As stewards of an 1867 Italianate mansion and carriage house in rural Vermont, we choose restoration over remodeling. After all, the fi rst owner is watching.
We weren’t house hunting. Ron had a year to go with the fire department in North Hudson, New Jersey. He was reading a real-estate magazine when a snapshot all but grabbed him, and within days we were driving to the village of Saxton’s River, Vermont. The locals call the Victorian Italianate house The Blue Mansion; in two hours it was ours, following a handshake and a binding check for $1,000. That was ten years ago.
Stone abutments on each side of the river are the remnants of a covered bridge that was the eastern gateway to the village. A new bridge went up downstream around 1900; we’re grateful for the quiet. This once robust village that supported several mills now has a population of around 500. Keep in mind the “ain’t” in quaint: there ain’t no banks, no ATMs; ain’t no gas stations, food chains, or stoplights. There’s still a post office but no delivery; you pick up your own mail from a P.O. box during hours. The town was a shock for transplants from Jersey, but we were touched.
Ron is passionate about reviving dying relics, and here he found himself only the third owner of the Alexander Mansion, which was built in 1867. The builder’s daughter Hannah had remained single; she stayed and lived to be a hundred. Before her death in 1969, she picked the next owner from among five interested parties, simply because they loved the house as it was. Thirty-six years later, we bought it from them for the same reason. This time, numerous lookers had toured the house’s 7,000+ square feet only to speed away at full throttle: the house had no real kitchen, a plastic shower stall, an old clawfoot tub. It needed some magic.
Bu hikaye Old House Journal dergisinin October 2016 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Old House Journal dergisinin October 2016 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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.