2008 Woodie Awards
Cribs: President Ettling
Luxurious home speaks of first couple
Jessica Bakeman
Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Fuse
Originally published: 3/27/08 at 4:03 PM EST
Last update: 3/27/08 at 4:01 PM EST
If the walls of a home tell the story of its inhabitants, President John Ettling and his wife, Lisa Lewis, are very colorful, artistic and cultured.
The white house, pun intended, stands tall on Court Street where it overlooks both Hawkins Hall and an array of student housing.
But this house's connection to Plattsburgh State goes far beyond its location.
Ettling said it was built in the 1920s and acquired by the school in the late 30s or 40s. At this time, there was a home management degree similar to what most high school students would know as home economics. Students, mostly women, in this field, would spend a semester taking care of the household duties as a type of internship.
In order to enrich their learning experiences, they would take in a baby from a local orphanage and care for it - until the end of the semester, when they would return it.
"It was like checking out a library book," Ettling said. "They would just take the baby back to the orphanage."
Far from the days when it served as a training ground for housewives, the home is now the luxurious living quarters for the PSUC president and the first lady.
Upon entering this estate, especially the second and third floors where Ettling and Lewis reside, a visitor might think he or she is not even in Plattsburgh anymore.
The residence is filled with art work and intricate furniture made anywhere from China to Austria to Peru - the one in South America, of course.
The first floor, which is where many official school parties take place, is elegant and functional.
The dining room uses folding tables and chairs draped with gorgeous linens.
The sunroom holds an out-of-tune piano painted with the words, "home sweet home."
Surpassing the elegant and functional first floor ,which has seen many official PSUC events, Cardinal Points got a personal tour of the president's home, in which he and Lewis have lived for four years.
When crossing over the threshold from business to pleasure (the stairs from the first to the second floors), one cannot help but notice the collection of paintings of saints adorning a rich red wall.
The white house, pun intended, stands tall on Court Street where it overlooks both Hawkins Hall and an array of student housing.
But this house's connection to Plattsburgh State goes far beyond its location.
Ettling said it was built in the 1920s and acquired by the school in the late 30s or 40s. At this time, there was a home management degree similar to what most high school students would know as home economics. Students, mostly women, in this field, would spend a semester taking care of the household duties as a type of internship.
In order to enrich their learning experiences, they would take in a baby from a local orphanage and care for it - until the end of the semester, when they would return it.
"It was like checking out a library book," Ettling said. "They would just take the baby back to the orphanage."
Far from the days when it served as a training ground for housewives, the home is now the luxurious living quarters for the PSUC president and the first lady.
Upon entering this estate, especially the second and third floors where Ettling and Lewis reside, a visitor might think he or she is not even in Plattsburgh anymore.
The residence is filled with art work and intricate furniture made anywhere from China to Austria to Peru - the one in South America, of course.
The first floor, which is where many official school parties take place, is elegant and functional.
The dining room uses folding tables and chairs draped with gorgeous linens.
The sunroom holds an out-of-tune piano painted with the words, "home sweet home."
Surpassing the elegant and functional first floor ,which has seen many official PSUC events, Cardinal Points got a personal tour of the president's home, in which he and Lewis have lived for four years.
When crossing over the threshold from business to pleasure (the stairs from the first to the second floors), one cannot help but notice the collection of paintings of saints adorning a rich red wall.
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