- Noel, Pat, and “Oysterville” – 1977
My friend, Patricia Staton Thomas, has begun a blog. She blames me (I’m not sure why) but I am willing to take full responsibility! You can see why if you check it out at www.smallhousepress.wordpress.com. She keeps the entries short, includes one or more great photos, and the subject is fascinating! It’s about her life when she was building miniatures with husband Noel Thomas.
I first met the Thomases in 1976, a full two years before I left California and moved to Oysterville, the place of my family roots. That long-ago summer, Oysterville was hosting the bi-centennial celebration for the entire peninsula. It was my mother’s idea and she managed to involve every service organization, every philanthropic body, every artist, artisan, and craftsperson from Oysterville to Ilwaco – and maybe beyond. She even called me long distance and said that I was to be here as Mistress of Ceremonies. “Okay.” That’s what we all said to my mom; there just wasn’t any other possible answer.
She had also convinced Pat and Noel to put one of their miniature houses on display at the church. I must confess, I wasn’t too interested, but she insisted that I take time to “just go look.” I guess I expected to see a run-of-the-mill doll house. What I did see absolutely blew me away!
Here was a museum-quality, to-scale-miniature, drop-dead-gorgeous house. It was aged to perfection, the stairs worn where generations of feet had trod, and the floors listing a little this way or that as the building had settled over the years. Aged to perfection!
Even better than the house were its builders. Noel and Pat became friends – as it turned out, life-long friends. Together we partied and picnicked, and celebrated everything whatever and whenever we could. Noel designed the house I built on the bay in 1979. (Well, I didn’t personally build it – Ossie Steiner and the Mack brothers did.) Pat and I would sneak off to Cannon Beach for a shopping get-away or go to a movie now and then. All the while, they were working their tushes off and becoming world renown in their field.
How grand that Pat, now an award-winning poet, is telling of their adventures and accomplishments in a blog. I know I will enjoy every posting!
Hey Sydney, Thanks for the blog boost and kind words about our work! I love the line about “calling long distance.” Alas, it shows our age. Long distance calls used to be such a big deal, as if one were calling the moon. My mother regarded such things as major and frivolous household expenditures, saved mainly for holidays or emergencies. But of course, the Centennial was that important for Dale.
I have only seen the Thomas’s houses in photographs and I am still “blown away “, as you say.
One of these days I hope to see one or more in person. They are truly amazing.
I believe all the houses are now in museums or private collections. Perhaps Pat will weigh in on any that might be accessible for viewing, either in the Northwest or elsewhere.
I am always pleased to find out about new blogs, Sydney. Thanks!