The porch flows into an attached gazebo that acts as an outdoor dining room.
A NEW REIGN The porch rebuilt: Antique wicker furniture is at home here. Homeowner Janet Smith stained the tongue-and-groove pine ceiling and mahogany floorboards prior to installation.
The Smiths created the interior from family pieces and flea-market finds. The tablecloth is from an uncle’s collection; china belonged to a great-grandmother. The gasolier came from a secondhand shop and was restored.
They never considered buying a new house. Nor did Janet and Bob Smith ever think they’d furnish an old house with contemporary pieces. “We love old things!” is their mantra, and their answer when they’re asked why they bought such a dilapidated 19th-century house as this one in Westfield, New Jersey. • They had to see beyond its present state, of course, not just love old things. When they bought the house, it had asbestos siding, and the once-gracious porches wrapping the front and sides were gone. A concrete patio pitched towards the structure, channeling water into the house. Tree roots had grown into the basement. Raccoons and squirrels lived in the attic. A handsome, four-story corner tower had been razed, down even to its foundation.
The Victorian house at it appeared ca. 1926: second owners the Scheffer family pose with their new Studebaker. (Courtesy Malcolm Scheffer, Mesa, Az.)
This is the house as it looked when the Smiths purchased it.
After removing asbestos shingles and restoring the exterior, homeowner Bob Smith built a porch and an octagonal corner gazebo to take the place of the original tower.
Esta historia es de la edición December 2020 de Old House Journal.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición December 2020 de Old House Journal.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
THE Villa RENEWED
This house in Greene County, New York, has been faithfully restored, from its foundation and structure to exterior elements and trim inside.
walls & ceilings
BY THE 1870s, the tripartite treatment was fashionable: walls divided into dado (or wainscot) below the chair rail, fill or field section, and frieze at the top of the wall.
lighting + hardware
ANTIQUE, REPRODUCTION, or contemporary, lighting fixtures and lamps are among the most cost-effective ways to add drama or period style to a room.
CRAFTSMAN PATINA
A smitten owner brings the Arts & Crafts aesthetic to a 1921 bungalow in Seattle.
furniture & decorative accessories
PERIOD ROOMS are the goal of a very small niche of old-house owners.
wall & floor tiles
TODAY WE FIND TILE from small studios . . . carved relief tiles, subway tile and mosaics, glazes matte and iridescent . . . plus encaustics and California revivals.
A TRANSCENDENT BATHROOM IN OJAI
A seamless addition allowed for this timeless primary bath, which has been re-imagined as an upgrade dating to ca. 1930.
CRAFTSMAN DETAILS IN A KITCHEN
An excellent layout and period motifs distinguish this midsize kitchen in a bungalow-era house.
home design - HOUSES HAVE A PAST - AND A FUTURE, TOO
THE BEST RENOVATIONS TOE THE LINE BETWEEN NECESSARY UPDATES AND ENOUGH SENSITIVITY TO ASSURE DESIGN INTEGRITY.
a farmhouse RESCUE
Using a cache of salvaged finds, the homeowner, architect, and contractor together rescued a tumbledown farmhouse in Vermont.