The Dwelling: A Novel (53 page)

Pressed-tin ceiling insert for back bedroom, purchased from salvaged items from the D. H. Henderson Nursing Home, Munson, Ohio, in original condition, bright yellow paint peeling, but unfaded,
circa
1934.

Metal bed frame for a “Murphy”-style pull-down bed, through auction of goods from the former Berkeley Arms Boarding House; also purchased, four glass doorknobs in original condition. Slight restoration performed on the bed frame where long slash marks were sanded down after the vicious knife-attack on a previous resident of the apartment in which the frame had originally been installed. The murder of the young girl was never solved and was somewhat legendary in the history of the “Arms.”

The three large maple beams were part of a dismantled “pool hall” in a small corner town of Virginia. The pool hall had been managed by a failed cleric by the name of Thomas Bartlett, whom everyone called “Father Bartlett.” Bartlett murdered five young boys before his discovery in 1954, and hanged himself moments before capture. The beam from which he hung has a small scrape from the coarse nature of the rope. It was intended for this beam to be mounted centrally, where the score in the maple would be easily noted.

Desmonada’s lady’s soaking tub bears silent witness to the final moments of a Mr. Tilston, who continues a character of silence, if no longer of desperation. The molding for the beast’s feet of that particular style of tub was modeled in honor of an enormous African lion, shot by Mr. Desmonada himself, after the monster savaged four fellow (white) safari members. Of the fifty soaking tubs with the creature’s feet produced, only nineteen were sold, the line discontinued. Rumor suggests that Mr. Tilston does not rest alone.

Barnboard and half-portion of a barn door in the small bedroom upstairs, on the south side, was a happy afterthought, stumbled upon along the eastern seaboard on a buying trip. A large farm auction included bits and pieces of a razed farmhouse and accompanying barn. No locals bid on the beautifully seasoned board, suitable absolutely for Connecticut weekend houses or loft wainscoting. Neighbors whispered about the children, each shot once by their father after the death of their young mother. Nothing was said of the fate of the father, but he had taken time to carve their names along one side of the enormous door. This section was cut in half and rounded at the top to fit the small opening of the deep closet in the small bedroom. The rest of the boards (heavily stained and varnished to cover interesting stains of a dark source) were used around the window frame and as baseboard.