Indholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2023 i Old House Journal

PRESERVATION IS A STRONG THEME in this issue. The magnificent and unique “house that Teco built” (p. 52) looks virtually the same as when it was new, thanks to heroic efforts by a preservation-minded owner and architect. A house by Colonial Revival architect Royal Barry Wills, well-preserved by its designer–owner today, gets a sympathetic kitchen that complements the house rather than following today’s trends (p. 60). The owners of the 1732 farmhouse (p. 66) not only preserved the structure but also added period garden rooms and outbuildings. Our restore article on flooring repairs emphasizes salvaging what is already there. As always, preservation of a streetscape and neighborhood is addressed, albeit with gallows humor, on the “Remuddling” page. Every May, with the National Trust leading the way, preservation groups, historical societies,…

1. CLOUD-LIFT SCONCE The Colorado hook-arm sconce combines a flared, Arts & Crafts lantern shape with Greene & Greene-style cloud-lift overlays and subtle glass accents. It comes in four sizes with a choice of finish, glass, and accent colors: $731.25 to $1,441.28. Old California, (800) 577-6679, oldcalifornia.com 2. STREET-LANTERN STYLE The French Quarter Yoke light is a versatile copper pendant appropriate for styles from Italianate to Tudor Revival. A gas light, it may be electrically lamped for interior use. Sizes range from 14" to 36" high; $525 to $1,350. Bevolo, (504) 814-4994, bevolo.com 3. A MINI CHANDELIER Perfectly sized for a low ceiling, this six-arm chandelier with a weighted center is a smaller version of a hanging lamp made for an early-American ship’s cabin. It measures a diminutive 11" wide…

Bookcases and buffets, inglenooks and china cabinets, window benches & more: original built-in furniture from any period inspires new work today. CARVED shell corner cabinets come to mind, as do dining-room sideboards. Benches and built-in window seats appear in every period—in a Georgian parlor, a Queen Anne turret, a bungalow window bay. Mid-century Modern houses and Ranches often have sleek built-ins, not only in the kitchen but also in the bedroom. There is precedent for almost anything. When adding new cabinetwork, just be sure to use the design vocabulary that goes with the house’s age, style, and degree of formality. When in doubt, simplify a design rather than embellishing; and avoid back-dating. The fervor for built-ins reached a peak during the bungalow era—when many houses were just 800 or 900…

This kitchen was designed for a turn-of-the-20th-century house in Port Washington, Wisconsin. Arts & Crafts details are evident in the original house built during a transition away from Victorian styles. The homeowners were dismayed by the outdated and cramped kitchen they’d inherited. With architect Louis Wasserman of Milwaukee, they selected Crown Point Cabinetry to build cabinets and trim. Quarter-sawn white oak, Arts & Crafts tile, and custom details are stunning. Crown Point designer Diana Stowell says the job was technically challenging: a support beam was needed; electrical and plumbing elements had to be disguised. She brought in Fred Puksta, a Crown Point product developer, to help with problem solving. Everything is hidden in the Craftsman-style ceiling design and a large, square pillar at the open end of the peninsula. The…

As we planned the layout, we realized a board with a damaged edge would end up in the middle of the floor, where it would be easy to see. Rather than trying to disguise it by splicing in a patch or using wood filler, we cut the damaged piece back about 1" from the edge.…

When a house has been vacant for years except as a home for feral cats, there’s bound to be some damage. The tongue-and-groove floors in mine were covered with paint, a mixture of glue and burlap, and old cat poop and urine. In some areas, floorboards were missing completely. A previous owner had cut open the gorgeous old Douglas fir in the primary bedroom to run new electrical wire, then patched it roughly with plywood. I hired a team of pros to lace in new boards that closely matched the originals and then sand. Fortunately, glue and carpet backing kept most of the cat urine from reaching the wood, which cleaned up beautifully after sanding. By then I’d blown the construction budget so I did some minor but laborious filling…

An urgent question from an OHJ staffer: “How hard would it be to get rid of my hideous popcorn ceiling?” (If you don’t remember, this is a heavily textured, spray-on finish, sometimes with glitter, popular from the postwar years through the 1970s.) I looked through our archive and found little encouragement. Then I trolled the internet and YouTube. Still not encouraging but certainly entertaining. Here’s my take on the options. First, be aware that the texture finish may contain asbestos. (Later, vermiculite and Styrofoam beads were used.) Any overpainting may contain lead. Always test for the presence of these toxins before scraping away. Wear a mask and goggles when you’re creating dust and particulates. Be careful when using hot water or steam. Your popcorn texture may have been original—applied to fresh…

GARDENS PUBLIC & PRIVATE The farmhouse garden story (p. 66) was photographed and written by Caryn B. Davis, who has a new photography book coming this month: Connecticut Gardens, A Celebration of the State’s Historic, Public, and Private Gardens. It’s a treat for New Englanders and for anyone interested in garden history, site plans, and landscape traditions. Davis photographed simple cottage gardens as well as formal landscapes and everything in between. Properties date from First Period into the 20th century. Most of the gardens shown were created by “passionate amateurs,” but you’ll also see designs by Frederick Law Olmsted, Beatrix Farrand, and even English garden designer Gertrude Jekyll (the garden at Glebe House in Woodbury). Old houses of course make an appearance throughout. Stories are told in entertaining text by…

The Prairie Craftsman lamp is inspired by those of the early 1900s. It’s 18" square at the shade and 23" high. This version is in stained, quarter-sawn white oak with cobalt glass and acorn pull chains; the shade may be ordered with mica panels. About $1,025. See also lamps with Ephraim Pottery bases. ragsdalehomefurnishings.com The re-issue of an original design by L. & J.G. Stickley, today’s Chapel Street Rocker is virtually the same as the one in the 1917 room. Flared back and arms supported by corbels are distinctive. In solid oak with custom options; 28" wide by 40 ½" tall. MSRP starts at $2,725. stickley.com Stenciled and embroidered table squares, rounds, and scarves were popular in this period. Shown is the Poppies table scarf, embroidered by Natalie Richards on…

In a few areas, wood had deteriorated or been damaged and needed minor repair. Not just any old wood filler would do, either: it had to be made from antique heart-pine flooring. Luckily, we had a large container of sawdust residue on hand from floors previously sanded elsewhere in the house. Our recipe was simple (sawdust and wood glue) but getting the mixture to the right consistency took trial and error.…

1. A SINGLE TREE Vertical-grain and quarter-sawn clapboards are radially sawn from a single red-spruce or Eastern white-pine log. Each square-edged board ends in a taper to create crisp architectural lines with a 1 ½" overlap. Call for current pricing. Ward Clapboard Mill, (802) 496-3581, wardclapboardmill.com 2. CLEAN RIP The Storz 84-A slate ripper makes short work of removing damaged slates without disturbing intact ones. Forged in one piece, the 30 ½" long tool weighs 4 lbs. The spring-tempered blade is 24 ½" long. Can also be used on tile shingles and cedar shakes. KM Sheet Metal, (919) 544-8887, kmsheetmetal.com 3. SIMPLE, OR FANCY Support half-round gutters with a choice of 25 decorative fascia brackets in solid brass or chromated aluminum. Fanciful and classic designs include mermaid, open and closed…

When he’s in Paris, wrought-iron balcony railings always catch the eye of Bruce Cusmano, owner of Metropolitan Artifacts in Atlanta, which sells American and European architectural antiques. French railings dating to the 18th and 19th centuries are ornate with stylized leaves and flowers, fleurs-de-lys, and geometric patterns. Many of the railings are carefully salvaged when old buildings are remodeled. Cusmano brings them to Atlanta to be repurposed as decorative accents, including fireplace andirons and table lamps. More at metropolitanartifacts.com the andirons Andirons are the short-legged bars that cradle fireplace logs; vertical guards prevent the logs from rolling forward. A base consisting of a horizontal shank supported on three or four ½"–2" legs is made with 1" solid steel; this anchors the andiron and supports the logs. Shanks are typically 12"–18"…

WRONG WAY REPEATING AN ODD NUMBER After you have marked start and end lines, you’ll be faced with the task of dividing the total distance by the number of balusters to be installed. That will undoubtedly translate into a rather clumsy fraction appended to an inch measurement. It is very difficult to accurately mark a row of balusters that might be, say, a distance of 3 and 15/16 inches apart from start to end. Adding multiple fractions often leads to inaccuracies. ILLUSTRATIONS BY RAY TSCHOEPE USE DIVIDERS Lock the points of the dividers at the width of the baluster plus the width of the space. Touch one point to the starting mark and “walk” it around point by point until you reach the end. You should finish up exactly one…

Architect John Eifler guided restoration of the tile-rich house that was the home of William Day Gates, founder of the American Terra Cotta & Ceramic Company. Eifler’s work on Trails End brings him full circle: “I grew up with a kid whose grandfather was Fritz Wagner, the modeler who became vice president of American Terra Cotta,” he reveals. • Louis Sullivan, mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright and often considered the father of modern architecture, figures in this story. At one point he worked at American Terra Cotta with renowned modeler Kristian Schneider. Together they developed the sinuous designs in terra cotta that became known as Sullivanesque ornament. William Day Gates (1853–1935) was practicing law in Chicago when he returned to the Crystal Lake area of his childhood and invested in…

The 20th-century architect Royal Barry Wills was intrigued by the scale and details of early New England houses. Those he designed were not replicas, however; they had to accommodate indoor plumbing, closets, central heat, and an electric kitchen. Some of his commissions emphasize Colonial-era authenticity while others are a lightened, Colonial Revival interpretation. The same is true of the diverse yet period-inspired kitchens shown on these pages. The “Colonial” kitchen is of course a 20th-century convention. Owners of very early houses often restore the original kitchen, with its huge fireplace, as a keeping room/parlor, then incorporate a plain, functional kitchen—perhaps one with Colonial, Federal, or Greek Revival-era cabinetwork—into a wing or ell. Don’t fall under the spell of trends you see in kitchen showrooms: Surprisingly, a period-inspired kitchen that goes…

A carved sign, especially with gold leaf, will enhance just about any old house. Whether you’re looking for a simple house-number plaque or a paint-decorated sign featuring your home’s name and date, Chatham Sign Shop, on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, can deliver one. For the hand-carved and-painted signs, artisans start with patterns handed down from early wood carvers but can customize shapes, ornaments, colors, and so on. • Quarterboards are a specialty. These descend from sign boards made for the big sailing ships of the 19th century; on retirement, the captain might take his home for display. In places like Nantucket and Chatham, many houses have quarterboards over the garage doors or entry. Only a few are antique. • See the website for inspiration, pricing, and how to order. Use…

The floor in the downstairs bath of our 1908 Foursquare was our first project. The dingy tile was badly scratched and cracked and we found it concealed heart pine underneath. The 1 ½" square tiles had been installed with glue over a substandard plywood layer, without an isolation membrane. A patched area around the toilet had subsided so much the floor dipped and the toilet rocked. Demolition (of tile, plywood, and a felt-and-glue layer) dropped the height of the floor by almost an inch. We lowered the toilet flange by the same amount, cutting out the old one below the floor and splicing in a new stub. We framed in reinforcement lumber directly below the toilet and around the waste line. The floor is now fully supported. Several of the…

Time was when every floor got “refreshed” by multiple sandings and at least three coats of quick-drying polyurethane. No more. A spate of new ways to finish a hardwood floor ranges from enhanced tung oils to hard-wax oil “systems” that work by molecular bonding in a one-step process that doesn’t require stripping. Sutherland Welles has long offered a no-VOC polymerized tung oil that produces the look of a hand-rubbed natural finish. It accepts the company’s super-saturated stains, which intentionally resemble historic finishes on woods like heart pine, maple, oak, and walnut. Similarly, Half & Half from Real Milk Paint is a 50/50 blend of tung oil and a natural citrus solvent thinner, taking the guesswork out of the thinning process. The nontoxic blend goes on easily and works well on…

I’ll admit I waited a while before carpeting my stairs. We’d spent a year replacing the worn-out, chipped and painted treads with hand-finished oak and were enjoying the beautiful wood. A couple of winters with wet shoes and muddy paws showed it was time to preserve that woodwork. I decided that a carpet runner would protect the treads but still show off the oak, while making the steps less slippery and thus safer. A stair runner is also period-appropriate for my Victorian house. The first step was deciding on the installation method: either Hollywood or waterfall. The Hollywood (or French cap or upholstered) method wraps the carpet around the edge of the tread nosing at each step, fastening it to the riser for a fitted look. This is best on…

Andirons, also called firedogs as they have four legs, have been used since antiquity in fireplaces both to support logs off the hearth floor and, sometimes, to hold a spit for cooking. Andirons (typically of iron) are usually a pair. They allow air to circulate under the firewood for better burning and less smoke. After the Renaissance in Europe, the front guards became increasingly decorative, often cast in a different metal such as brass, bronze, or silver. In Colonial North America, figures such as marching Hessian soldiers were popular; the Victorians let imagination run wild with designs from cats with glass eyes to dragons and sphinxes. Andirons remain a popular decorative accent.…

“I NEEDED A BIGGER, updated kitchen, a bigger garage, and more bedrooms and baths,” says the interior designer, who is based in Greenwich with offices in Palm Beach, Florida, and New York City. “I am passionate about classicism and its vocabulary, and this house was an important learning experience for me. To guide the additions, I used the book Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn: The Connected Farm Buildings of New England, published by Thomas Hubka, in 1984.” Blank added a second storey to the house’s central block and a rear addition to house a new primary bedroom suite and an enlarged living room. She added a mudroom and breezeway telescoping towards a new garage along one side and, on the opposite side of the house, she transformed the…

ROBB NESTOR AND BILL REYNOLDS looked at over 200 houses before buying a 1732 center-chimney Colonial, on 11 uncultivated acres in Connecticut. • “I desperately wanted a ‘garden room’ so we kept looking for a house with one, then realized we’d have to create it ourselves,” Robb says. “When we found the property, we knew this was it. It spoke to us; we saw its potential.” • When they began their search for a retirement home, the couple were living in Atlanta, where Robb had a successful landscape-design business. Initially they looked in Georgia and Tennessee—until Bill stumbled across the book The Garden Room: Bringing Nature Indoors, by Timothy Mawson. The book showcases many Connecticut scenes. The couple found those so appealing, they headed north, to Robb’s home state, looking…

SUCCESS! DESIGNER Jaclyn Isaac, principal, Doni Douglas Designs, Shrewsbury, NJ: (201) 691-7546, donidouglasdesigns.com ARCHITECT RS Mannino Architects & Builders, Rutherford, NJ: rsmannino.com LANDSCAPING Landscapes by Lou, Montville, NJ: landscapesbylou.com SIDING/SHINGLES James Hardie jameshardie.com ROOF Timberline by GAF gaf.com WINDOWS Architectural Series Pella pella.com TRIM PVC CertainTeed certainteed.com DOORS (antique) Recycling The Past, Barnegat, NJ: recyclingthepast.com FRENCH AND SLIDING DOORS Andersen andersenwindows.com TILE (foyer) cement with brass inlay Cemento Collection cementocollection.com MURAL PAINTING Heather Jozak Studios heatherjozakstudios.com KITCHEN DESIGNER Meredith Weiss/“BRIGHTEN” line Merri Interiors, Commack, NY: merriinteriors.com COUNTERTOPS porcelain SapienStone sapienstone.com BISTRO CHAIRS Kenian kenian.com LIGHTING (vintage) Canvas House Antiques & Design Center, Point Pleasant, NJ: facebook.com/canvashouseantiques HARDWARE (vintage) Amighini Architectural, Jersey City: amighini.net KITCHEN KNOBS Top Knobs topknobs.com Related Resources Chadsworth columns.com Decorative & structural columns in wood, fiberglass, Polystone TimberBuild…