By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

After 20 years, Jessica Moore is returning to her hometown and breathing new life into a 121-year-old house.

The house at the intersection of Williams and 4th St. was built in 1900.

Moore and her father, Tobe Moore, bought the house in September from the widow of Tobe’s longtime friend and schoolmate, AJ Turner.

Turner had himself spent 40 years working on the house, Tobe Moore said. After Turner’s death, his wife, Jalene, offered to sell it to Tobe.

Jessica Moore joined the Air Force after she graduated from Marion High School. When she retired from the Air Force, she went to culinary school and finished with a pastry and bakery arts degree.

By the time Jessica and Tobe complete the house, it will be a blend of old and new.

Original woodwork is being stripped and renewed, and pieces that needed replaced have been found and installed.

Etched glass transom windows will remain in place above interior doorways.

Some original features of the house are being reused in new ways.

Kitchen cabinets from the upstairs level, once an apartment, were moved downstairs to the kitchen and a countertop was added to create a kitchen island.

An interior door with unique woodwork patterns now hangs from a bar mounted above a closet. The door slides back and forth to open or shut the closet.

The house’s original 12-foot ceilings have been lowered to 9 feet.

The house has three bedrooms, 1½ baths, kitchen, living room, and dining room. A utility room is being built.

Shining new bathroom fixtures bring a touch of modern to the old house. So do freshly rebuilt walls.

Original carriage steps still stand at the curb and the place where a hitching post used to stand can still be seen next to the steps.