Officials celebrate exterior restoration of historic home | PHOTOS

Officials and Williams family members celebrated the exterior restoration of the Chesser-Williams House on Tuesday. (Staff photo: Kristi Reed)

County officials, representatives of the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center and Williams family members were on hand Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the completion of the exterior restoration of the historic Chesser-Williams House.

The home, which dates to the mid-1800s, was relocated to the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center in Buford in 2012. One of the oldest surviving homes in Gwinnett County, it is decorated inside and out with folk art paintings believed to have been the work of an itinerant German artist who painted in exchange for room and board during his travels from North Carolina to Texas in the late 1800s. Only seven other structures are known to have intact examples of the artists work.

The Oct. 21 ribbon-cutting marked the completion of months of restoration work involving extensive research and the meticulous repainting of the homes exterior.

This is just the very beginning of great things to come, GEHC Foundation Chairman Mike McGarity said.

The Chesser-Williams House, he added, will be a valuable educational opportunity for residents.

This is going to be a great facility to educate children, to educate families, as to what Gwinnett County was like a long time ago, McGarity said.

Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash thanked members of the Williams family for working with the county to ensure the home was preserved. Describing it as one of Gwinnetts hidden treasures, Nash said making the home available to the public and sharing its history is both a responsibility and pleasure for the county.

It is our honor to be able to have it here at the Environmental and Heritage Center, she said.

Restoration work on the interior of the home is currently underway. GEHC Director Steve Cannon said the Chesser-Williams House is expected to be open to the public in the spring of 2015. The home will be the centerpiece of a living history museum which will also feature a barn, outhouse, chicken coop, paddock, shed and vegetable garden.

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Officials celebrate exterior restoration of historic home | PHOTOS