Innehållsförteckning för November/December 2024 från Old House Journal

1. ART IN TILE The Birch diptych was created for a home in Northern Michigan, where a lake view is filtered through the startlingly white trunks of birch trees. The two handpressed tiles in a reclaimed wood frame measure 11 ½" tall x 19" wide. $568. Pewabic, (313) 626-2000, pewabic.org 2. MINING MORRIS William Morris drew on many classic Persian elements in his design for the Black Tree, interpreted here as a lush, hand-knotted wool rug. With a black ground surrounded by a raspberry border, it comes in multiple sizes. An 8x10 rug is $3,840. The Persian Carpet, (919) 489-8362, persiancarpet.com 3. FLOWERING TREE Part of the Kelmscott Gardens collection, Marigold Tree is a fanciful embroidered textile based on one of William Morris’s many tree designs. It’s part of the…

My grandmother’s modest kitchen had three closets: one was for coats, the other two she called her food pantry and her dish pantry. These were fitted with plain shelves on three sides and immaculately organized. Once, visiting friends whose summer house was on an island accessible only by a long boat ride, I opened a kitchen door to find a walk-in pantry: a revelation of visual meal planning and yummy promise. It was like having a grocery store at home. Victorian mansions offer another kind of pantry, the province of the butler, with good china and crystal behind glass. A MAID’S ROOM In a 1908 Colonial Revival in Portland, Oregon, original pantries survived a 1940s kitchen renovation. These cabinets were beautifully restored. The separate butler’s pantry has extensive cabinetry for servingware—and…

“We wanted upgrades—but we needed designers with a historic-preservation ethic,” say homeowners Susan Smith and Brian Lewis. Years before, the couple had discovered David Heide Design Studio when they took an architects’-homes house tour. As they contemplated renovation of their historic house in St. Paul, “our first thought was to call Heide.” Attributed to the firm of Bentley & Hausle, the 1915 house is a fine example of residential Prairie architecture. Long-time previous owners had taken good care of the house but its interior was somewhat dated in appearance and function. Upstairs, for example, five little bedrooms shared one bath. Although Lewis and Smith first considered an addition with a new back entry, budget had them keeping the original layout. Upstairs, three tiny rooms became a primary suite: two bedrooms…

With more than 20 doors to grain, Jo Brown and Faith Brown got a lot of practice in graining techniques. Interestingly, the goal was not to re-create a recognizable species of wood, although there are two distinct grain patterns that carry throughout the house. Laura Brosius wanted “more excitement,” says Faith. Laura encouraged them to experiment; “we made up some interesting grains that probably don’t exist in the real world.”…

THE PRO TIP CLEAN BURN Have the chimney on a wood-burning fireplace cleaned and inspected at least once a year. Burn only fully dried hardwoods to produce a clean, efficient heat output. Anyone who’s restored a disused fireplace to operable function knows the perils of building a fire before the chimney has been inspected for potential hazards, missing yet crucial elements such as a working damper—and cleared of rubble (surprisingly common!). Even if the fireplace is used infrequently, have a professional chimney sweep clean it once a year. Fireplaces used more often may need more frequent cleanings. Wood stoves and fireplace inserts will burn more cleanly and efficiently if the chimney is cleaned at least once each winter, as well as annually in the off season. That’s because creosote, a flammable…

VICTORIAN REVIVAL carvings/hdwr./misc. Van Dyke’s Restorers vandykes.com siding clapboards Hardie Plank James Hardie jameshardie.com • tower “shingles” Cedar Spectrum vinyl scallop panels Lowes lowes.com roof shingles Independence line in Colonial Slate CertainTeed certainteed.com ext. hdwr. Vintage Hardware & Lighting vintagehardware.com lighting Victorian Lighting Works vlworks.com • King’s Chandelier chandelier.com tin ceiling American Tin Ceiling Co. american tinceilings.com wallpaper Bradbury & Bradbury bradbury.com bath frieze Burt Wallpapers burtwallpapers.com lincrusta wallpaper direct.com bath faucets Vintage Tub & Bath vintagetub.com sofas Magnolia Hall magnoliahall.com Related Resources period tile Heritage Tile heritagetile.com Mosaic & hex tile floors in period styles period hardware Judge Hardware judgehardware.com High-design door hardware, knobs, plates, rim locks Nostalgic Warehouse nostalgicwarehouse.com Period-inspired door hardware ceiling medallions Decorators Supply decorators supply.com Architectural mouldings in plaster window dressings Alame  da Shade Shop shadeshop.com Old-fashioned roller shades with trim options Melton Workroom…

Tracery is a decorative device by which windows are divided into sections; initially tracery was made of stone but in modern residential use the dividers are wood ribs or muntins. Tracery is also found in panels. Think of it as architectural filigree. We associate it most with the Gothic style but it also shows up in classical architecture. Doors and windows with tracery are often used at the primary entry to a house, as in a fanlight, and in feature windows on the primary façade. • Founded in 1981, in Pennsylvania, Historic Doors offers custom woodworking for churches, civic buildings, and private homes; one specialty is Gothic tracery. Working in styles from Federal to Modern, the company has designed and built doors and windows for residences from Vermont to California.…

While both the doors and the trompe l’oeil wainscots got high-style finishes, the back stair had been finished in faux-painted beadboard. As the winding back stair was cramped and dark, installing wood beadboard may have been easier than restoration—but they wanted to stick with the original intent. Because the wood coloration here was different from the “finer” faux woods, the team used an orange toner that would make the finished graining look more like Douglas fir or heart pine. As Jo and Faith worked, they’d alternate between “boards” and cover finished sections with a low-tack FrogTape before moving to the next strip or section. Even so, it would sometimes damage finished work. So “we’d de-tack the tape by rubbing it on our clothes, to make it less aggressive,” Faith says.…

Upper and lower sashes in a double-hung window are separated vertically by a narrow strip of wood called the parting bead. The strip is usually about ⅜" wide and fitted into a narrow channel that extends from the sill to the top of the jamb. To remove the upper sash for painting, re-glazing, or repairs, you’ll have to remove the parting bead. It can be challenging—due to thick over-painting, or because someone nailed it in tight. By design, the parting bead is friction fit. Some are even slightly wedge-shaped to make this work. (On re-installation, if the bead seems loose, lay paper behind it as you tap it in, then trim excess.) Should the parting bead break, you can replace it as it’s a simple thing to mill. Still, it’s…

" WE WEREN’T ABOUT TO RENOVATE,” she says. “We didn’t want to, and we had no budget for it. The then-owners had lived there since 1978, and they didn’t want to see the house pass into hands that would tear out walls, replace beautiful old work, and make the house into something it’s not.” Katherine Ingraham believes that a major reason she and her husband, Richard Bergin, were able to buy their family home is because they did not intend to make any changes. • Home is a 1910 English Arts & Crafts house in Brookline, a town almost entirely surrounded by Boston. Ingraham and Bergin (she is originally from Georgia, he is Australian) house-hunted in Brookline for seven years; they wanted their three children to remain in the school they…

Like the rest of this house, the kitchen exhibits a lovely balance between formality and simplicity. The scale of every element is spot-on, based on classical proportions. Ablack-and-white scheme is grounded by the warm wood floor. The uncluttered kitchen invites the eye to the cypressclad den beyond. Because the owners cook and also host catered events, the room had to be very functional. As complete as the kitchen appears, it’s backed up with a large pantry that includes supplemental refrigeration and food-preparation space. Such traditional elements as the deep crown moulding, pantry-like cabinets, period lighting, and porcelain sink override the inclusion of a modern range and functional taps that blend seamlessly into the welldesigned space. The feeling here is timeless, even historic—so it may come as a surprise that this…

As part of her intense preparation, Jo Brown carefully measured and documented every element she would need to reproduce, from to-scale closeups of original graining patterns to multi-step sample boards and detailed sketches. Graining tools, many from her own collection, in clude patterned rollers, graining combs with teeth of varying sizes, and brushes (including the flogging brush shown near bottom left). Any grained surface is the result of layers of tinted paint and thousands of individual touches, from the initial base coat to brushed-on glazes or toners that are quickly manipulated with tools to create the appearance of the desired woodgrain pattern. Successful graining starts with an exceptionally smooth surface. After making all the wood or plaster repairs and sanding the finishes smooth, Christy Mather prepped the surfaces with a clear,…

Another find was a dado covered in an early-20th-century Lincrusta–Walton, an embossed wallcovering similar to true linoleum. Salvaging it meant addressing plaster damage, failing adhesive, and even replication in areas where the Lincrusta was missing altogether. These jobs fell to inventive painter/plasterer Christy Mather. Where the material was torn or delaminated, she used a bulb baster to inject wallpaper glue underneath, then pressed the delicate covering back in place. For areas where the Lincrusta was missing, she first repaired the plaster. Then she took a picture of the pattern, scaled it to size, and used carbon paper to trace it on sections where the raised areas had been lost. To recreate the embossed pattern, she filled a small-tip squeeze bottle with Elmer’s School Glue and drew in the pattern over…

1. HOME TOOL CHEST Protect your tools in felt-lined drawers in Gerstner’s five-drawer Hobby chest. The T-20 offers moisture-free storage in a traditional oak package. Lockable and trimmed with polished chrome hardware, it measures 14 ⅝" tall x 20" wide x 10" deep. $407. Woodcraft, (800) 535-4482, woodcraft.com 2. JACKED UP The hand-powered Lifting Jack is ideal for leveling large and unwieldy items, like a door or refrigerator. With a simple squeeze, the jack can lifting up 300 pounds several inches. Use it to level drywall or cabinet ends, too. $21 each. Garrett Wade, (800) 221-2942, garrettwade.com 3. SAVE YOUR KNEES Repair a floor or lay a stone patio in comfort with these articulated knee pads. Flexible whether you're kneeling or walking, they’re made of layered gel, high-density closed-cell foam,…

READER FAVORITE HISTORIC PROPERTY 2024 Jesse Bransford is an artist and a clinical professor of visual arts. Early research into color meaning led to his delving into belief and the visual systems it creates. Of his home, the historic David Van Gelder House, an octagon built in 1860 in Catskill, New York, he says: “The shape feels very centered and grounded. I am convinced that the structure has calming qualities. I feel at peace here.” • Weird or wonderful, the octagon is an American original: a house style that eschews right angles. Although eight-sided houses appeared as early as 1806, when Thomas Jefferson built Poplar Forest in Lynchburg, Virginia, it was Orson Squire Fowler’s promotion in the 1850s that turned the octagon into a fad. THE BRICK HOUSE RETAINS ITS ORIGINAL FLOOR…

1. From Old California, the Bridge  view Hook Arm Sconce is more English Cottage than American Craftsman. Shown with a Gothic overlay in the New Verde finish and seedy glass, the brass fixture can be made in nine finishes with a choice of overlays. Starting at $981. oldcalifornia.com 2. Trustworth Studios’ ‘Rose of Haras’ wallpaper pattern was designed as a textile by the English architect C.F.A. Voysey. It may be colored to complement any interior. It’s 21" wide; a double roll covers 60 square feet and costs $420. trustworth.com 3. Designed by William Morris, father of the English Arts & Crafts Movement, this pattern is a perennial favorite. ‘Merton’ from GuildCraft Carpets is made to order at $49 per sq. ft. (the 5'4" x 7' rug is $1,828). Other collections feature designs…