hamburg, PA - Education: Armusik has a bachelor of fine
arts degree from Penn State University, majoring in painting with a minor
in art history, focusing on baroque art. He spent a semester abroad in
Todi, Italy, where he was introduced to works by Baroque painters Caravaggio
and Artemisia Gentileschi, major sources for his own artistic inspiration.
In 2003, he represented the United States in the Florence, Italy, Bienniale.
His works has been featured at the Salmagundi Art Club; Allentown Art
Museum; Berman Museum of Art, Ursinus College; Hoyt Institute of Art;
State Museum of Pennsylvania and the Reading Public Museum.
Employment: He worked as an artist for Dimensions, Reading, a manufacturer
of crafts; and as a graphic artist, muralist and multimedia designer for
Lucent/Agere Systems, before becoming a full-time portrait artist in his
home.
Artist’s statement: “I am a representational artist who focuses
on interpersonal relationships. Each painting, though simple in its use
of one- or two-dimensional composition, builds to a larger, complex narrative
where each character struggles to find himself or the one that will make
them complete. ... I use oil-based pigments, applying them to oak panels.
I prepare the panels by hand, priming them with a marble dust and glue
ground, sanded to a silky-smooth finish. I paint with traditional Italian
and Flemish techniques, layering thin glazes of oil paint like the Old
Masters. The end result is a glowing, vibrant surface with richness and
depth.”
Exhibit: Armusik and Michael George Jerista will team up for a two-man
show entitled “They Had To Look,” Mulberry Art Studios, 19-21
North Mulberry St., Lancaster. “They Had To Look” is a collection
of art that speaks about the inner and outer experiences that influence
emotions. The public is invited to meet the artists at a reception on
Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. Two Sunday receptions also will be held, May 6
and 13, both from 1 to 4 p.m. Regular gallery hours are Monday through
Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Visit mulberryartstudios.com for more information. You can view Armusik’s
work at www.ericarmusik.com You can also visit the Web site Armusik created
for Hamburg at www.historichamburg.com.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Reading Eagle, Pa.
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