Old House Journal March/April 2023

RECENTLY I STUMBLED ON SOME NOTES, from 2008, for an essay on what old houses can teach us. (A question I’d asked my son, then 13 years old, who replied: “To wear slippers. You can get really bad splinters.” Our pretty fir floors were the same color as our golden retriever. Unlike the dog, however, the floors bite.) Some further thoughts: What an old house can do for you: • Save you from thinking that perfection exists. When you build new, you can plan every little thing. In renovation (or restoration), you adapt to the house; it was there before you. Doors aren’t always where you would have put them, and the corner fireplace tests your ability to arrange furniture. • Put you in touch with the seasons. An old house…

WALLCOVERING ART The Victorian and Arts & Crafts revivals certainly embraced wallpaper, even as wallcoverings endured a kind of drought during the post-Modernist period. Every indication is that wallcoverings are back in vogue. The field has expanded with new ways of selling, manufacturing, and applying wallcoverings. Don’t take our word for it: a new, hardcover book tracks both history and current interest. Covering walls to add color, pattern, or texture is time-honored. Old technologies—such as block printing—are revered for the inherent artistry. New concepts including digital printing open possibilities of scale and colorway. Laura Mary Todd’s new book delivers surprises. Her perspective is architectural and international. Explore relief and texture, paper and fabric coverings. Learn how to use repetitive and layered pattern, neutrals, and artwork. Projects range from speakeasies to children’s rooms and…

1. HEN ON A NEST The classic Covered Hen dish is just the right size for homemade preserves or to use as a sugar bowl. The bowl has a scalloped edge and it measures 6 ½" long x 5 ½" wide. The top is 4 7/8" wide x 3 ¾" high. In jadeite and other colors, $31–$41. Mosser Glass, (740) 439-1827, mosserglass.com 2. RUSTICATED LIGHT The Farmhouse Country pendant in vintage green is constructed of wood and tin, with a worn finish and an intentionally flawed design to give it handmade authenticity. The fixture is 16" high with a 4 ½" wide ceiling pan: $159. The Kings Bay, (800) 910-3497, thekingsbay.com 3. FOLK WALLPAPER Available in five colorways, Old Lyme is inspired by a colonial-era paper reproduced between 1938 and 1948. Sophisticated yet folksy in…

1. GRACEFULLY TALL In hand-hammered copper, the Elegant pitcher is the work of copper maestro Antonio Ziranda. It’s 12" tall and 5 ¼" wide at the widest point: $235. Free shipping. Susan Hebert Imports, (503) 819-4054, ecobre.com 2. COPPER IN RELIEF Shown in antique copper, bin pulls from the Florid Leaves collection are relief-chased with ginkgo-like leaves in the classic bin-pull shape. Also available in satin nickel and antique brass, they measure 41/8" wide x 1 ¾" high: $52.95 to $62.95. Notting Hill Decorative Hardware, (262) 248-8890, nottinghill-usa.com 3. FOR A DIVINE DIVAN Tweedy fabrics woven with metallic threads are oh-so Fifties and Sixties, especially in shades of rusty orange cream, burnt orange, and coral orange cream. These heavy-duty upholstery fabrics are 54" wide; $47 per yard. Fabric Bistro, (803) 814-0026, fabricbistro.com 4. DECO WHITE The French-inspired…

GO ONLINE TO VOTE! READERS’ PICK FACEBOOK.COM/OLDHOUSEJOURNAL ZENIA, OH / $339,900 Built in 1860 in the Italianate style, this farmhouse got Queen Anne touches ca. 1900. Interior details include full-height arched windows with hood moulds, a spindled staircase, transom windows, and stone fireplaces. DARBY, MT / $700,000 Crowned with a swooping mansard roof, this petite Victorian on seven acres was built around 1900. Features include a bay window, hardwood floors, period millwork, and the original, ornate front door with Queen Anne glazing. NORTH EAST, NY / $745,000 Exposed-beam ceilings, a massive, exposed-brick fireplace, original plank floors, and plank and raised-panel doors are key features of a renovated 1810 catslide on a little over an acre; there’s a barn. SANDISFIELD, MA / $350,000 The 1790 late Georgian with double extended gables may be the oldest gambrel-roofed dwelling in the Berkshires.…

We got a phone call from the distraught owner of this Victorian house in Portland, Oregon, telling us that their renter had accidentally set fire to their beloved home. They’d been living and working in Ireland at the time and needed a trustworthy firm to restore the house while they were abroad. (The first contractor they’d talked to had recommended a tear-down!) Owners Jennifer and Eric had restored the house with their own hands over a period of eight years. They left it in the care of good friends during their temporary absence, but those friends bought their own house during the interim. A property manager found new renters who, a month in, ignoring the no-smoking policy, failed to extinguish a cigarette that smoldered overnight. A dawn breeze ignited the back…