Donald R. Ross and Son Painting and Decorating has been a staple in Lynnfield and around the North Shore for more than 50 years. Though founder Donald died in 2012, his son Darren Ross has continued his legacy and his commitment to high-quality service.
Ross shared the history of his father’s business and where it all began in the 1950s.
“My Father, Donald R. Ross, started the business in roughly 1952 when he was about 15 or 16. He decided he was going to start painting houses on his street, which was Maple Street in Lynnfield,” Ross said.
“He would actually use some of the ladders from the fire station that used to be located where Donovan’s Liquors is. If they rang the bell while he had the ladders on a house, he had to run the ladders back to the fire station so they could get them on the truck,” he said.
Ross continued that his father slowly grew the business through the 60s and 70s and during this time he was also a deputy fire chief in Lynnfield, a job he’d hold until 1973.
“He retired from the firefighting world and dedicated his full time to the company. He was young and a mainstay in Lynnfield since the late 60s up until now,” he said.
His father had stayed involved in the company until his death and he worked tirelessly to help push the industry forward.
“The industry, to him, was something that he didn’t feel got enough respect and recognition. So, he was on multiple organizations,” he said.
These organizations included the Painting and Decorating Contractors of America, for which he was on the national board, “to try to uplift the image of any contractors.” The nonprofit was founded in 1884 to represent the industry.
“That’s what he wanted his legacy to be. To uplift the whole industry,” Ross said.
Ross began working with his father when he was in the eighth grade, around 1983, working over the summer and school vacations through high school and college.
“I graduated college in `91 and went back to work for the company in `92. I asked him if we could make it and son from just Donald R. Ross Painting to Donald R. Ross and Son. Then, I bought the company in 2000,” he said. His father would semi-retire after Ross bought the company.
He was reminded of a memory during his first years working with the company, one that stuck with him.
“My dad had this tradition — before every wallcovering install, he’d sign the wall with his name, the date and something like the price of gas or a hamburger at the time,” Ross said. It was his way of leaving a mark, a little piece of history.
“Years later, in 1989, I was working in a home in Lynnfield, removing old wallpaper, and I uncovered one of his signatures from 1969.”
That signature said that he was picking up his adopted son the next day — and that it was going to be a very happy day.
“That son was me. The wallpaper had held up beautifully for over a decade, which speaks to the level of work we’ve always done. From grasscloth to hand-painted murals, high-end vinyls to custom faux finishes, we treat every home with the same care and pride. That’s the standard my father set, and it’s the one I carry on today,” Ross said.
“We’ve just been working hard to service the interior and exterior residential paying needs of the North Shore, preferably Lynnfield and beyond,” he said. “My dad built this. He built the business. It’s a family business and he built it on quality, trust and craftsmanship.”
Ross said that his father was dedicated to quality over price. “We’re not the least expensive in the game, but we don’t have to come back and do things twice. You get double the time out of the life of the projects that we do,” he said.
When asked if he had any favorite projects he had worked on, Ross was quick to mention a house that his friend owned.
“My best friend Derek… They bought that house and it was in decent shape, but they really transformed it into almost a family resort,” he said. “They’ve done such a good job over there. They did an extensive remodeling in the early 2000s and we ended up helping them out, painting the finishes and some of the rooms and then doing some restoration to some older reclaimed wood.”
Another house he enjoyed working on was Ellen Crawford’s house.
“She’s been a fantastic supporter of the company. I can’t say enough about her. She would make my dad baked eggplant whenever she could because we were over there so much,” he said.
Though the company prefers to stay local, around the North Shore, the furthest he’s gone for a job was Martha’s Vineyard.
“We did three weeks over in the vineyard back in, I want to say, 2003 or 2004. It was almost the whole month of March, and we were able to stay on site, so we didn’t have to get a hotel room,” he said.
Ross continued that with logistics, now it’s harder. “You need a month’s reservation to get any type of heavy equipment over there on the ferry. We still go up to as far as Manchester-by-the-Sea and we just did some work in Milton in the winter. It really depends on what the connection is to the person,” he said.
He continued that the two jobs that had been further away were for “really good customers” who were also decorators and knew how to handle the logistics for the equipment.
When asked what paint they use, Ross said it was almost exclusively Benjamin Moore, explaining that it’s a brand that has shown consistency and is accessible as a lot of them are formulated in New England.
Ross showed immense pride for his family’s business and the legacy his father built. “The fact that it is a family business and I’m the second generation. I think I’ve been able to maintain the quality and integrity of the business and the business’s name, which has always been the goal.
“We’re nothing without our name, and that’s our whole reputation. We hardly advertise and it’s mostly word of mouth. To still be getting calls from customers from the 60s, when I wasn’t even around. In some cases, those people and in other cases, their children.”
He continued, “It seems like once we become a painting contractor at your home, we treat you like a client, not a customer. People will call me to change a faucet or hand a light if they can’t find anybody else to do it. It’s good to be good to people because they’ll be good to you back.”
