Often an artifact’s past history can provides clues to its current condition and influence proposed conservation treatment. That history can be discerned through physical examination and through archival research. When the painted wood wall paneling from the Stencil House came to Shelburne Museum founder Electra Havemeyer Webb’s attention in 1952, it was covered by about five layers of wall paper. Although she was collecting examples of New England vernacular architecture at the time, it was really these painted walls that grabbed her interest rather than the farm house. This paper will consider the available documentation concerning the move of the house from Columbus, New York to Shelburne, Vermont, the ensuing restoration of the wall paneling undertaken from 1952-57, and the issues that they raise. The manner in which the documentation and past treatment influenced the 1999-2000 conservation/restoration treatment of the painted wall paneling will be discussed.