Nearly a year after it was uncovered under siding, the full house-sized advertisement is restored.
MINNEAPOLIS — Eleven months ago, George Johnson of Minneapolis found something he never expected, and promptly texted his wife.
“I was in California at a work conference, and he texted me a picture, and I was just flabbergasted,” Leigh Johnson said. “I was so excited!”
That picture was of the side of their home, uncovered after crews were working on the siding. A massive advertisement for Gold Medal Flour was on not just one side of their house – but two.
“It makes you feel like part of something larger,” George Johnson said.
“Seems if I’m ever out here looking at it, someone seems to come by.”
That ad went viral when it was uncovered last summer, and it’s become extremely popular. A local independent record label and division of a screen-printing graphic design studio even made a show poster based on the house for a concert at First Avenue last year.
“People that are aware of it that I would never imagine would have known about it,” George said. “It has definitely spread around farther than I thought it would ever.”
In the 11 months since it was discovered, work has been ongoing to restore and protect the painted-on ads. The ad receiving more sunlight was covered back up to protect it, but the one receiving more shade had a different approach.
“We re-insulated, modernized the wall, put on new sheeting, waterproofing barrier, drainage plane, and everything, too,” George said. “So this essentially then carefully went back up onto the house. They took everything off and numbered it, put it all back up right where it was, and now it’s just a decorative screen.”
That included the work of several local companies, and financial help from the community and General Mills, which owns Gold Medal Flour.
“A friend of mine knew some people that worked at General Mills and got me the initial contact, and it was already kind of on their radar,” George said.
“It’s a process for sure, but I’m thrilled that they were able to come in and help us out.”
Over the past year, George and Leigh have also discovered more about their home and the occupants who used to reside there. At one point, it was a grocery store, and it even moved lots at one point.
“There was one family that lived on the main floor, and then it was always rented out to young men and to young women that were, you know, just coming into Minneapolis, so we had a ton of changeover of all sorts of people that lived here,” George said.
“We had always wondered, you know, what is the style of our house?” Leigh said. “Well, turns out it’s grocery store style.”
George says they were able to work on the project initially due to money left behind after his parents passed away close together a few years ago. He says while they never got to see the ad, they’d be happy to see it now.
“I wish they could have seen it, but I think it’s a fantastic kind of lasting little homage to them,” he said.
“They would have been really excited about it.”