The spinster & the bombshell

James Clements / Culpeper Star Exponent
Published: April 6, 2008

If you live in town, or even drive through regularly, you've probably noticed the new tan bombshell living on the corner of West and Mason streets. She's a great addition to the neighborhood and is already turning heads - including mine.

Just last week, as my eye caught her on the street, my mind went temporarily blank, and I realized I was lost just a few blocks from my own home. If she has this effect on others, it's only a matter of time before more serious suitors (those in a better position to look) are lining up at her door. Somehow, I don't think she'll mind.

While I'm appreciating the new sights of the neighborhood, I'm going to miss the blushing spinster that left to make way for our new beauty queen. You might have seen her, she had a memorable face that would take you back to your youth: visions of cotton candy, peppermint sticks, bubble gum, and the Pepto-Bismol that usually accompanied those goodies. Yes, she was a sweet older lady, and I'll miss her.

Upon closer inspection, you'll actually notice that the spinster and the bombshell are one and the same. How that could that be- Is there a new miracle-working plastic surgeon in town, or is it really possible to create a whole new face with just a coat of fresh paint-

That chance to be seen again for the first time is what owners Beth and Kenny Burns were hoping for when they decided to take their house off the market and make a few changes, most notably covering the old pink façade with the new beige paint. Having now walked past a few times, I can vouch for the transformation (I really did get lost!).

In case you hadn't heard, the house that made driving directions easy ("Just go two blocks past the pink house") and affectionately known to passersby as the "Barbie House," "Pepto Palace," "Bubblegum Hill" and any number of more creative names for it's distinct pink-on-pink paint scheme has a chic new look.

When I e-mailed Beth Burns, who serves as the town's director of tourism, to lament the loss of a landmark, she agreed with my sentimentality, but reassured me it was for the best.

"I loved the pink," she wrote back. "It was pink when I bought it. Potential buyers, though - not so much. Since it needed to be painted anyway, we decided to go with something that will hopefully be a bit more saleable."

Burns moved into the house in 2002 and believes the previous owner did the pink paint job sometime between 1999 and 2001. Apparently, though, that wasn't the only former resident of the house who was also stuck on the pink.

"For a while we thought the ghost of Mrs. Calfee didn't like the new (beige) color," Burns wrote, referring to the home's most notable former resident. "Just after the painting started, we had some weird electrical things - lights flashing and dimming. Either Mrs. Calfee adjusted to the change or the town replacing the wire to the house fixed the problem."

Mrs. Calfee is Berkeley G. Calfee, author of a "Confederate History of Culpeper County" and an active member of the Culpeper Garden Club, now named in her honor. When the house was featured in the 2004 Christmas Tour of Homes, it was listed as "The Calfee House."

According to Burns, Calfee kept "spectacular" gardens while she lived in the home, and remnants of the brick pathways that ran through the gardens remain on the property. The house itself was built somewhere around 1930 and from the inside is a great example of the American Foursquare design."

Burns and her husband are looking to sell the house and build a new one they can fill with their own memories. I wish them the best of luck with the sale and their new home, but doubt they'll ever achieve the notoriety that they did as the owners of "The Pink House." Somehow, I think that will be OK.

"(My husband) said he feels 'liberated' not living in a pink house anymore," Burns wrote.

I can appreciate that sentiment, and will admit I've fallen for the attractive new look. But I will miss West Street's "Pepto Palace," because, while it served as a home for one family, it was a beacon for us all.

 James Clements is a Culpeper resident and independent columnist who appears each Monday. E-mail