Indholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2018 i Old House Journal

No bubble-dome skylights these! Metal and glass skylights and roof lanterns—which look like mini conservatories—may be familiar rooftop sights in London, New York, and beyond. They bring light into a stairwell or a windowless bathroom. The old ones were fitted with clear, pressed, or colored glass. Today, Glass House makes custom skylights in classic shapes: hipped, pyramid, octagonal, segmented, and flat. Choose a wood-framed skylight clad in copper, or an aluminum-framed skylight in a dark bronze or color powder-coat finish. Low-E safety glass is standard. Motorized venting is available. Replacement skylights can be made to fit the existing rough opening. Glass House even offers copper caps and ball-and-spire finials. The company also fabricates conservatories, solariums, and greenhouses. Glass House, (860) 974-1665, glasshouseusa.com…

Once you have all the rise and run measurements, use them to mark out the first stringer. For open stringers: Choose a 2" x 12" piece of rot-resistant red cedar, pressure-treated pine, or redwood with as few knots as possible. The stringer should follow the desired pitch line of the stair, and the cuts will follow in zigzag fashion to follow the rise and depth of each step. • Lay out the cuts by placing a framing square on the stringer board; mark and check the positions of all before making any cuts. Align the blade and tongue of the framing square so that the rise and run dimensions fall on the edges of the stock. Once you’ve marked the first planned cuts, slide the square along to lay out…

OSPHO When applied, this rust converter and primer stabilizes metal surfaces before painting. Applying or dipping rusty metal into a bath of Ospho (ospho.com) causes iron oxide (rust, in other words) to chemically change into iron phosphate, a dark, inert, hard surface that is paint ready. LINSEED OIL If the metalwork is small and can be removed from its setting (old doorknobs or castiron sash pulleys, for example), give the pieces a warm bath in a mixture of water and a linseed-oil soap, such as Allback (from Solvent Free Paint, solventfree paint.com). A retired slow cooker comes in handy. Add enough water to cover the rusty parts, then put in a few squirts of the linseed-oil soap. Mix with a stirring stick, turn the slow cooker to high, and allow…

Marianne and Jon grew up in Norwegian ski country not far from Oslo, and had long dreamed of owning a seter—a simple farm cabin. They found an old timber cabin set in the midst of a forest, in an off-the-grid place with no road or running water. It was rundown. Working with architect Benedicte Sund–Mathisen, who is Marianne’s sister, they fixed up the cabin, extended it, and added some necessary amenities. The look, though, remains appropriately rustic. Kitchen cabinets and shelving are made from reclaimed barnwood bought from a farm further north. The leather pulls were made from a vintage sled harness. Walls and counters are concrete. Vintage touches include industrial signal wall lights and a brass backsplash behind the cooktop, treated with acid for an aged look. how it…

design STORYBOOK HOMES storybookhomes.com Picturesque designs in a Storybook Collection, custom home design; working plans, specifications. doors/windows BELISLE ANCESTRAL DOORS & WINDOWS belisle windows.com All-wood doors & windows including casements in historic French styles. CARRIAGE HOUSE DOOR CO carriagedoor.com Garage doors & driveway gates in Victorian & Old World styles. THE HYLAND STUDIO hylandstudio.com Glass studio/restoration firm offers old-world styles, diamond-pane windows. THE IRON DOOR STORE theirondoorstore.com Custom iron doors in Craftsman, Spanish, Italian & “Tolkien” styles. specialties CRS ROOFING ARTISANS roofingartisans.com Design & installation of steam-bent or wavecoursed roofing (“wood thatch”); also specialists in slate, metal, cedar, copper roofs. HANS LIEBSCHER COPPER WORKS hanscopper.com Old-world roofs, gutters, domes, ornament. HESS ORNAMENTAL IRON hessiron.com Design & handcraft of iron & brass railings, fences. IRON LOCK IMPORTS ironlockimports.com Medieval-style iron hardware forged in the Austrian Alps. KING ARCHITECTURAL METALS kingmetals.com Fanciful…

In 2011, disaster struck again as Hurricane Irene caused creeks to rise, inundating village homes. Moving water knocked down the renovated carriage barn, carried fallen trees perilously close to the house, and left up to 30 inches of sandy silt behind. The house needed emergency renovation, the garden a do-over. The garden is a Colonial Revival interpretation. “My clients want low maintenance,” says the designer, “but taking care of my borders is fun for me; the formal structure gives me a sense of calm.” WHEN STEVE Whitesell discovered the hamlet of North Blenheim, in 2009, the area was between disasters. The small village is alongside the Schoharie River in a narrow valley in Upstate New York. In the late 20th century, 25 Greek Revival homes here survived and were listed…

ARTS & CRAFTS HOMES For OHJ readers who enjoyed its sister publication, Arts & Crafts Homes and the Revival: Regular coverage with new material is available at the ACH website. Find a deep archive of bungalow and Craftsman house tours, new homes by revival designers, period inspired kitchens and baths, and travel destinations for the Arts & Crafts aficionado. (Read Brian Coleman’s new tour of Scotland, and visit the Roycroft Campus.) Find how-to, know-how, and repair articles. The Products & Services Directory is well-organized and illustrated, pointing the way to appropriate materials and today’s artisans. And while you’re there browsing, sign up for the free editorial e-newsletter that’s delivered twice a month. Arts & Crafts Homes will publish an annual “bookazine” print issue and directory, on sale Oct. 9. If…

Long neglected and in disrepair, the 1924 Mediterranean-style villa in a landmarked historic district was otherwise perfect for an extended family looking to convert it into two separate living spaces. A key element in the work, designed by David Heide Design Studio, was returning the building’s signature arched casement windows to their original size and shape. In the more traditional downstairs unit, the team recast the dining room space as a new, period-appropriate kitchen, linking it directly to the living room. The passage is a stunning set of arched, double French doors with wavy Art Nouveau muntins near the top, found during the careful “forensic demolition” of the house. A small addition—the breakfast room flooded with light—replaced the dining room eliminated by request of the clients. Heide likes to convert…

The ‘Capistrano’ outdoor daybed from Serena & Lily has a Twenties Empire Revival feel. It’s made of hand-wrapped resin “rattan” on an aluminum frame and measures about 80" long by 42.5" deep. MSRP $2,498. serenaandlily.com Create your own Jazz Age and Depression-era lampshades with wire frames (their design or custom) from Smith and Company in Los Angeles. Many styles, priced about $12–30 apiece depending on size and complexity. customwireproductions.com/arowire-lighting-collection The Marvin Ultimate French Casement opens like a French door, with no center post for an unobstructed view—just like the windows in the sun parlor. Various finish, casing, glass, and hardware options, with custom pricing. marvin.com…

Guidelines for Construction At a minimum, a stoop consists of a single step of natural stone, poured concrete, concrete block or other masonry, or wood. The most historical materials are stone and wood, with concrete becoming more prevalent in the 20th century. For comfort and safety, make the stoop wider than the door. Any stoop with three or more steps should be securely anchored to the house, have at least one railing or side wall, and terminate in a landing in front of the door. Taller stoops should have railings on both sides. A wood stoop with multiple steps should rest on a poured concrete pad or piers, so that no wood touches the ground. Building a Wood Stoop Constructing a stoop from durable lumber requires basic carpentry skills, a…

New stoops that rise 30" or more off the ground must comply with building codes regarding rail height, typically about 34" to 36" from the front of the tread. If any parts of a stoop that is original to the house are still present, by all means use them as a template for rebuilding, especially with architecturally important components such as top rails, spindles, and post caps. You’re in luck if there’s an existing concrete platform underneath what will be the bottom of the stair run. If it’s in good condition, use it as a support for the bottom posts. Anchor the posts to the concrete with concrete screws. If the slab is missing or in poor condition, remove it and pour a new slab. It’s important that the post…

Whether painted or unpainted, rusty metalwork responds well to scrubbing with various grades of steel wool, or from wire-brushing, sanding, or grinding. Whatever the method used, you must immediately seal the metal with a rust inhibitor to prevent rust from returning. LIGHT SURFACE RUST Start with fine, 000 or 0000 steel wool, polishing the surface until smooth. MODERATE RUST Use a more aggressive steel wool (0 or 00), then finish with a finer grade of steel wool. HEAVY RUST Use a wire brush to knock off the oxidation, or—depending on the shape of the metalwork—sand or grind it off. A smooth surface responds well to sanding with progressively finer grits of sandpaper (80, 100, 150). If there’s a lot of metal to sand (as on a cast iron fence), try…

With a light touch, a Connecticut big house–little house configuration is restored after a fire. “Good old noncombustible plaster is what saved the historic house,” says the interior designer. THIS STORY IS ABOUT THE RESCUE of an antique Connecticut farmhouse, which got a sympathetic renovation after a fire. Parts of it were severely damaged from smoke and water. Then, inspections turned up structural problems and areas that needed to be brought up to code. Happily, the main house was mostly intact. A small bath had been added many years ago, upstairs at the end of a hall, and a kitchen put into the old, one-storey ell. “I saw a house with plenty of history to preserve,” says interior designer Sarah Blank, “yet it needed to be made functional for the…

Steve Whitesell created his small, ornamental water feature from a galvanized livestock watering trough he bought at an Agway. It’s about 4' x 2', and 18" deep. “These do come in bigger sizes—but I got the largest one that would fit into my tiny car.” Steve positioned the trough next to the stone wall he’d constructed, which is about 5' tall on the garden side and 2 ½' tall on the street side. He dug the hole with a hand shovel, and created a level base with several inches of sandbox sand. The lip of the trough purposely was left several inches above the grade, so that soil and mulch won’t wash in. The small, submersible recirculating pump has a jet to keep the water aerated. Steve says the sound…

PERIOD GLAZING DESIGNERS Cummings Architects, Ipswich, MA: cummingsarchitects.com • David Heide Design Studio, Minneapolis, MN: dhdstudio.com WINDOWS Siteline Wood Line windows Jeld-Wen jeld-wen.com • Marvin marvin.com ART-GLASS WINDOW Michael F. Pilla, Mpls., MN: (612) 810-4754 CHANDELIER antique Related Resources Bendheim Glass restorationglass.com Mouthblown window glass for restorations Mon-Ray Inc. monray.com Exterior and interior secondary glazing windows for historic preservation Moon Shadow Glass moonshadowglass.com High-quality decorative etched glass BUNGALOW KITCHEN CABINETS quarter-sawn oak Quality Custom Cabinetry Inc. qcci.com TILE Pratt & Larson prattandlarson.com CHANDELIER LF202 ‘Cottage Small Chandelier’, Vintage Iron Collection Mica Lamps micalamps.com ROLLER SHADE Handwerk Shade Shop thehandwerkshop.com HOOD ‘Canterbury’ with custom details RangeCraft rangecraft.com THEY STILL MAKE Glass House LLC glasshouseusa.com Custom wood hip & pyramid skylights, copper skylights; roof lanterns, solariums, greenhouses Related Resources Albert J. Wagner wagnerandsons.org Chicago roofing specialist creating metal and…

“This house wears the frown-face of despair.”—Ruth Cunningham WHAT A RIP-OFF What’s that expression? … “An American Foursquare without its porch is just a cube.” Okay, maybe we made that up. But how true it is. The great advantage of the foursquare massing is economy: the builder gets the most interior space for money spent on foundation, framing, and roof. But it’s the front porch that affords this house type warmth and welcome. A buffer between private house and public sidewalk, the porch or piazza—often full width—extends the box to soften it, providing a family amenity while offering architectural interest. Are the columns classically round, or are they battered piers borrowed from the Bungalow? Is the balustrade shingled, plain, or embellished with sawn cutout boards? Is the tongue-and-groove porch ceiling…

This cozy kitchen is in a “Hapgood house” in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. About 500 such Craftsman-inspired homes built by developer Herbert J. Hapgood after 1911 survive. Today’s owners, Suzanne and Rick Solch, purchased theirs about 20 years ago. At the time, “the house didn’t look especially Arts & Crafts,” Suzanne says; remodeling had taken away much of the integrity from the stuccoed 1913 house. After lots of work—stripping fireplace brick, replacing the stair rail, removing down lights in the living-room ceiling—the Solches furnished the house in true Craftsman style. For the use of textiles and window treatments, they looked to Gustav Stickley’s advice from his magazine The Craftsman (1901–1916). In the kitchen, windows are fitted with very practical roller shades, stenciled in paint. (They’re from the Handwerk Shade Shop:…

STEP TERMS NOSING The projection of a tread beyond the riser, usually rounded. PITCH LINE An imaginary line that runs at an angle along the front of the nosings of the treads. RISER The vertical element of the step between treads. RUN The total horizontal travel of a staircase or steps. STRINGER Inclined side member that serves as both carriage and face, also called a horse. Open stringers are more common than routed, closed stringers for porch steps. TREAD The horizontal top of a step. UNIT RISE The vertical distance between one tread and the next. UNIT RUN Depth of a tread (distance of travel per step) excluding nosing.…

To anchor a stoop with multiple steps to the house, fasten a 2" x 8" board to the faceplate below the door with large galvanized deck screws. Reinforce the bottom of the steps with a 2" x 8" board that runs between the exterior stringers. Butt any interior stringers into this support. To conceal open areas underneath the stoop but allow for ventilation, add skirting. A skirting apron is typically composed of latticed panels that are hung or hinged to the framing. Lay a bed of crushed stone underneath to keep wood from touching the ground.…

• FANTASY What distinguishes a Storybook from a Revival house is exaggeration. Look for a turret and rubble stone or clinker brick and a catslide roof, plus such nonfunctional whimsy as fake dovecotes and castle-like crenellations. • EUROPEAN DETAILS Look for Spanish ironwork, French Norman towers, Tudor half-timbering, round-arch doors, rolled-eave “thatched” roofs and jerkin-head gables, medieval stained glass, and casement windows. • FALSE AGING The roof ridge may be swaybacked, the rough-troweled stucco “peeling” to reveal rubble stone, the shingles laid in irregular waves. Sometimes walls purposely were built out-of-square and out-of-plumb. • MANIPULATION Many of these houses have wings and gables, step-backs and add-ons that both suggest they grew over the ages and that hide their true size. Steep roofs, oversize and undersize elements manipulate scale.…

Would you be surprised to learn that granite is porous and thus needs more upkeep than the others? Or that soapstone used for countertops isn’t soft, like the little soapstone blocks used for carving in art class? • A metamorphic rock, SOAPSTONE is made up primarily of magnesite, dolomite, chlorite, and talc. Steatite is its geological term. Artists’ soapstone, with up to an 80% talcum content, is not the same soapstone used for countertops, with perhaps 30% talc. Because of the talcum, soapstone does have a warmer, softer or silkier feeling than granite, which is quite hard and cold. • Soapstone is completely heatproof—your whole countertop becomes a trivet. As it is nonporous, it is naturally anti-microbial, it’s nearly impervious to staining, and acid doesn’t affect it. It is a…

Carriage House Door Company Enduring Quality. Timeless Design. Garage doors, shutters, and gates meticulously hand-crafted to your specifications, protecting your one-of-a-kind, period-style home. Made in U.S.A., with unlimited design options, by industry’s most experienced. www.carriagedoor.com/dreamfree Hyland Studio Preferred Vendor of “Storybook Homes”. Custom hand-made leaded glass and stained glass for windows and doors. Traditional Diamond Light Beveled panel to fit any size or shape. Shipping throughout the U.S. 408-748-1806; www.hylandstudio.com Sheldon Slate Products Mining and manufacturing of slate products. Sinks, counters, floor tile, roofing, and monuments. Business from earth to finished product. Custom work a specialty. 207-997-3615 518-642-1280 www.sheldonslate.com Hans Liebscher Custom Copperworks Award winning masterful craftsmanship and fine detailing in venerable copper and bronze. Hand cast bronze and hand tooled copper. Hans is an accomplished master coppersmith with an…