 |
|
Built around 1820 in Grantsville, MD, Winterberg House was a stagecoach stop on the Old National Road . Once a two-story structure, the house has two front doors -- one for ticket purchases, the second to access the bar. During the hay day of the National Road , hospitality inns like the Winterberg House dotted the landscape every mile or two between Cumberland , MD and Wheeling , WV.
The Winterberg House was purchased by Penn Alps, rescued on the eve of what seemed to be imminent demolition. It was restored by the donated labor of veteran house-mover, Dan L. Swartzentruber, with the help of his cousin Evan Miller, then vice president of Penn Alps.
For several decades after its restoration in 1967, the Winterberg House, with its original stone fireplace and chimney, plank floor and “wavy” glass windows, was a studio for demonstrating spinners and weavers, while the basement served as the Penn Alps pottery. In 1989, potter Lynn Lais constructed a studio in the rear of the building, initiating the next phase in the Artisan Village development. Once the pottery was constructed, the artists began combined their presentations with the artisan businesses, thus restructuring the village as a community of working studios offering visitors an opportunity to experience all aspects of the artists' work.
|
