Our beloved box grand piano is due for a tuning.

It has­n’t been worked on since some of the Camp­bells were still alive, so we’re eas­i­ly talk­ing 100 years. Four keys did­n’t do any­thing, and the sound? Three words: Nails. On. Chalk­board. Vir­ginia bought the Schomack­er & Co. piano in Philadel­phia short­ly after the Camp­bells moved in. The orig­i­nal price was $500, but she got a $25 discount.

We thought if the piano was repaired, cleaned up and tuned, we could host mini con­certs in the par­lor and have oth­er events where the piano could be fea­tured. (You know, use the piano like the Camp­bells did.) We want the piano to sound and func­tion as well as it looks.

Today, JoAnn from Kap­stan Piano Ser­vices came over to begin work­ing on it. Take a look at what she did:

All the stuff that had been on top of the piano. Goethe is in the mid­dle, and the birds are two of Hazletts pets that have been preserved.

Vir­ginia super­vis­es as JoAnn and docent Den­nis prep the area.

Detail of the side of the piano.

Under the hood.

The piano body after the key­board assem­bly was removed.

Key­board assembly

Work is going to con­tin­ue into next week. Stay tuned (get it?!) for more pic­tures and hope­ful­ly video of the piano in action!