Rebuilt Porch for a Folk Victorian: Before
Katie Brashear-Nihart’s stepdad meticulously re-created the original wraparound porch on this circa-1874 Folk Victorian.
Katie Brashear-Nihart fell hard for the home before her now-husband was convinced. “A couple of months before we got married, I fell in love…with this house,” she recalls in This Old House Magazine. “My now-husband, Dave, just kept mumbling ‘It’s a lot of work’ over and over, but I came to believe it was my purpose in life to love and maintain this home. So I told him, ‘I’m buying this house with or without you.’ Poor Dave!”
Rebuilt Porch for a Folk Victorian: After
“We’re only the third family to own it,” Brashear-Nihart wrote. “The previous folks made a lot of changes, including ripping off much of the original porch rather than repairing the rot. But they gave us a picture of a painting of the exterior as it looked in 1950, and we were inspired. We spent six months renovating the facade to nearly match that image, all the way down to the tongue-and-groove hemlock flooring.” See more in Rebuilt Wrap-Around Porch for a Folk Victorian.
Endless Remodel of an 18th-Century Home: Before
Kim Kimble and Tom McEntee commissioned a dining room mural in the 19th-century itinerant-painter style. It tells the story of the house as it evolved over 220-plus years.
At the time of a roofing upgrade, it had been years since the whole-house reno had gotten under way and the entire family was tired of living in chaos. Word had gone out: Everyone, please help! The final result was a group effort.
Endless Remodel of an 18th-Century Home: Before
Fun fact: The feature in TOH magazine wasn’t this home’s first. Previous owner Charlotte Thoben dubbed the house Thornwood and immortalized it during the 1950s in articles for American Home magazine. She ran a dress shop in what is now the guest room.
The all-hands roofing day became family legend. As This Old House Magazine recounted, when Kim looked up to check on her two grown sons, she did a double take: “One of the boys had decided to nail a bracket in place by lowering himself over the ridge—headfirst.” Not to worry, Mom—his brother was holding his ankles.
Endless Remodel of an 18th-Century Home: After
An unusual blend of stone and wood frame, the house predates 1800. During its latest reno it gained three dormers, two porches, and a two-story wood-frame addition.
Ramshackle Little House: Before
Abandoned for 20 years after a fire, the windows and doors were missing, charred, or boarded up. There were no floors downstairs, and the water-damaged plaster was crumbling. Squirrels ran in and out, and birds nested in the claw-foot tub. Yet there was a certain charm to the place.
The 1850s cottage had been left to the elements for two decades, but its bones told a different story. As the homeowners noted in This Old House Magazine, “The old brick, dating from the 1850s, had wonderful color, the window lintels were solid granite, and the upstairs had heart-pine floors.”
Ramshackle Little House: After
With only four rooms, these homeowners didn’t have an inch to waste on mistakes, so they consulted with an architect to help meet the 1850s cottage’s potential. See more in A Ramshackle Little House Gets a Second Life.
