Sunday, May 21, 2006
By Lynda Guydon Taylor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
J. Lo's got it. So do Hines Ward and Angelina Jolie.
Credit their smiles and charisma. Call it star power.
Now Washington County houses can claim it, too. Stars are turning up on houses more and more these days.
Drive down a road or street in Washington, South Strabane, West Middletown or rural Buffalo, to name a few, look up and there's another five-point star in red, green, blue or what have you. About 3 to 4 feet across, they're usually made of tin or other metal and affixed prominently on the front of the house.
"They are really popular," said Jamie Stutzman, manager of Sol's Exchange, a crafts mall in Berlin, Ohio, the heart of the Buckeye state's Amish country.
The mall has always carried stars, but in the past year or two, they have really taken off, Ms. Stutzman said.
A couple of times a week, Sol's gets questions about stars; most notably, what do they mean? Some people think they have some religious aspect, said Ms. Stutzman, although she is unsure of their derivation.
Although she declined to estimate how many are sold each week, she did say the 450 crafts people who sell items through the store have become quite competitive and adept in marketing the hot-ticket item.
Take, for instance, the colors. Ms. Stutzman said she saw one painted in Ohio State University's colors: red, gray and white. Some crafters make them in different textures, lending their own styles to the latest in domestic exterior design.
"It's neat to see what people come up with," Ms. Stutzman said.
Some expand to 41/2 feet, she said, but the standard size is about 3 feet across.
While stars now are strictly decorative, there is a practical basis for their use, according to Scott Doyle, historic preservation specialist for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Masonry stars, as they are known, were used throughout the country in the 1700s.
Now regarded mostly as an ornamental, trendy thing for the home, the stars were at one time very practical.
They came into play as reinforcement for a building, such as a mill or factory, that would undergo stress or when the foundation shifted, threatening to collapse the brick or stone walls. The star or sometimes a circle was mounted on the exterior of the wall and then a rod, extending six to 10 feet into the building and through floor joists, was run through the center of the star, according to Mr. Doyle.
A metal plate and nut secured the rod. That provided a fixed tension to keep the unstable masonry in place. The star or circle was used to distribute the weight evenly on the outside of the building.
Their use remained prevalent throughout the 19th century and into the 20th, but as building technology improved, there was less need for them.
Rheba Flowers, of West Middletown, chooses to believe there is a second reason for the stars. She found a green star for her home, which she bought in Sugar Creek, Ohio.
"I think it originated with the Amish. They're supposed to bring good luck and fortune, and it kind of shows your pride in America," she said, referring to the stars in the flag.
She said she learned that the Amish had been decorating with stars since the Civil War.
The clerk at the place where she bought hers told her they were called primitive barn stars and were originally made of the same kind of sheet metal used on the roofs of barns.
She put hers up in March, replacing a decorative eagle that had been on the house about 25 years. Her house is 50 years old.
"I'd only seen them two or three places and I really didn't know much about them. I told my husband [Bert], I really like those stars."
On a trip to Ohio's Amish country, she saw the stars and had to have one.
Mrs. Flowers chose green because that is supposed to represent growth. She said brown is meant to represent friendship, blue, peace; black, protection; orange or rust, abundance, and red, emotion.
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