Date: Fri 24-Nov-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: C-1

Quick Words:

Vouros-Taunton-Schoolhouse

Full Text:

(feature on Taunton District Schoolhouse/Vouros home for house tour)

Old Meets New At Taunton Schoolhouse

(with photos)

By Shannon Hicks

Like every other weekend, John and Jane Vouros were both very busy all last

weekend. Owners of the old Taunton District Schoolhouse in Newtown, the

couple's schoolhouse-turned-home will be featured on the Family Life Center

Holiday Festival's House Tour this year, and John and Jane were getting ready

for visitors.

Saturday morning, John was waiting to hear from a friend who will try to fix

the arm of the schoolhouse's bell. The Vouroses hope to have the bell in

working condition the day of the tour so they can welcome visitors to the

former school yard with the ringing of the bell.

Sunday afternoon, Jane was outside washing down the tan walls of the

schoolhouse. It is this kind of loving attention and care to details that has

preserved the schoolhouse for nearly two and a half centuries; John and Jane

Vouros have been putting their hearts into the historic building for 20 years.

Old Meets New:

An Architect's Dream

The centerpiece of the Vouros' 11-room house is the one-room Taunton District

Schoolhouse, built in 1738. The Taunton District was laid out as Newtown's

third school district; it was the first school district located outside the

village of Newtown.

At that time, the building was closer to Old Danbury Road (now Taunton Hill

Road) than the present house. In the 1850s, when the old district schools all

over Newtown were being rebuilt, the Taunton Schoolhouse was redone in the

typical mid-Nineteenth Century style, which included double entrances in the

gable end of the building. It is this rebuilt schoolhouse which constitutes

the present front section of the Vouros' home.

After nearly two centuries of active educational use, the schoolhouse ceased

to be used as such in the early 1920s with the opening of Hawley School on

Church Hill Road. The abandoned school was purchased by Ralph and Pauline

Knibloe in 1940, who owned the property for 35 years.

By 1973, the schoolhouse was pretty much a shell of a building. The Knibloes

had purchased the schoolhouse from the town, repaired the ceiling at one

point, and were using the building primarily as a storage space. Plaster in

the ceiling and walls was just starting to crack, but, said Jane Vouros, the

building was "in fairly decent shape."

John and Jane Vouros are both teachers at Newtown Middle School; she is a

physical education teacher and he instructs the gifted education program at

the school. They met in the early 70s and were married in 1975.

The two decided it would be nice if they bought and renovated the schoolhouse,

but, following town zoning regulations, before they would be allowed to move

into the schoolhouse it needed to be moved back from the road - about 50 feet

from its original location. So John and Jane contacted (the late) Art Venning,

a mover with an intelligent approach and a very gentle hand.

"It was fantastic," John said. "Nothing, not even a piece of plaster fall off

the wall."

The summer of 1975 was spent scraping and sanding all boards and window

shutters in the building. John and Jane, both of whom build strong

relationships with their students, had knocking down plaster parties, where

kids were handed hammers and just knocked away at everything. Contractors had

to be hired to install new wiring and plumbing.

Anyone working on a historic building is bound to attract attention, and the

Vouroses had their fair share of interested visitors that summer. During the

entire rebuilding process, curious passersby and former students of the

schoolhouse stopped by to visit John and Jane; one gentleman even showed Jane

where he had carved his initials into the wood behind one of the shutters. His

initials were still there. John and Jane painstakingly preserved carvings such

as these.

For three years, John and Jane lived in the single-room dwelling. The front

entryways were converted - the former boys' entrance became the kitchen area,

the girls' was the bathroom area - and the large main room of the schoolhouse

became the couple's living, dining and sleeping space. Storage area was a

prime concern, but creativity persevered and the two lived quite comfortably

for three years.

"Our main intent was to build a full-scale home, but we never wanted to

overshadow the schoolhouse," Jane said. "It took a lot of time to come up with

a plan to complement the building without overshadowing."

The couple had a very strong sense of what they wanted their finished home to

look like, it was the technical part of actually drawing up the plans they had

trouble with. Enter architect Bill Cram of Redding, an expert in Colonial

construction. Mr Cram came highly recommended by Dick Mascelli, the builder

hired by John and Jane to build their dream home.

Mr Cram came up with the perfect plan, Mr Mascelli executed every design

perfectly, and the homeowners designed the surrounding landscaping. They also

handled all of the decorating of their property, which is now a sumptuous home

that does exactly what it was intended to do: complements the Taunton

Schoolhouse. Designed to look like it was meant to be part of the schoolhouse,

the Vouros home is a beautiful meeting of old and new, both inside and out.

The schoolhouse room is now a versatile meeting room/entertaining area (a

number of student groups enjoy using it as a formal meeting place), while the

rest of the house was designed in a warm, inviting style. The kitchen has

exposed beams and a beautiful greenhouse window - something Jane and John knew

they wanted in their kitchen all along - and the entire main floor looks like

it could have been built 200 years ago. The charm of the schoolhouse has been

kept throughout the house.

The most modern-looking room in the house is downstairs, where the couple have

created an inviting room which houses a second entertaining area. While the

schoolhouse is the most well-known feature of the house, the entire home will

be open for visitors to enjoy seeing on the December 3 House Tour event.

"I think this was a good move," said Jane. "We've ended up with something that

really worked well.

From Ralph and Pauline Knibloe, John and Jane inherited two books of hand

written minutes from the early 1800s of school board meetings with pertinent

information such as which family would supply wood for the school's stove, who

would start the fires, teachers' salaries, where the teachers would live, etc.

When the Vouroses purchased the building, there were chalkboards sandwiched

between each window pane on the side walls and a large, main chalkboard on the

front wall. The smaller chalkboards have since been taken out, but the front

chalkboard - the original one of the building - has been kept. There are also

photographs of classes through the years, given to the couple by former

students and teachers.

"We've always wanted to do [something like the House Tour]," Jane said last

week. "I love decorating for Christmas, and this gives me the opportunity to

do a little extra.

"I think it's fun. We know a lot of people are curious to see the schoolhouse

now," she continued. "It's nice to be able to open it for people who might

otherwise not see it."