Paint Project 2019 Application

Once upon a time, in 1986, there lived a family who built a cottage in the northern Catskill town of Tannersville, NY.  It was cozy and neat and was painted grey with white trim.

By and by the owners had to repaint their cozy cottage.  The wife had always yearned to have a Victorian ‘Painted Lady’, which was NOT what the cozy cottage was.  It was new-ish, and had none of the gingerbread trim and architectural features of an old Victorian.  But the wife was determined.

She called in painters from a far-away town with whom she had worked before, thus avoiding a possible mutiny when revealing her color selections.  She used frankincense and favorite meals and persuasions of every type to convince the husband that she was only very slightly off-balance.

The paint flowed.  Colors were added.  Then shutters with pictures, an animal-print front door and colorful rocks.  Cars streamed up the driveway for a look and to sign a visitor’s book which the son had left outside.  One entry from a British visitor read: “I want one.”

So the wife had an aha moment and went to visit the mayor to lay out a plan.  She then talked to some of the building owners in town about it and most of them said aha.

That was the start of the Tannersville Paint Project.

Along came another family who had some spare change.  They bought buildings that were about to fall down, fixed them up and put them up for sale – for less than they had spent on fixing them up.

You might think they weren’t too smart, but they’re actually very smart.  If you have some spare change, please call the Hunter Foundation at 518-589-5050 to find out just what a great deal is waiting for you.  Tell them the crazy Paint Lady sent you.  And come by to visit what the Today Show’s Mike Leonard saw and the New York Times and Ladies’ Home Journal wrote about.

 

  • The Paint Fund is restricted to Main Street (Route 23a) in Tannersville Only