You never know what you might find hidden in an old house. Earlier this year at Chateau-sur-Mer, our conservation staff removed two painted canvas panels from the sides of a window bay in the Dining Room. These panels, about 14 feet tall, are decorated with a gold design of leaves, buds, branches, monkeys and flying insects, including butterflies. Behind the panels are masonry walls covered with plaster, and our staff wanted to check the condition of the plaster. What they discovered is something that probably has not been seen in many years. On the plaster behind one of the canvas panels are remnants of an earlier decoration, including a paper butterfly that was applied directly to the plaster surface. Presumably there were more butterflies originally. The plaster also shows hints of a decorative design similar to what’s on the panels. This long-hidden decoration may be original to the Richard Morris Hunt renovations of the 1870s. The canvas panels are undergoing conservation wor...