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Biography of Terri Meyer and Creative Chateau
History of the Meyer Home The original settler and builder of the now Meyer House was farmer/banker Christian Hess. It is speculated that the house was built in the 1860’s and subsequently torn down and moved 75 – 80 feet up the hill due to flooding. The second house was much larger than the first. There are signs that the bricks were recycled into the new house that was built in 1882. The bricks were made on the property from the clay rich soil. Christian Hess had six sons and two daughters. The house was passed on to the next generation of the family, specifically, Martin and Jane Hess. Later Jane Hess left the house to her daughter Jenny Hess Borne. In 1932 the 98-acre farm was leased to the Ralph and Lucile Wolf, who subsequently purchased it in 1941. They had three children , Gayle, Mary and Faye. The house had five bedrooms, four upstairs and one downstairs. In the 1940's, they renovated converting the dining room to the kitchen, changing the parlor to a bedroom, and adding a bathroom with plumbing,. The house remained in the Wolf family until 1981 when it was sold to Bob Teft, of Cleveland, who used it as a real estate investment.
In 1992 Interstate Sign Company purchased the property for the rights of the billboard which is situated on the property next to the barn. After being on the market for a lengthy period of time (1993 to 1996), Dan Meyer, a mason contractor, purchased the 28-acre farm in 1996 and seized the opportunity to save an old brick house with a “lot of character and good bones” which had fallen into disrepair. He immediately stabilized the roof and barn foundation to ensure no further damage. He re-met Terri Simpson at their 20 year high school reunion in August of 1999. A major renovation was started a year later. Together on Thanksgiving Day in November 2000, they started taking out the deteriorated plaster from the now master bedroom. It took approximately one month to gut the entire house down to the brick. After lengthy discussions and contemplation about restoration, it was decided to reconfigure the entire house to make it practical to today’s standards. The old summer kitchen was torn off (the brick was recycled and additional brick was used from a house located up the road which was being razed) to make room for a larger kitchen and garage. The old kitchen was converted back to a dining room. The staircase to the basement was blocked off and converted to a half bath, the entire upstairs which once housed 4 bedrooms and a large attic was made into a master suite with vaulted ceilings. The interior renovation took 16 months.
Since the first stages of the initial renovation many improvement have been made. A pond was dug to house the geo-thermal heating system of the house in 2001. The Meyer’s moved in March 18, 2002 and were married June 12, 2002. A wrap-around porch was completed June 12, 2004, (an anniversary present to Terri) to replace the small Victorian one. The conservatory which is located in the pond was completed August 2004 just in time for a 25th high school reunion party. The milk house was turned into a garden shed, the basement was finished to make room for a new home office in October 2005, two stone bridges have been built, several sidewalks and patios have been installed using 100 year old paving bricks from the streets of Ashland. Also a studio space was created for Terri Meyer to conduct her business. A formal courtyard off the kitchen was completed in 2007. The barn lean-to was enclosed in 2009 to expand Terri's artist gallery, with future plans to grow into the top level of the barn. In 2010 and 2011, 4500 hardwood and pine trees were planted in the fields surrounding the house to create privacy around the house and provide refuge for wildlife.
Renovation of the Creative Chateau
Artist Terri Meyer opened the Creative Chateau in June 2002. Located in a renovated 19th century barn, originally the space was the home of many generations of dairy and beef cows. When Dan Meyer, (Terri’s husband), purchased the property in 1996, he stabilized the foundation and dug 5 feet of dirt and accumulated cow dung from the floor so that you would not hit your head on the ceiling. In 1999 a concrete floor was added to the bottom section of the barn to utilize it as maintenance facility for his construction equipment. In 2002 he sectioned off a third of the lower barn to make space for a maintenance office. As plans go, he never realized his maintenance facility/office and relinquished the space to his wife as an artist studio. By the end of 2002, another section was added as a saw shop so Terri would have more space to make and store frames. As business continued to grow the space was cramped and in 2005 a gallery space was added by knocking out an arch doorway to the west wall, adding another 600 square feet to the studio. The space was nice but lacked aesthetic appeal, so Terri experimented with painting the floor to look like hardwood. It instantly transformed the studio to a warm and inviting environment. With the technique perfected she repeated the effect in other sections of the studio, adding warmth and character to the Creative Chateau. The displays used in the studio were purchased from a Walmart auction. To create unity of the displays Terri painted them black. The framing tables were purchased from a knitting mill auction in Mansfield for $7 a piece. The barn is heated with a used motor oil furnace, which recycles motor oil from her husband’s masonry equipment. In 2008 it was decided that another addition would be beneficial to both Dan and Terri’s business. The lean-to which stored miscellaneous equipment was closed up to make room for an office and new gallery space. This allows access to the upper barn in the event there might be a reason to expand upstairs. The gallery space yields natural light from the east, providing a warm ambiance with faux painted hardwood floors, soft earthy green walls and a vaulted ceiling. The 800 square foot room is perfect for an event, party or just enjoying the paintings on the wall.
Murals Painted inside the Meyer Home With the renovation of the historic house, Terri Meyer, was given the opportunity to express her artistic talents in the decorating of the home. Her first ceiling mural was in the master bedroom sitting room of a sky and barn swallows. The second ceiling was the master bedroom of two windows which depict a blue sky from the adjacent room and another barn swallow, carrying out the theme. Many times in Ohio the skies are cloudy and grey. Now every morning the Meyers' have blue sky to look up to. The third ceiling was in the master bedroom bathroom. It was a gift to her husband, called the Allegory of Love. It depicts a heavenly woman playing a harp with two cherubs at her side assisting her in the melody. A book lays off to the side with roses and doves. The book inscription reads " It could only be you". Which was the Meyers wedding song. Adjacent on the other part of the ceiling are three cupids shooting arrows of love into the jacuzzi tub. The mural was inspired by 15th and 16th century artists Francois Boucher and Raphael.
The fourth ceiling was painted in the formal main floor office. The design was taken from a plate depicted in a magazine, and resembles a victorian pattern. The artist laid on her back and painted the intricate design with gold leaf paint and faux finished the rest of the design to match the walls.
A dumb waiter that was used to bring up canned goods from the basement remains in the dining room, however Artist Terri Meyer took the liberty and painted a wine cabinet with glasses on the old door. It still operates however it is now used for toiletries.
When the pond was dug on the property Terri had one request from her husband. To have a waterfall. Rather than wait to see if it would ever become a reality, she painted a window scene depicting a waterfall in the half bath.
In the sewing room, one wall was dedicated to an old maple tree that had to be detroyed to make room for the kitchen addition. Terri took seven leaves off the tree and created a leaf wall using paint and the leaves as a template. The results were beautiful.
The basement was converted to a home/office for her husband's masonry business. The walls were made to look like venetian plaster with a travertine marble floor and built in cabinets.
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