Victorian Era Parlor Restoration – Have you ever regretted updating a room after putting in cans of paint like I did with my home renovation?
Yes, we’ve all been there. Sometimes the color isn’t what you thought it would be or it doesn’t match your room. Over time, we also want a change or a different look.
Victorian Era Parlor Restoration
I am not exaggerating when I say that I have decorated some of my rooms four times in 14 years. Much to my partner’s chagrin and my embarrassment!
American Restoration Style: Victorian Vol. 2 By Joan M. Brierton (1999, Paperbac 9780879058876
My partner always knows about the kitchen sink with a lot of dust, cleaning and paint at the beginning of “I have an idea…”!
When I moved in 2004 I didn’t have the money, knowledge or interest to restore the rooms to their current standard and originality. Much of this journey has been a learning curve.
However, I could have saved a lot of time and money if I had a clear vision beforehand!
My salon represents this journey well. It also shows the different approaches you may want to take when renovating your home.
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When I first moved into my modest home, the only features of the parlor were the Victorian fireplace, the beam, the door and some of its original floorboards.
Unfortunately, it had a beautiful “ice cream” Artex ceiling, white carpet and an open kitchen.
In my naivety, I thought a nice Victorian green paint job and a few mismatched antiques would make all the difference.
At that time I had little money and could not find the right design for my simple cottage. It was a time when large floral designs came back into fashion (it was more real than I thought, but I won’t spoil the story!).
Old Parlor Room Hi Res Stock Photography And Images
I loved the simple little design and it’s deep red hue ticked the ‘restoration period home’ box for what I thought.
I lived with this look for a few years, but longed for Victorian wallpaper.
I couldn’t find the right Victorian style wallpaper in the UK. Fortunately, I realized that William Morris’ high-end design in a Victorian worker’s cottage was as authentic as a jumbo jet in a period drama!
I found this beautiful 1890-1910 wallpaper in American Collections (no longer around). It was an expensive choice, especially since shipping from the US isn’t cheap!
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At this point, I reintroduced the 1900s layout by restoring the partition wall that opened into the dining room.
As part of a period house restoration scheme, I purchased furniture and decorations more in the price range of the 1890s owner. He was a miner with two side jobs. Goodbye, stuffed birds!
During an earlier renovation I was lucky enough to later find the original 1890s paper underneath the partition. At first I don’t think it’s a 1970’s wonder paper!
After discarding the five layers of paper in the electrical cabinet, I discovered that this was the original paper for the room.
Rococo Revival Parlor
I knew that getting a wallpaper company to produce this complicated pattern would be out of my price range. However, I was confident that I could recreate the cartoon-like floral design to keep costs down.
I wanted to replicate its original gold metallic outline and only a more expensive screen printing process could do that.
I also used the services of Crick-Smith Conservators. They found that the room’s woodwork was originally painted “medium oak” and the beam was painted a light blue to match the wallpaper.
I will tell you more about how I recreated this wallpaper and achieved the final look of the salon in future blogs. (Notice I never say “finished”!).
Victorian House Interior Hi Res Stock Photography And Images
My top tip for restoring any Victorian home is to take your time and carefully decide which direction you want to take with your project.
Like many new homeowners, I rushed my home renovation and made a lot of mistakes, mostly due to my lack of perspective and lack of experience.
I’m a big believer in listening to your home and getting that feedback by staying in your home for a while before you get out the hammer and chisel!
If you’re doing something because it’s cheap or easy, and you feel like it’s not working, don’t do it! Go with your instincts, and you can’t go wrong. Medill Higgins Harvey, Curator and Manager of American Decorative Arts, Henry R. Luce is the manager of the Center for the Study of American Art
A Cottage All Grown Up
The Richard and Gloria Manny John Henry Belter Rococo Revival Salon, installed in Gallery 739, presents a luxurious mid-nineteenth-century salon typical of wealthy homes in the United States. It features furniture by one of the most innovative and virtuosic American cabinetmakers of the period, taken from the double parlor of a Classic Revival style villa built around architectural elements—pillar screen, windows, doors, doors, cornice, and rosette. 1850 in Astoria, Queens, for a prosperous businessman named Horace Whittemore (1813–1871). John H. Belter’s laminated and meticulously carved furniture represents the height of fashion and adorns elegant rooms not only in the New York area, but across the country, such as the Whittemore House.
The architectural elements of this salon come from a three-story Classical Revival villa located at the corner of Perrault and Owen (later Franklin) Streets in the glamorous new suburban community of Astoria, Queens. Astoria was founded in 1839 by John Jacob Astor. His father, Homer (1787–1858), purchased the lot in 1849 from Horace Whittemore, one of the founders of the village of Astoria. There was a mansion he built there. a raised basement and full-height porticos with Corinthian columns on the front and rear facades. When it was built, the house had an unobstructed view of the East River. Horace Whittemore lived there with his wife Catherine, their five children, and six Irish servants.
Left: Detail of map of Village of Astoria, Queens Co. L.I, 1852. Printed by E.T. Exit. Hand painted card. 37 x 44 inches (94 x 112 cm). From the New York Public Library. Right: Map detail showing the Whittemore property in the left corner of the intersection.
Astoria offered an escape from the crowded crowds and bustling activity of Manhattan and large lots on which to build villas or spacious, single-family homes. However, it was easily accessible by boat across the East River. Life in Astoria also provided a close-knit, close-knit community. Many of the Whittemores’ neighbors were relatives and business associates, including Horace’s brothers Albert and Edward, business partner and brother-in-law John B. Rebul, and his mother’s family, the Blackwells.
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Josiah Winey (1815-1896), the builder who is believed to have designed and built the house, told a reporter his memories of the area.
On January 4, 1895, he recalled a time when “the shores of the East River and around Bowery Bay were nothing but the cottages of the wealthy, and the place looked like Newport [Rhode Island] today. Rich gentlemen lived. along the coast from Ravenswood to Astoria.
An inventory of the house at the time of Horace Whittemore’s death in 1871 provides insight into the interior of the house and how the spaces were used. After ascending the external staircase at the front of the house, passing through the portico and entering the first floor, visitors are greeted by two formal living rooms to the right and a family room to the left, and a single bedroom central hall. billiard room. Downstairs was the dining room, kitchen and storerooms. There are five family bedrooms on the second floor, and the third floor, with low ceilings and small transom windows, is probably a servant’s quarters.
Left: A view of the double room in the Whittemore/Larocque mansion before demolition, 1965. American Wing curatorial files. Right: View of the Rococo Revival Salon.
Every Library Needs A Little Velvet
A pair of parlors on the first floor of the Whittemore House were separated by a pillared screen, which now adorns the open end of the room. The rooms, distinguished by plaster cornices and ceiling rosettes, would have hosted various social gatherings. The south-west (inward-facing) saloon had plenty of seating furniture, including many sofas and several different chairs and tables. The south-east (facing the river) parlor contained a piano, sofa, many chairs, tables and a music stand. Decoration and salon activities usually belonged to the ladies of the house. Catherine Whittemore may have been guided by Andrew Jackson Downing’s suggestion.
(New York, 1850) drawing room or drawing room “…must always display more beauty and elegance than any other apartment in the house.” At that time, one style was not usually used in the interior of the house. Instead, each room was often a discrete environment, with the Gothic style for libraries and dining rooms and the so-called Rococo Revival favored by modern French for salons.
The Whittemore Room at The Met is decorated in the Rococo Revival style and features furniture by master cabinetmaker and innovator John Henry Belter. In his discussion of furniture
, A. J. Downing, although he did not like it, admitted: “Modern French furniture, especially
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