Bay artist donates portrait of special home

The Maggie's Place "housetrait" created by Bay Village artist Bill Mannion graces the dining room of Maggie's Place, a home for pregnant women in need.

A Bay Village artist donated his talent recently to help brighten a very special home. Bill Mannion, a watercolor artist whose canvases have graced galleries and decorated fine residential and commercial spaces, created an original, vivid rendering of a house called Maggie’s Place, The Zechariah House. One of five Maggie’s Place houses throughout the U.S., the Parma home provides shelter and support for needy pregnant women and new moms.

The presentation of the painting took place during a charity event benefitting Maggie’s Place: the Neubert Painting Charity Paint Giveaway. Each year, Neubert, a Lakewood-based contractor, chooses a worthy organization or individual and provides their house’s exterior with a fresh coat of paint.

Mannion calls his specialty “housetraits,” and for 25 years, he has created them for many West Shore residents wishing to capture on canvas the colonials and ranches, tudors and bungalows they call home. Commissioning Mannion to create a “housetrait” costs up to $500.

But Mannion was happy to donate his work to Maggie’s Place. “The people who work at Maggie’s Place are so welcoming and I admire Neubert and their team for their generosity in doing these deserving house painting events,” he said.  

Neubert Painting founder John Neubert added, “Maggie’s place is full of hope and possibility, and we wanted to support the mission of the house and the women and babies who get a new start there.”

Mannion agreed and says he hopes the painting will offer encouragement to the women striving to better their lives and the lives of their children. “The ‘housetrait’ helps to celebrate the place they call ‘home’ at an important stage in their lives,” he said.

Mannion worked from “before” photos of the house, as well as from the Sherwin-Williams paint samples chosen by the Maggie’s Place staff. The soothing, fresh palette includes Green Earth, Pavillion Beige, China Doll and Roycroft Bronze Green.

“The painting is beautiful,” says Maggie’s Place director Jennifer Rodgers. It graces the home’s dining room where staff, volunteers and residents gather to eat, share and support each other. “What a joy and a blessing to receive such a gift.”