Through the door is the staircase to the second floor. This photo was taken as restoration began.

Central Pennsylvania College purchased the Boyer House from Catherine Boyer on March 19, 1999. Before doing so, Todd Milano promised Mrs. Boyer to do what few, if any, others would do. He promised to restore the stone house and dedicate it to the Boyer Family. His dream was to return it to the way it would have looked in the 1800s. Catherine Boyer toured the renovated Boyer House on June 10, 2001 and with a heavy heart stated, “Now, I know I did the right thing.”

Before his dream became a reality, Milano needed a partner who would share his vision – someone who appreciated the rich history contained in the house, someone who would work with him through the research and then carefully and safely return The Boyer House to its original state. One of the beauties of the Boyer House is how little it was modified in 200 years. The floor boards are original, and all original walls are intact.

In 2000, Kevin Hollowell of Hollowell Restorations was hired to begin the process. To ensure the strength of the house, structural changes were made to support beams and floors. Special care was taken to keep features typical of houses built in the 1800’s such as uneven floors, thin walls, and wide windowsills. Many of the original door latches remain and were one of the features Kevin used to date the house. Doors, molding, and most hardware were original to the home. Kevin and his crew spent many hours chipping layers of “whitewash” paint and blasting to regain the beautiful stonework and refinished walls. Blue and pink paints known as “milk paint” because they were made from milk and natural dyes, still can be found in the house. Remarkably this paint survived some 150 years, and was never painted over.

Over the years, very few modern changes had been made to the house. The original fireplaces were covered over and the original handrail on the second floor was replaced with a wall to enclose a bathroom added in 1947. During the renovation process, the bathroom and the additional wall were removed. The original handrail found in the attic, was refinished, and put back; thus taking the room’s appearance back to its original state. Modern knotty pine paneling had been nailed over the old walls. That paneling was removed to reveal the beautiful, original 200 year old wooden panels which had never been painted. Changes had been made to the front porch over the years and a circa 1900 photograph of the Boyer House was used as a guideline to restore the porch. The concrete deck was covered with tongue and grove wood deck and the railings were removed. One of the original star corner pieces was found in the attic and was used as a pattern to recreate the current porch.

During the renovation process, the only major structural change made to the house was to remove the rear porch and add a modern kitchen and bathroom in its place. The original doorway and the outside brick façade remain, and one of the star corner pieces from the rear porch was used to support the counter in the new kitchen – preserving the old and supporting the new. It is true that electricity, heat, and running water do exist in The Boyer House of today, however, careful selection of fixtures and furnishings allow the focus to remain in the 1800’s.