THE STUDIO OF PATRICIA POLACCO
118 Barry Street
(Patricia's studio, Meteor Ridge Farm, and the Graves Home are all open for tour the day of festival, Sat, July 12, 2008)
It is believed that this stately Georgian brick home was built in 1878 with bricks imported from England. Through the years, this home has had many owners, including a doctor who lived upstairs and used the downstairs as his office. At one time, the home had been divided into apartments and in doing so; the staircase had been compromised to allow for a wall. Patricia hired Amish craftsmen to redo the staircase, returning it to its former glory. A wrap around porch was added and remodeling done upstairs, to accommodate an office for staff.
Patricia thought this stately old home would be perfect for an art studio. She does her writing in an office at her home on Calhoun Street, but needed a space for office machines, office staff, and her art equipment, archives and drawing tables. This house suited her needs perfectly.
She shares this space with 9 cats…Stripey, Blackie, Angel kitty, Big Foot Eddie, little Blackie, tripod kitty “Hope”, Tiger Boy, Pinkie, and Pocket. Yes, Patricia is a great lover of cats!
Donna Claar, Patricia’s Executive Director, has her office here as well. Donna has worked for Patricia for over 7 years now. She has a rescue farm for cast off and disabled critters a few miles outside of town that includes a horse, 4 donkeys, 13 goats, 3 sheep, 2 pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, cats, and a cockatiel.
Married and the mother of 5 grown children, Donna also welcomed two young boys into her home. You can only image what a busy household she has! Often times, kids and nursing critters follow her to work, making for interesting days for Patricia as well.
THE GRAVES HOUSE!
It was a dark and eerie night. There was a full moon. Dogs howled. The town clock ran backwards and struck chimes wildly. The water in the village fountain ran crimson red. Shrubs and house plants mysteriously dried and withered…
This was the night that Doug and Shalleaux Graves and their five children arrived in Union City. Patricia Polacco’s neighbors were here!
A rather odd family, some say. Doctor Graves is a scientist, inventor and entomologist…specializing in collecting very rare and exceptionally LARGE varieties if spiders. They are given free run of his house! “A happy spider is a welcome guest,” Dr. Graves says. They also keep bats as pets…
Mrs. Graves is a gourmet cook as well as having a veritable “green thumb” when it comes to raising the largest species of Venus flytrap in recorded history. She has even managed to domesticate her flytraps and requires them to do household duties from babysitting the quadruplets to helping prepare meals.
This family and their home are the stars of two books by Patricia called “The Graves Family” and “The Graves Family Go Camping”. Every year on Halloween night, the Graves family opens their home to trick or treaters from 6 to 8 pm for those brave enough to enter! But you can also tour it in daylight at the Meteor Festival!
