Written By Anne Blue
Walking through Patty and Paul Keener’s Westminster home is like walking through an art gallery. As much as it is a gracious and comfortable home, it is also a showcase for the couple’s art, antiques, and eclectic finds. The walls are filled with original paintings, prints, sculpture and photographs.
In their living room for example, a small Picasso print hangs next to the mantle which holds an 1802 portrait of poet Percy B. Shelley. The adjoining wall showcases two large wood sculptures of clouds beginning to burst with rain. The latter are part of a series created by the artist closest to their hearts, their youngest son, Matt. Above a graceful antique sideboard in the dining room hangs a contemporary painting by a local artist, the late Tom Holder.
“We actually consider the whole house an ongoing art project,” said Patty. “We started collecting art and antiques when we were young and had little money. We lived in Springfield, Massachusetts then and we went to auctions on the weekends. It was our entertainment. Sometimes we spent eight hours at an auction only to come away with one or two little antiques.”
The Keener’s home was planned by B.E. Starr, an architect from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and based on a design dating from the 1740s. Built in 1931, it is created in the Georgian style, with a brick exterior and slate roof. Notable are the clipped-peak gables and the elegant simplicity of the design.
Dr. Phillip Unger, a former superintendent of schools in Carroll County, built the four-bedroom, two-bath (and two half-baths) home. Eventually, Dr. Unger’s son and daughter-in-law, both teachers, occupied the home with Unger and his wife. During the Ungers’ occupancy, the home was filled with lavish period furnishings, dark walls, and heavy draperies.
Bessie Wills Unger, Dr. Unger’s daughter-in-law, was a fourth grade teacher, well known in the community for her hospitality.
“Driving up Green Street, you couldn’t help but notice this house,” said Patty. “We always liked the outside, but had never been inside.”
In 1987, the Keener family had already lived in Westminster for more than 20 years and had sent two of their three sons off to college. Interest rates were running in double digits and the family was not thinking of moving.
But when they left for a vacation, Paul informed his wife that he had put in a bid on the house. Their bid was accepted and the home became theirs.
“The house still had a very somber tone,” said Patty Keener. “Our goal was to lighten the interior.”
For the most part, they made the change by painting some walls lighter colors, replacing dark wall coverings with lighter colored wall papers, and exchanging the heavy, dark window treatments for ones that let in the natural light.
“We really didn’t make any major structural changes,” said Patty. “The house is so suitable for a nice lifestyle and all of our antique furnishings fit very well.”
The Keeners never felt the need to update their kitchen and bathrooms. The bathrooms still have their original fixtures and black and white floor tile. In the kitchen, they kept the original porcelain sink with its large drain boards on both sides and only added cabinetry to match the existing cupboards.
“It just goes with how we think: keeping and restoring is better than throwing things away,”said Patty.
As Paul Keener’s dental practice has flourished in Westminster for more than four decades, Patty Keener has honed her love of the old and eclectic. She has collected antiques and art, and learned the business of appraising and selling antiques.
With her husband’s continual support, she has parlayed her interest and skill into her current profession as the owner of “Sidetracked,” an antiques and design shop in downtown Westminster.
“Sidetracked” features appraisals and sales of antiques and design-related items. More recently, Patty has included women’s apparel and accessories in her shop.
Although her store fills her days, Patty never forgets about home. The fancy chandelier that dresses up her sun room came from the shop.
“I thought my little sun room needed it,” she said. “It is just right for this room.”
She is also quick to draw attention to the black and white photography that represents the couple’s newest interest in visual art. But, as if not to betray an old friend, she points to an Asian style portrait of a young girl, one of the first pieces they purchased — and still one of her favorites.
“I want art to live with me,” she said.
