The Place Picked Us
By Peter Kolakowski
Sid Boyum (1913-1991) left an indelible imprint on Madison’s East Side through his concrete sculptures, from a whimsical polar-bear chair to Henry Moore-inspired abstractions. The non-profit group Friends of Sid Boyum inspired new interest in Boyum’s life and work, initially forming in 2015 to save Boyum’s abandoned house on Waubesa Street (and the many sculptures on the property) from a county tax auction. The Wisconsin Historical Society has done an inventory and cataloged the thousands of photos and materials removed from the house.
It is the preservation passion of Andrew Powers and Jules Arensdorf that have restored and brought back to life the Sid Boyum house as well as secured the memory of his works and legacy.
Andrew Powers and Jules Arensdorf [Click images to view full screen]
WHO OR WHAT SPARKED YOUR INTEREST IN HISTORIC PRESERVATION?
Andrew: My work renovating old houses in Minneapolis before moving back to Madison sparked my preservation interest. Bringing back to life homes from the 1900s-40s was really satisfying. Restoring the house’s woodwork, windows, and hardware, and refinishing the floors—especially upstairs fir floors—to their original condition was really gratifying.
Jules: Growing up in Dubuque Iowa, my mom and I liked to walk around some of the older neighborhoods that have big, Victorian mansions, and we’d go on Old House Enthusiasts tours. I also love going to Galena, IL and wandering around the historic streets, where there are 4-story brick buildings from the mid-1800s.
WHAT SPARKED YOUR INTEREST IN PRESERVING THE SID BOYUM HOUSE?
Andrew: The place picked us. We were renting an apartment in a former corner grocery store in the neighborhood, and we were looking for a place to buy. The market was really competitive. I almost gave up, but Jules wouldn’t.
Jules: I remember we first saw this house when we were walking through the neighborhood one day. We saw snowflakes painted in the windows, and a big sculpture in the side yard, and thought, wouldn’t this be an amazing place to fix up? We both appreciate weird, outsider art—at one point, there were nearly 70 sculptures in the yard. So when the house was listed, I texted Andrew and said, “Dood. Want to buy Sid Boyum’s house?” And he immediately replied: “Yes.”
Sid Boyum house exterior
WHAT’S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE WITH THE SID BOYUM HOUSE PRESERVATION WORK AND HOW DID YOU OVERCOME IT?
Jules: There were a lot of challenges. The house had been vacant for 27 years since Sid died in 1991, and nature had started to reclaim it: raccoons, squirrels, bees… There was a hole in the roof that had been there for maybe 10 years, so there was a lot of water damage. And wherever there was water damage, there were carpenter ants. Plus, neighborhood lore has it that Sid had between 15-30 cats in his house with no litter boxes, so everything smelled like cat urine, mold, and decay. The basement was floor-to-ceiling stuff covered in mold—it was overwhelming. We hired a crew to clean out the basement, where we discovered rooms we didn’t even know existed! One was full of boxes of coal. Turns out, Sid heated the house with coal until 1989, and the house never had a hot water heater.
Andrew: I’ve renovated close to 50 houses, but I’ve never seen anything like this. It was a uniquely intense project. We had to closely examine every part of the house, because of the damage caused by carpenter ants and water. There were places where the framing had literally dissolved; studs that were just missing.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN YOUR HISTORIC PRESERVATION WORK?
Andrew: The house was listed as a ‘tear down,’ so we potentially saved it from demolition. Also we were thrilled to keep some of Sid Boyum’s sculptures on the property. We were under a strict timeline because of our apartment lease. We had ten months (August 2018- June 1, 2019) to clean out the house and do a total renovation down to the studs. The basement was horrifying.
We were there almost every evening and weekend, and I always wanted to keep working. Jules knew when to tell me to stop. I was good at keeping us going, and she was good at saying when to quit. Our relationship definitely grew stronger throughout the project.
Jules: I think the coolest part of this has been uncovering the story of the house. While we could have stained these replacement floorboards from the same era to match the water-stained original ones, we decided not to. The floors help tell the story of this house. I’ve also been digging into the history of the house by doing some research into who lived here over the years. The house was built around 1910, and even though it only had one bathroom, I’ve found so many notices of births and marriages and immigrants getting citizenship while they lived here.
The renovation was stressful and physically challenging for me. Not only did we both have full time jobs, but we worked at the house every evening and weekend. While the renovation work was stressful, it strengthened our relationship and we actually got married after the renovation was done! During COVID, we built a garage, and then an addition. We can’t stop working.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE SOME CURRENT THREATS TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN MADISON, AND WHAT DO YOU THINK CAN OR SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT THEM?
Andrew: Madison does not have a lot of old homes. There needs to be more resources to encourage preservation and saving of older homes and buildings. The materials inside these buildings are in some ways irreplaceable. The quality of the wood and tile and hardware is something that’s hard to find anymore without paying a premium price. The old-growth Douglas Fir framing in our house is far superior to any lumber you can buy nowadays.
Jules: It’s challenging. There are a lot of pressures on housing in Madison: physical geography with the lakes, a growing population. The vacancy rate for rentals a few years ago was less than 1%, and that’s hardest on women with children and people of color because of discriminatory policies. I think we have to think creatively about housing solutions. I don’t know what the answer is, but I’ve seen interesting approaches in other cities that balance preserving historic buildings and creating housing using grants and income caps.
WHAT OTHER COMMENTS DO YOU HAVE OR WISH TO SHARE?
Andrew & Jules: We would like to thank the following, because without them, we would not have had the opportunity to preserve the Sid Boyum house.
Friends of Sid Boyum: They saved the house through fundraising events to pay the delinquent back taxes on the property, and contributed their labor to getting the house ready to sell, and preparing and moving the sculptures.
Teri Marché and Brian Standing: Their passion to save the sculptures, art and the house were extraordinary.
*Photos courtesy of Andrew Powers and Jules Arensdorf