Lynn Membreno and Kameron Turner stand in front of their early 18th century log house on West German Street. Courtesy photo

On a recent evening, Kameron Turner and Lynn Membreno sat in the cozy sitting area of their log home at 306 West German Street to watch previous owner (1923-45), Shepherdstown native and former Hollywood character actress Laura Treadwell, in the 1941 Three Stooges film, “Time Out For Rhythm,” on YouTube. It had to be fun to consider how Treadwell used her Shepherdstown log home while pursuing a career in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s, which included small character parts in as many as 70 films, including “Nobody’s Baby” (1937), “Five Little Peppers at Home” (1940) and “Bringing Up Father” (1946).

“I’ve been told that Mae West was a frequent visitor while Treadwell owned the home,” Turner proudly reported.

It is believed that the home’s iron fence, imbedded into its courtyard’s stone wall, was the product of the blacksmith shop operated by Marvin Spohn in a shed located in the courtyard in the late 19th century and early 20th century – likely used to attract customers. The iron fence contains large federalist eagles, a popular architectural motif in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

It was a combination of these and other features that drew Turner to the home.

“In addition to the overall cool feel of the house, what attracted me to it were the large cooking fireplace in the main living space and the iron fence in the entrance courtyard,” noted Turner.

He soon learned that the fireplace was crumbling, so it and the chimney needed to be rebuilt. The rebuilding was, thankfully, successful in preserving the historic look of the fireplace and chimney.

The front part of the 1,100 square foot log home was likely constructed before 1823. There is evidence it existed in the early 1850s and, based on Philip Shoppert’s willing of the property to his daughter upon his death in 1823, we believe it was to provide her a home. The rear part of the home containing the kitchen was built in the 1920s. The kitchen features an acid etching in a cabinet tin facing in the form of the log home. Adding to the log home’s history, fashion designer Anne Pepper Stewart owned the property for a short time in the mid-2010s, shortly before her 2017 death; she appeared in the first season (2004-2005) of reality show Project Runway.

A federal contractor with the State Department, Turner moved to Shepherdstown in 2024 from Middleburg, Va. where he restored a 1920s “hunt box” house used traditionally for fox hunting. He grew up in Williamsburg, Va., where he participated in fife and drum corps. He moved to Shepherdstown to live in a historic small town surrounded by natural beauty.

As Turner returns from Washington where he works two to three days per week, “I breathe a sigh of relief when I hit the summit of the hill on Route 9 and see West Virginia laid out in front of me.”

He and Membreno met online and plan to be married next year. Her childhood years were spent in Latin America, until moving to the Washington, D.C. area in 1980. The nurse can now be found riding her motorcycle to her work assignments throughout Fairfax County.

“I love living here and discovering beautiful country roads on my cycle, and now Kameron is taking it up,” shared Membreno.

Turner and Membreno embrace the authenticity of their home, including the exposed logs in the upstairs bedroom and bathroom that they enlarged to add a walk-in shower. They’ve restored the home’s shutters, which are likely from the 1920s given the popularity of decorative crescent moon cutouts at that time. A cedar shed to the rear of the house is being restored, using repurposed materials from an unsalvageable shed on the property. They’re currently addressing the badly weathered logs along the Shoe Lane side of the house.

Turner and Membreno have recognized they need more space. Each has two adult children who will visit – and they have three energetic dogs (Boone, Rosie and Weggie) to consider. Their solution is to add at the far rear of the property a small 12-feet-by-20-feet traditional post and beam kit structure being delivered from a Vermont supplier. Their plan for the structure, made with white pine and hemlock and which should be under roof before winter, is to use it for an office, storage and guests. Siting it at the far rear of the one-third acre property is important to them, as it preserves their large yard and native trees identified by an arborist. Because their property is within the Shepherdstown Historic District, they had to seek approval for the added structure from the Historic Landmarks Commission, a process described by Turner as productive and efficient.

We imagine that actress Laura Treadwell would be pleased that the historic log home she owned for 22 years has new owners who, after a little over one year of ownership, are already proving themselves to be good stewards of an important part of Shepherdstown’s history.

Historic Shepherdstown board member Greg Coble wrote this column, with research and editorial assistance of fellow board members Marellen Aherne and Terry Fulton. Historic Shepherdstown is a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving Shepherdstown’s unique architectural character and building public understanding of the town’s distinctive history through its museum and other programs. Become a member at https://historicshepherdstown.com.