This rural property has hardly changed. Saved from demolition in the 1960s, this old house now sits amidst forest and pasture. Old-House Interiors November/December 2010
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Editor’s Note
No sooner does Victorian style get pushed away by the latest darling (Mid-century modern! The bungalow!) than back it comes ’round again. The great Victorian Revival of our times was, of course, ca. 1970–1995. Wide publication of imaginatively restored houses, like those of Richard Reutlinger in San Francisco and Clem Labine in Brooklyn, ushered in decades of avid interest. Clawfoot tubs and room-set wallpaper—dado, fill, and frieze—were back in style. Dumpsters in renovation neighborhoods no longer filled up with crown moldings and etched glass. Brand-new houses sported fancy-butt shingles, gingerbread porches, and the occasional turret.
During the 1980s, the Arts & Crafts revival was getting a slow start, mostly among collectors. By the ’90s it had exploded, and the concurrent Bungalow Boom made Victorian houses seem passé since the turn of this century. Six years ago I put three special-interest magazine tests on the newsstand: Early Homes, Victorian Design, and Arts & Crafts Homes. Two of those became regular publications . . . but Victorian Design fizzled. Interest in the rambunctious houses of the 19th century seemed to have reached a low point.
Still, a dedicated core of enthusiasts endured, living in their restored dwellings amidst peacock feathers and gaslights. Others discovered the joy of Victorian restoration during the 1990s and since—including Jim Stout, whose two breathtaking houses are shown in this issue. Lately I have seen another spike of interest in the period, with more photographers’ scouts covering Victorians, and manufacturers and artisans introducing new products of a Victorian revival. I think we’re back in a mini-fad right now.
Back in the 1970s I thought “Victorian” had been reviled in all the years following the Arts & Crafts movement. I was wrong! Just yesterday I took delight in reading some House & Garden magazines published in 1940. That era’s versions of Victorian decorating, Victorian furniture, and Victorian color were in evidence, recommended as an antidote to wartime anguish. Only after the war did international modernism eclipse historical styles.
Patricia Poore, Editor of Old-House Interiors
