We are now accepting sign ups for our June painting parties!

We will have two different sessions to do the Bee Grateful painting.  You can customize your painting with any “Bee” quote…. Bee grateful, bee kind, bee joyful, etc.  We will walk you through each step and make it as easy and fun as possible.  This class is appropriate for all ages and talents!

Choose either June 22nd at 5pm or June 23rd at 1pm, there is a limit of 8 people per class.  Come with a friend or on your own.  Be ready to have fun.  Bring a snack or drink of your choice.  In the past we have done sign ups through Event Brite, but in order to eliminate the added fee we will do sign up through emailing: sisters@cambrehouse.com we will accept payment of $20 before class through paypal or you can pay $25 the day of class.

We are planning our second annual craft show and open house on Monday May 28th, Memorial Day, from ten to four.  We had such a great time last Memorial Day with a wonderful turn out, we want to do it again!  This year we already have more vendors, and more food planned!

Located between Nauvoo and Niota on the bluff, the Cambre House is a beautiful historic house. The house was the first privately owned home in Hancock County on the National Register of Historic places. Built in 1867 by French Icarian Adolphe Cambre, the house has never been extensively remodeled and is like a step back in time. Sisters, Amy and Rebecca own the home and hold events through the summer to help share the house with the public. Painting parties, midsummer movie night, and ghost tours are available from June through October. The property is also available for weddings, reunions, showers and other events. The beautiful outdoor location will have many craft and vendor booths and food for sale on Memorial Day. Free tours of the house will be available all day long. Make plans to spend a relaxing day visiting Cambre House and Farm.

Sunday, October 15th, 1-4pm
Autumn is the best time at the Cambre House! Join us for an afternoon. If you are interested in a rustic outdoor wedding venue this would be an ideal time to see the Cambre House and Farm. This secluded location will give your family and friends privacy and plenty of space to enjoy your outdoor wedding.   We will have local vendors available for you to check out as well.  See what the Nauvoo area has to offer for your wedding.

The Cambre House has always been a family project since my grandparents bought it. In October of 1982, grandma gave a presentation on the house to the Hancock county historical society. We still have the slides and the index cards she used to give the presentation. My favorite part tells about our family.

“The day of the sale, one of relatives said to me as we stood in the backyard and watched an eagle soar over head ‘Thats’s a good sign.’ However, the time I stepped on a snake in the pump house, and another time when a fresh gallon of red paint fell down the cellar steps with the lid coming off the third step from the bottom and the whole gallon going on the cellar floor made me wonder if maybe it was a buzzard instead.
However on the whole, it has been a fascinating experience. The happy times have outweighed the others. I want to say that even though it has been my project, if it hadn’t been for the help and support of my husband, my brother Bill who stood by to lend financial assistance if needed the day of the sale, and has helped on innumerable projects, and my sister Clara Jean Boyd who has researched the historical significance of the place, this would never have evolved to this stage.”

When our grandparents bought the farm they also bought some of the handmade furniture that Adolphe Cambre built. This apple bench was one that was bought at the sale in 1979. The shelf underneath was for boxes and provided a quiet place to rest in the orchard. The piece still had the original milk paint from when it was first built in the 1860’s. Grandma placed it at the top of the stairs and it remained there the entire time they owned the house.

After my grandfather died, the family held an auction and sold the antiques that my grandparents had collected over their many years of going to auctions. I went with the intention of getting a few special pieces that held the most memories. This was one of the pieces that I bought. Way back before buying the house was even an idea. I remember sitting on the bench looking out the upstairs widow watching all the people come and go during the fall open houses. I returned the bench to its spot for our memorial day open house where my little girl sat watching all the people come and go.

Last weekend while Rebecca and I were at the Cambre House, we had a girls night and sipped some wine and made our versions of Monet paintings.  We laughed and chatted about things.  It was a cool and sunny evening so we were painting at the old picnic table outside.  Our kids and their friends were intermittently running through the yard with the puppy.  Amelia had made a place next to us insisting that she paint, too.  Why not?

We discussed what things we have gotten crossed off of our lists and the things that we needed to add. The picnic table that we were at was one.  Leaning to the left a bit too much we had it propped up with tree stumps.  The next morning in the cool breeze we had planned on building a new one or two, whichever we could fit in before the sun started heating up the day.

As it the evening went on we compared our paintings.  Discussed different techniques. “How should I mix this color so that it looks black, but not so dark?”  “What do you think about how this looks?”  “I know that Monet had painted it this way, but I want to add in this.”  “I like those flowers!”  We discussed Monet’s style and what made it unique and also what portions of that we wanted to copy into our own paintings.

Later as it started getting dark we moved our paintings inside. As the kids started settling down for the night they came into admire our work.  Noting how neat they looked and our unique styles.  What a fun way to spend a night!

We want to invite more people to our painting parties!  June 28th and 29th we will open up the farm for you to join us for an evening or afternoon of painting.  Depending on the weather we will host either outdoors or inside.  I will be available to help walk you through the steps in painting, whatever skill level you are at.  We will offer light snacks and water, bring your own beverages.

The cost for the evening/day is $25 and will include the canvas, paints, inspiration and all tools and instructions needed to recreate a work of art.  Sign up and pay for the day class here. Or the evening class here. 

In October 2016, we were able to purchase the property. Since then we have worked on doing needed repairs and some updates and also planning. So that’s the short version of the story. When will we be done with this project? Probably never. There is always more to do and more that we want to add. Current projects include the yearly upkeep, clearing paths in the woods, residing the house and barn, adding more outdoor gathering areas, eventually we would like to add back in some fruit trees and berries.

Our grandparents had bought the house at an auction in 1979, from the Cambre descendants. Adolphe Cambre had built the house 150 years ago and his children and grandchildren had built an orchard and berry farm on the property. Our grandmother’s family had frequented the orchard when she was a child. She had written about it being an enchanted farm. It was a special place where fairytales could have happened. The property was in the countryside down gravel roads and a long lane. She had said that it would appear when the signs went up in the fall and disappear when they were taken down. At the time of the auction the orchard unfortunately was no longer there.

Our grandmother was an avid collector and restorer of antiques. When the house and farm was advertised for auction, she convinced our grandfather to purchase the property. With the support of her husband, as well as her brother and sisters, the Cambre House became her ultimate antique project. My grandparents and family worked hard on restoring the property and opened it up once a year for the public to tour. They were able to add it to the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s and it continues to be on the list.