Pink House Perk Up Goes VIRAL!

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 was shared further!

Some of those were: Newburyport.com (+113 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 need arises, please join our two FB pages Support The Pink House and Save The Pink House Discussion Group. You can also sign up to volunteer right here on our website under the CONTACT tab.

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 request.  Appreciation goes to Bill Peterson, Parker River National Wildlife 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 therefore 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 that work. 

In fact, several times a year, STPH asks for basic things to keep the house secure through Nor'Easters and winter months, and vegetation overgrowth. This year, part of its 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 so the wood can hang in there a little longer - and that they simply make the half-up, half down shades consistent. We hope this will spruce the house up just a little. 

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. This progress is accomplished at our closed meetings with the Refuge +  local, state and federal officials and stakeholders.  Read more on our blog at SupportthePinkHouse.com. 

Did you know: 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!

We know the public is hoping to have iconic The Pink House fully restored well before it's 100th birthday!