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by Laura Hoover
People say houses have character, but it is the lives that were lived in there that complete the story. That’s what keeps Christine Wysocki up at night, searching, following clues and finishing what she started. The mother of two whose day job involves pharmaceuticals, co-owns History Attic Research with her sister, Linda McManus. On and off for the last 20 years, the pair have completed the stories for homeowners across Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and surrounding counties. Christine’s first house was technically a project for her undergraduate degree. “The project was to start your own business. I’ve always been interested in history of the house we grew up in. I thought others would like to know theirs as well.” The four-bedroom twin colonial in Glenside, built in the early 1900s, was “nothing too remarkable,” compared with some of their clients’ homes from the 1700s, Christine said. “But it was a great place to grow up and it still is.” The business, partly run from the dining room of her own house, a 1911 Dutch Colonial that goes back five generations in her husband’s family, has grown over the past year. With both women’s schedules more flexible now that their children are older, they have tackled projects touching everything from ties to the Underground Railroad to a prohibition-era speakeasy. The research for both her jobs lends itself to her detail-oriented personality. “It’s interesting when we get to a client, I get down to the details and (Linda) will be off taking pictures,” Christine said. “When we bring those together, it completes the story,” Linda McManus, an architectural and real estate photographer, agrees. “I’ll go into a house, but I’m always distracted by giant beams above the hearth and beautiful door knobs. We are different but it works.” A Chalfont resident and mother of two, Linda started photographing historic houses in Bucks County after graduating with a fine arts degree from Arcadia University. Her work has been featured in Philadelphia Home & Design, The New York Times and the New Hope Free Press, as well as in a children’s book. While she spent years photographing weddings and portraits, she appreciates the quiet details of a space. “I’ve always been drawn to homes and dwellings. Your home is your castle so to speak. You go from room to room. I like to show the soul of the house,” she said. After getting a project, which is usually word of mouth, the sisters will visit a location and tour a property’s structures, including houses, barns, and sometimes commercial buildings. They will collect as many stories and details as possible, inquiring about marks on the walls, sometimes gravestones, or record the folklore that has been passed down from previous owners. Next, Christine will track down the deeds, the lineage of the property, including names of owners, and original land grants, which “in this area usually go back to William Penn.” She’ll research the genealogy of the owners, their children’s’ names and other information on their occupations, marriages, and deaths, in newspaper articles. Christine and Linda will then present a homemade book filled with documents and stories to their clients. “We ask our clients to complete an intake form that tells us some of the basic information we need to start researching, for example, the township and county where the house sits, how much history the owner/client already knows, and if there are any specific pieces of history the owner is seeking,” Christine said. “We don't use recording devices or bring a laptop with us on the initial visit—one of our clients actually commented once how interesting it was that we took ‘old fashioned’ notes with pen and paper. We've learned to wear the proper footwear and we always have muck boots in the car in case we are exploring muddy farm fields or dirt basements.” Linda’s freelance photography recently led her to a project for the DIY Network’s “Stone House Revival.” After she completed work on a three-day shoot for the show, the sisters asked the host, Jeff Devlin, if he had researched in his own home. “He paused at this point. I think he was skeptical,” Linda said. “But we did his house. He realized, ‘Oh, you guys are actually legit.’” Devlin’s home is a 150-year-old stone farmhouse nestled on one acre in Chester County. According to their research, owners of the land included Joseph Shippen, who graduated from Princeton in 1753 and went on to become a colonel in the French and Indian War. Shippen’s father, Edward, not only founded Shippensburg, Pa., but was a co-founder of the College of New Jersey at Princeton (Princeton University), and was Mayor of Philadelphia in 1744. Joseph’s brother, who was Chief Justice of Pennsylvania in 1799, had seven children there, including Margaret (Peggy). Margaret married General Benedict Arnold in 1779. “Uncovering the connection to Benedict Arnold to one of our first projects was thrilling, for us and especially for the client,” Christine said. “When we told our client about the connection, he had goosebumps. He knew his home was on the Revolutionary War trail, but had no idea just how connected it was. It brought his home to life for him.” That project lead to a brief stint on “Stone House Revival.” History Attic Research helped track down the history of the Washington Inn located in Lancaster. Dating back to 1785, the inn had served as a hotel, tavern and restaurant. According to their research, the property took on a new use in the 1940s, as a venue for auctions. In I968, a couple by the name of Harry and Diana Short bought the property and completed several renovations including reducing the inn’s 27 bedrooms to allow for more spacious rooms with adjoining bathrooms. Several owners later, the current owners have started on a restoration project. That project was one of Linda’s favorites along with another stone and log cabin from 1755 in Northampton County. “It was one of the oldest, “she said. “That was exciting and also frustrating because the deeds stopped. We are missing a deed. We are still looking for it.” They traced the property to the original sale of 5,000 acres from William Penn to William Markham, his Lieutenant Governor, in 1692. According to their research, the log and stone home housed many families and the land has supported livestock and has produced grains, vegetables and produce for the past 300 years. Yet, another one of their projects included a log house in Chester County that dates back even further. Called the Chester County Log Home, it dates back to 171O. “The original owners were a couple that had I2 children,” Christine said. “The husband died young. Apparently the husband had partially sold the home before he died. Back then it was a handshake and ‘yes this is good.’ The wife ended up bringing the case to what was the early Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She won the case.” A recent project brought Christine and Linda to a stone farmhouse in Bedminster. The research was a gift from three sons who wanted to surprise their parents for their 40th wedding anniversary. The family had heard that a Civil War general once owned the home. There was also a five-story barn on the property that had been lost in a fire and then rebuilt. They found out the house dated back to 1782 and the Solliday family, who were influential clockmakers and generations lived there for 110 years. Christine found a newspaper article from I9II with the exact date and time the barn was struck by lightning. But according to their research, it was a WWII colonel who owned the home. “Sometimes we are debunking folklore around properties,” Christine said. Packing up a notebook and a camera on a recent afternoon, Christine and Linda headed out to Easton, where they are touring a commercial building that was built as a banquet hall in the 1930s. They listen to classical music because it helps them get into the ‘historic’ frame of mind. “Our client recently purchased the building and is trying to decide how to bring it back to its former glory,” Christine said. “We hope the old photos and stories of various parties and banquets held there will help him with his decisions.” Their research discovered that the building was once a pool hall, a supper club and even a topless bar, Linda said. The pairs’ research has led to some sad or even gruesome details at times—small children who died from smallpox or diphtheria and even one family that was killed by native Americans. “That’s always hard, but it’s part of the history,” Christine said. While hoping to grow the business in coming years, they currently take on about seven projects a year and charge a flat rate for their services. “You can’t anticipate how long it’s going to take. The average project can take two months, on nights and weekends, while others can take 11 days if working consistently. Some may take six months if you hit brick walls,” Christine said. “It’s very mentally intense,” Linda said. “We don’t take on too many projects at once. We want to give our clients our full attention.” One of their next projects may be researching Christine’s own house. Over the last 20 years, she and her husband have installed new windows, new insulation, added a master bathroom and closet addition to the second floor, waterproofed the basement, adding new siding, a new slate porch, and exterior and interior paint. “Probably the most transformative project we've done is our kitchen,” she said. It was last remodeled in the 1950s and had black tile floor, knotty pine cabinets, and red Formica countertops with silver edging. We removed a wall between the kitchen and dining room and took the room down to studs. It's now a bright and open space that still fits with the character of the home. “ “Old houses are a labor of love,” Linda said “The maintenance is high and the pipes are always cracking. It’s great when we present the research and the homeowners say, ’this is why we bought it.’ These are the footsteps that have gone up these stairs before me. It’s brings it to life for them.” For more information on History Attic Research, visit www.historyatticresearch.com. Laura Hoover is a freelance writer who lives in Doylestown. She and her husband are parents to three boys, a very patient dog and many plants.