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News

The Day Pink House Art Met Fashion

10/2/2019

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On the first Thursday following Labor Day, Newburyport was still warm, encouraging everyone to get out and enjoy the fleeting summer vibes. Colorfully dressed members of the the Newburyport Art Association and local ladies of fashion gathered at the NAA gallery on Water Street to enjoy an afternoon of champagne, strawberries and canapés, surrounded by pieces of clothing designed by Thierry Charlebois, president and designer of Le Galeriste in Montreal, Quebec.

The sold out event, now three years running, is the brainchild of Newburyport icon Claudia Harris, owner of The Elephant's Trunk, Newburyport. Her timeless upscale women's boutique on Inn Street is the key piece of the partnership, lending her keen fashion eye to guide the designs the event centers around. 
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Thierry Charlebois (l), designer, sports a Pink House shirt, with Claudia Harris (r), owner of Elephant's Trunk Inc and co-designer as they welcome all to the fashion show at the Newburyport Art Association. PC: Jay McCarthy
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The finale wowed the crowd with diverse, avant-garde styles inspired by photographs, paintings and this year, a sculpture, all by local artists. You can spot this year's Pink House nod in above the hem on the dress second from the left. PC: Jay McCarthy
The event holds a special place for Support The Pink House. In its inaugural year, the event featured the work of a single artist, Ron Emmerling, whose captivating images of the Pink House was imagined in fabrics.  as a dress, scarf, several styles of dress shirt and men’s tie, as reported in the Newburyport Daily News. Now, three years later the event has grown to include 29 designs, representing work from a dozen local artists. 

Read about the first event, and how the Pink House inspires many kinds of art 
HERE.

The Elephant's Trunk is a long time Pink House Supporter, carrying brochures inside the store and sporting our Merchant Decal prominently on their front window. Pop in for a visit this weekend! 
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Lauren Fitzgerald’s memories of growing up on the North Shore are full of many memorable landmarks, and the Pink House has always been her icon of Plum Island.  In addition to her work with Save the Pink House, she is active in conservation groups across the region.  She is a featured blogger for The Ipswich River Watershed Association and the Mystic River Watershed Association, as well as a member of Friends of the Parker River.
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Pink House on Essex National Heritage's Scenic Byway

4/15/2019

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By Rochelle Joseph

The iconic Pink House is now listed as on the ​Essex National Heritage's Scenic Byway.  The byway is 90 miles long, linking 14 coastal communities to highlight period architecture, scenic views, recreational opportunities, and historic sights for locals, New England visitors and tourists from around the globe to enjoy. 
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This is BIG!

Minority Leader State Senator Bruce Tarr, prominently committed to preserve the Pink House among among the many important people who have stepped forward to help, was also a champion of the Byway, along with Newbury Town Planner Martha Taylor, and Newburyport's Senior Project Manager Geordie Vining. All have been kind to Support the Pink House as we pursue solutions. 
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We encourage everyone to check out the Essex National Heritage Scenic Byway site.  It's a great resource when out of town guests are coming to visit but also for getting out of the house yourself and exploring your own back yard.  They make it easy. Just scroll through their interesting list or search by category or town from Lynn to Salisbury -- and check out their maps!

We're so lucky to live in such a wonderful place. Make it a point to enjoy all our area has to offer -- especially as the weather is getting better using the Essex Coastal Byway as your guide. And if you come out to see the Pink House, post your photos, comments and videos on our Support the Pink House FB page, Twitter or our IG, using the hashtag #SupporthePinkHouse!
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Image courtesy of the Essex National Heritage website
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Have You Met Support The Pink House's  Advisory Board?

4/11/2019

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By Rochelle Joseph

From Day 1, Support The Pink House members have spoken to so many generous, community minded people who have gone out of their way on their own time to help The Pink House. They have looked over contracts and documents, referred us to important organizations, delivered research, confirmed facts, set us straight,  given us the benefit of their expertise at key moments and generally cheered us on.  We're incredibly grateful to them -- and the many many other people who have advised us.  Because some of these people went beyond that, and took an active role on a regular basis to help the efforts to save the Pink House, they graciously agreed to be on our formal Advisory Board.  

All of these folks have taken time out to help save the iconic Pink House because it's simply the right thing to do.  
Paul Ayoub Esq. – Partner, Nutter McClellan and Fish, a real estate and  philanthropy specialist, Chairman of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, former Chair of the Board of St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

John Krawchuck -  Executive Director of The Historic House Trust of New York City, in partnership with the Parks Department. Manages capital preservation initiatives and advocates for preservation of 23 publicly owned historic sites in the city's five  boroughs.  Registered Landscape Architect and architectural preservationist.

Phyllis Craine - Global Strategic Procurement at Rolls-Royce. Negotiating and drafting of Federal contracts, mergers & acquisitions, regulatory and administrative law.​

Greg Jardis – Philanthropist, owner of Amesbury Industrial, Founder of the Jardis  Center for Our Neighbors Table​.

Stephanie Niketic - Board Member, Newburyport Preservation Trust, heads the Trust's advocacy program, and owns a house listed in the Newburyport National Register Historic District.
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William Barrett – HIC/CSL builder, owner of Plum Island Construction, Plum island Property Management.

Will Gerstmyer – Principal, Will Gerstmyer Architects. Past AIA and LEED AP BD+C.  Nationally recognized design experience of projects from the Olympic Games to The Pink House.
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Pink House Continues to Inspire Local Artisans

12/3/2018

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by Rochelle Joseph
Each year, the Pink House grows in its iconic status, as proven by the steady rise in Pink House themed items that you see for sale at the various festivals and bazaars all year. Tables and booths at RiverFest, Yankee Homecoming, Witches Night Out, First Night, and the many holiday bazaars, as well as galleries like the Newburyport Art Association, Paula Esty Gallery, and countless others all alone the Northern Seaboard, across several states.   There are Pink House ornaments, and even Pink House clothing, designed in part by Claudia Harris at The Elephant Trunk in Newburyport, MA.

Below is Andi Ross, Plum Island resident and horticulturist, who is inspired by nature but also the Pink House! She is holding one of several of those paintings.
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Artist Andi Ross holding one of several Pink House paintings she's done. Photo: Rochelle Joseph
Kathy Culbert is a Plum Island Resident who is a self taught artist and does lovely work, in several mediums. Please visit her website at PlumIslandArtist.com to see the beautiful ocean themed gifts - painted wallets, bottles, driftwood, pillows and more!
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Kathy Culbert has several Pink House paintings, and has made cards and pillows of them also. We left with both! Photo: Rochelle Joseph
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Pink House artist Kathy Culbert. with a few of her cards sold separately or boxed. Photo: Rochelle Joseph
And who was front and center when you walked in but these two lovely ladies, Sandy Tilton and Elaine Checchinelli! They are always the first to say "How can I help?" when the Pink House has any needs and it is much appreciated. 

Sandy, a known nature photographer, was selling nice sized prints of her work, and several cards of her Pink House portraits. Elaine had her trademark and much sought after Mermaid hoodies and tanks which were selling like hotcakes. Both have many talents and have devoted them to helping the Pink House since Support the Pink House began.  
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These lovely smiling faces who are always the first to say how can I help when the Pink House is in need. Photo: Rochelle Joseph
Between them were three beautiful wood burns, created by talented woodworking artist Bill Comeau from Riverview Artisans ​of Bristol, NH. He generously donated them to be sold, with ALL proceeds going to Support the Pink House.  Bill used three different photographs of Sandy's for these unique, one of a kind treasures. And I walked off with one! 
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Wood burns created by Bill Comeau using Sandy Tilton's photos as inspiration. All proceeds were donated to Support the Pink House. Photo: Sandy Tilton
The Pink House was even incorporated into one of the trees featured at the Sea of Trees Festival at the Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury, MA. It was done by Debbie Fournier and her sister to honor their mother, who loved the Pink House. This is a screen shot from the Pink House Instagram account, run by artist and PH volunteer Kelly Page.  
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The 5 ladies in the center wearing the Pink House Clothing line from The Elephants Trunk Inc in Newburyport, MA, based on a painting by Ron Emmerling. From a fashion show at the NBPT Art Association. Photo by Jay McCarthy.
If you do Pink House art of any kind, and would like to donate a piece to an upcoming fundraiser, please write us at info@supportthepinkhouse.com or fill out the Contact form on the website in our menu above! 
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Pink House Listed on Trip Advisor

11/19/2018

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By Rochelle Joseph

It's official! The Pink House is now  listed on Trip Advisor as a Place of Interest in Newbury/Newburyport, MA!!
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Photo by Ben Drew
This very exciting development happened just last week -- and she already has five 5-Star reviews, and a few photos added! 

It's likely that you use or at least have heard of Trip Advisor, which is the go-to site for anywhere you want to travel and what you will see and do once there. People can put up their own photos and reviews of any hotel, restaurant, and point of interest to help others make decisions about their own visits. 

With The Pink House listed as a Place of Interest,  it encourages people who would be visiting our area to learn that she exists, and why she is something they would want to check out in their travels. 


If you are so moved, The Pink House herself would really appreciate your taking a few  minutes to do a little volunteering for the cause and write the house you love a nice review saying why she means so much to the community, what about her captures your imagination, inspires you or has made you want to drive out to visit....  so those looking at Trip Advisor when coming to the area will too! 

You can CLICK HERE ON TRIP ADVISOR  to go right to her listing. Thank you!

And many thanks to Ben Drew at Trip Advisor, who made his own pilgrimage to see the pink lady and captured some truly stunning photos of her - the above being one, but our screen shot here hardly does it justice. Please click on the link to see them   on the site!  

**We'd appreciate if you do not post articles about The Pink House as The Spite House as we've been researching her origins and there's a good chance that is urban legend**. 
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Pink House Perk Up Goes VIRAL!

11/14/2018

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By Rochelle Joseph

The public was pretty excited to see the Pink House getting a little bit of paint last week. The post about it on our two Facebook pages, Save the Pink House Discussion Group and Save the Pink House, went viral, with close to 300 shares from our pages alone, some of which went to other "watering hole" places and got further shared from there!

Some of those were: Newburyport.com (with 113 further shares), Amesbury Squawks (with extra kudos going to Amesbury Industrial who supplied the paint), Newburyport Commons (19 more shares), PI Surfcasters, The Coastal Lifestyle, Re/MAX Realtors, The Plum Island life, The Cunningham Farmhouse and Joppa Newburport MA.

So wonderful to see all this love and interest!! If you want to stay up on  the progress of the Pink House or help in some way when the time comes, please join our two FB pages Support The Pink House and Save The Pink House Discussion Group. You can also sign up to volunteer when we need help right here on this website under the CONTACT tab.
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Here's that Facebook Post!

The Pink House is getting some love today, thanks to the OK by the Refuge to Support The Pink House's requests.  MANY thanks go to Bill Peterson, Refuge Manager, PH Board Advisor Bill Barrett and his crew from Plum Island Management for doing the work, and to PH Board Advisor Greg Jardis and his company Amesbury Industrial Supply for donating the paint!!  No, we are not allowed to paint the whole house - it is federally owned and not ours to do that. But we do work WITH the Refuge, and have been since 2015, as part of the incalculable daily hours committed from our personal time pursuing solutions behind the scenes -- solutions we just can't expound upon at this time. But this is just one visible sign of the fruit of that work. 

In fact, several times a year, STPH asks for certain things to keep the house secure through Nor'Easters and winter months, spring greening and summer tourist season.  As part of her pre-winter upkeep we asked that the skirt running around the front 3/4 of TPH (most of which is actually an external, but enclosed porch) be replaced or repaired and painted. We asked that the front porch windows be painted as well and that they fix the half-up, half down shades to be consistent. We hope this will spruce her up a little - and that big vine that in 2017 we requested be cut at the base (to die rather than rip it off her clapboard) is dry enough to come off without doing damage. 

This fall, we discussed a variety of items to be done both internally and externally by the Refuge - and it IS being done. We're thrilled to have increased maintenance and upkeep on behalf of the community, and this progress is accomplished at our closed meetings with the Refuge +  local, state and federal officials and organizations. Read more on our blog at SupportthePinkHouse.com. 

Each year Barrett and Peterson do a walk through from the tip of the cupola to the basement floor and amazingly, no matter how faded she looks from outside, her bones remain strong. No leaks from the roof, no cracks in the foundation, all windows even and walls balanced. And no, her basement did not flood when the PI Pike did in the spring trifecta of Nor'Easters. Apparently, they knew how to build 'em in the 1920's!


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Pink House's Annual Fortification Has Begun

10/27/2018

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Each year since the fall of 2015, when Support the Pink House was beginning to form, we have worked with the Refuge to protect her from the elements through the year, shoring her up for storms and winter in particular.

In February 2016, we had our first walk through of the house with Pink House Advisor and volunteer, Bill Barrett, a local, trusted and very experienced HIC/CSL licensed builder. From the tip of the cupola roof to her basement floor, we were pleasantly surprised to find The Pink House envelope was in great shape.  There were no leaks from the roof, no cracks in the foundation, all the windows were completely aligned and she was not riddled with mold or asbestos as rumored.

However, the windows, broken by time or pranksters while uninhabited, needed to be properly sealed, not just partially boarded up, and the basement had a low opening or two where animals could get in.  We appealed to the Refuge Manager, Bill Peterson, to take care of these most basic things, and he did.

That was how our work to secure the house while we looked for a solution began. Since then, regular walk throughs have taken place. Each time a little more gets done, and each winter The Pink House weathers the storms.  

In the Spring  of 2017 we asked that as soon as the first greening came, that the scrub within about 3 ft of the house be cut away, to allow the house to breathe, and for the sun to warm formerly covered places. With windows sealed, a house does need doors to be open and shut from time to time. The Pink House has USF&W Security and other personnel going in and out of her enough that we hope that aspect is somewhat offset.  We know clearing brush made the house's need of new paint  more evident, but it was determined it was healthier for her. 

Remember the 3 Nor'Easters we had in a row earlier this year? The ones that came during a full moon, unusually high astronomical tides and with one storm moving so slowly that the tides did not have a chance to recede for three cycles while it poured?  The entire PI Pike flooded over -- and as the Beachcoma's heavy trash bins floated toward the PI Grille and water lapped at every structures' foundation from PITA Hall to the dozen or so houses across from the Pink House in Plum Bush Downs, we wondered how much of the Pink House's basement may have filled up.  Bill Barrett went in to check after the water cleared and was happy to find only a water mark of only another inch or so on the wall above the normally damp basement floor. 

We write at high tide's peak and today's Nor Easter whips at 60 mph (and yes, the moon was nearly full last night..),  yet we have confidence that things will endure this storm and the coming winter, as she has in each of the last 90 some years. Why? Because after our meeting in mid-September, the Refuge is kindly doing more extensive preventative work, which includes:
  • preventing mold by washing down specific area walls with Concrobium or something similar. 
  • sealing floor grates with plastic to prevent any damp basement air infiltration into living area
  • installing a soffit vent in the boarded up basement window by the front porch doorway for basement ventilation
  • filling any holes around the building base to reasonably discourage small animals from entering the structure
  • has patched porch skirting holes with white hardboard - which you can now see, and does look patchy (see photo below). We're hoping can be painted so it looks more uniform. 
  • also in the name of cosmetics - to  fully open  or remove the front porch blinds to make window appearance consistent
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While most of this month's improvements by the Refuge can't be seen from the street, the patching of the front skirt can be. We have asked that the entire base skirt be painted white to look uniform.
The Pink House was built in the mid twenties and they apparently knew how to make 'em back then.  So while all would love to see her with a fresh paint job, or thriving berry bushes growing around the perimeter, which would vastly improve the look of the house - keep in mind that her bones are good, and the basics of continually securing the envelope is being done. And that is much appreciated by the community. 
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Volunteer Spotlight: Sandy Tilton

10/10/2018

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By Alison Odle

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Sandy first started volunteering for Support The Pink House in 2016 on the morning of our first day ever at our Yankee Homecoming booth. Sandy jumped right in with enthusiasm and positive energy, and helped make our booth a success throughout our two year stint at the local festival.

Sandy’s love of the natural world, for the area’s coastal landscapes & wildlife, and for unique and idiosyncratic scenery are evident in her photography which she has become well-known for in the area. A regular poster on our social media pages, Sandy’s memorable images of The Pink House in all seasons demonstrate her versatility. Her dream-like photo of the pink house in the rain has become a pink house fan favorite.

Sandy is also well known for her work on the local Storm Surge group that works on protecting & planning for the area’s community’s affected by rising ocean levels & other environmental factors. In fact, her work on documenting erosion on the island played a role in her getting involved with the efforts to save & preserve the Pink House, as she would often pass the house and make observations. When she learned the house was facing uncertainty, she felt she needed to help out; to “preserve a piece of our local history that is held so tightly in so many people’s hearts.” 
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One thing people might not know about Sandy is that she is also a skilled historical researcher. When we put out a call to action searching for people to help investigate the elusive history of The Pink House, Sandy again dug right in and went to work, often spending countless hours poring over historical documents in local libraries and online.

In addition to all this, Sandy has also helped out on our Holiday Art Auction, our Flatbread Pizza Fundraiser & Silent Auction, and has continually helped with our outreach efforts through sharing her fantastic Pink House photos, writings, and helping us get the word out. ​

Why she decided to get involved
Growing up in Ipswich, Sandy has fond memories of spending time on Plum Island.
“..like so many others, passing by The Pink House on Plum Island Turnpike, always raised my curiosity.” She also fantasized about living there and the house became a harbinger for her on her travels to the island,“…seeing it along the way signaled the start of an awesome day, seeing it along the way home, signaled the end of an awesome day....anticipation & reflection, both wonderful!”
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Where you can see Sandy’s work
Currently: Riverview Artisan’s Gallery, Bristol NH ​

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Progress IS Being Made for The Iconic Pink House

9/18/2018

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Film by Alison Odle

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Pink House Has Supporting Role in New England Honda Commercial

7/17/2018

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By Rochelle Joseph 
Several weeks ago, if you drove past Bob Lobster on the way to or from Plum Island, you saw a film shoot.  As someone who spent the better part of my career on just such a set (before moving to the area),  I wistfully slowed down and smiled. I even posted on my Facebook wall that a shoot was taking place, and wondered what it was for. 

Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago - Support The Pink House got an email from Full Contact Advertising Agency,  stating that they made a commercial for New England Honda and wanted us to know that The Pink House was in the commercial.  We asked for a link so we could post it on our social media -- though we waited until their air date (Monday, July 16).  

I'd barely opened my eyes that morning before it was posted in several places - and I was tagged. And it was posted on our wall at both Pink House Facebook pages: Support the Pink House and Save the Pink House Discussion Group.   News gets around fast. It's wonderful for all involved. 


Both Bob Lobster and The Pink House are icons to our neck of the woods, and the area would not be the same charming, unique place without them. That's why so many have joined to Support The Pink House, from coast to coast.... to keep the Pink House in the community. Read our blog right here regularly for details on our progress. 
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Below is the commercial in it's entirety. 
Congratulations to our friends Bob Lobster, whose new owners have done a terrific job restoring and newly decorating the legendary eatery!!  We all hope to see The Pink House looking beautiful again too. The Pink House Steering Committee have been working behind the scenes vigilantly, along with several area and federal agencies, and elected officials to accomplish just that. 

To help, you can fill out the form here on our website under the CONTACT tab. ​

Something quick and easy is to LIKE our TWO Facebook pages and Follow us on Twitter and IG! It HELPS! And write us at info@supportthepinkhouse.com.

Our General FB page is SupportThePinkHouse, for news about TPH - and on Save The Pink House Discussion Group, you'll see tons of photos and paintings posted by passers by every day. The beauty and variety everyone captures of TPH is truly astounding.

The Pink House herself Tweets in her own voice ​
@SupporthePinkH, and she's on Instagram as supportthepinkhouse.
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