No longer hidden as 2 RI houses unveiled

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By Kurt Allemeier | Saturday, April 19, 2008 |

Neighbors and volunteers, including Mark McVey, center near, and Steve Trainor, right, work on step one of restoring a house in the Broadway Historic District--removing the green vinyl exterior--on Saturday, April 19, 2008. (Elisa Petersen/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

Answering the fearful question of what is hidden underneath is only part of the Great Unveiling.

Starting a major renovation, enhancing a charmingly historic Rock Island neighborhood and bringing friends together round out the Saturday events.

This year, the second since the unveiling was restarted after a six-year hiatus, the owners of two Broadway District homes sought the answer as friends and neighbors helped provide it.

They came armed with pry bars, hammers, ladders and a willingness to help to the home of Mark Matthews at 822 2nd St., and the property of Bryan Pattschull and David Cordes at 824 20th St. Workers swarmed over the buildings, tearing all the siding off the Pattschull/Cordes house and siding off two sides of Matthews’ house.

“I think it is always great to see what is under there,” Ald. Margie Mejia-Caraballo, 5th Ward, said before climbing up a ladder to tear at the siding Matthews’ house. “It is neat to see the before and after.”

Matthews’ home dates to the early 20th Century, while the Pattschull/Cordes, house was built in 1868. At both places, they were pleasantly pleased to find what was underneath. The Pattschull/Cordes house, vacant for several years, showed the wooden siding underneath the vinyl to be in pretty good shape. Matthews’ house showed some ornamental square shingles up high under the eaves. The wood exterior did show some deterioration in places.

Cordes and Pattschull live next door to their fixer-upper. They were tired of looking at the eyesore and decided to do something about it. Just a shell of a house these days, they were relieved to see the exterior wood in good shape.

“It will just take some preparation, priming and painting,” Cordes said.

Matthews has lived in his house for eight years and finally gave in to peer pressure. Houses on both sides have been renovated.

“What got me to do the outside is the unbelievable neighbors,” he said with a laugh. “It will improve the value of this house and the houses around it.”

Mark McVey, who lives two houses away, admitted to light-hearted leaning. He’s lived in his house for about eight years.

“I always teased him, just poked fun at him,” he said. “I’d be shoveling snow and say, ‘hey, how about this summer?’

“I’ve been working on my house and he could see the great transformation,” McVey said.

Kurt Allemeier can be contacted at (563) 383-2360 or kallemeier@qctimes.com.