RIDGE RESTORATION

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Work progresses on Moss Ancestral Home

By VIRGINIA ROSS SHANK

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Tearing down boards, sweeping floors and wiping away cobwebs were among the least of the chores John and Mary Lou Godleski faced when they decided to buy and restore the Moss Ancestral Home in Mineral Ridge close to 19 years ago.

The couple agreed to purchase the property after Mary Lou learned it was to be condemned.

“I didn’t want to see that happen,” she said. “There’s so much history here.”

History that has a special place in Mary Lou’s heart.

The three-story brick house, known as Old Red, was the home of her great-great-grandfather, Jacob Moss, from 1859 until he died in 1899.

“It was quite a mess and I learned it was going to be torn down, and I didn’t want that to happen,” the Youngstown native explained. “So we bought it. And we’ve been working on it ever since. If I had known what we were getting into, I probably wouldn’t have done it. But ignorance is bliss. It makes you wonder if we’d really take on most of the things we take on if we really knew what we were getting into.”

But Sunday, as the couple, in cooperation with the Mineral Ridge Historical Society, hosted a fall open house, Mary Lou’s enthusiasm eclipsed any regrets she expressed.

With the help of several family members and friends, she and John offered visitors a glimpse into the lives of the Moss family and the Stouffer family, who lived in the house for several decades to the early 1980s.

“We started working on the house early on, but there’s always something to do,” said John Godleski. “We’ve worked on floors and the roof. It is definitely a work in progress.”

At least 100 people visited the site, which is now a museum, during the Sunday afternoon open house. The Godleskis travel from their home in Boston to Mineral Ridge several times a year to work on the property and to open it up to visitors.

The house, at 1499 Burnett St., was built on a light hill much like a bank barn. There are two rooms, including the kitchen, on the bottom floor. In the kitchen is a fireplace, which has a crane and bake oven the couple repaired. A pump still connected to the cistern has also been restored. The middle floor has several rooms that were used as living quarters, and the bedrooms were on the top floor.

Since buying the property, the current owners have collected items that were owned by the Moss or Stouffer families.

“There are also things my wife has collected, because they were specific to the time period her family lived here,” said John Godleski.

He said plans are to continue working on the house until it’s finished.

“There’s always something to do, and we’ll keep doing as much as we can do.”

For now, the family will continue hosting open houses and events that coincide with their current restoration projects.

For more information about Old Red or activities at the museum, visit www.mossancestralhome.com.