“We found the framing and the tracks for the pocket doors that had once hung between the living room and the dining room,” Janet says. “Unfortunately, the doors themselves were gone.”
When the interior was more livable, Bob and his father replaced the asbestos siding with cedar clapboards. “We found places where the sheathing had rotted away,” he recalls. “I don’t know what those asbestos shingles were holding on to.”
Whether or not to rebuild the missing corner tower was a bigger question. Ultimately they decided the project was not in their budget.
The last project tackled, the kitchen took a long time. Its design was driven by mahogany cabinets chosen to echo the house’s mahogany staircase. Dishwasher, garbage bin, and refrigerator are disguised by cabinet fronts; a microwave/convection oven is built into the island.
Steve Gross & Susan Daley
“I really needed a kitchen, not a turret,” Janet says. “We’d inherited a galley kitchen, which was on the other side of the house, with spray-painted cabinets and countertops made of peel-and-stick tiles.
“That kitchen space became the first-floor bath, and we built our new kitchen in its original location, based on the descendants’ recollection. It makes so much more sense.” The kitchen features mahogany cabinets, in homage to what they first loved about this house: the mahogany stairs.
On a trip to San Francisco, they saw a Victorian house with an exterior color scheme they admired. “We contacted the owners, who mailed pieces of cardboard with the paints applied to them, for us to match. We painted the kitchen walls the same color as the third-floor exterior.”
The tower question
An original corner tower had been torn down in the past. Replacing it was simply not practical for the Smiths. It had been four storeys tall, with one room on each level: a large, complicated, expensive construction project for these do-it-yourselfers—and one that, in the end, would yield little usable (or needed) interior space.
The family did, however, need a new kitchen. The original was long gone; the small, inelegant replacement was inadequate for the needs of a family with three children. So, given the budget, they put their resources into a new kitchen instead of replacing the tower.
They compensated for the loss, nevertheless. With its whimsy, asymmetry, and conical roof, the tower had been an important style marker for the Queen Anne house . So Bob Smith created a gazebo-like bump-out as part of the wraparound porch, on the same side of the house where the tower had been.
“My husband framed the octagonal porch alone, with the help of a boom lift,” Janet marvels. “I still can’t believe he did it. And carpentry is just his hobby.”
The octagonal space is usable as an outdoor sitting room and dining area, suiting the family’s needs. It also restored the house’s asymmetrical massing but with a simpler, more affordable construction. It’s what negotiators would call a win-win solution.
Resources
architectural dwgs . Carol Hewitt , PE, AIA, Westfield, NJ: (908) 789-9417
porch deck stain Sikkens PPG Proluxe Cetol DEK Finish Mahogany 045 ppgpaints.com paint colors body custom-matched by Sherwin-Williams ; trim Rookwood Dark Red sherwin-williams.com
columns & rails Cinder Whit & Co. (OOB); similar at Chadsworth columns.com
Mad River Woodworks madriverwoodworks.com
front door B&R Architectural Antiques , Youngstown, OH: (330) 518-0431
additional doors Old Mill Woodworking , Johnson, NY: (845) 355-8733
sconces AK Exteriors akexteriors.com
door hardware House of Antique Hardware houseofantiquehardware.com
register Reggio Registers reggioregister.com
paint walls custom; trim Monterey White HC-27 Benjamin Moore benjaminmoore.com ceiling fixture antique table lamp Quoizel Lighting quoizel.com
paint Walls Bennington Gray HC-82; trim Monterey White HC-27 Benjamin Moore benjaminmoore.com
weathervane Nelda and Emylou’s Antiques , Sussex, NJ: (973) 219-5822
fixtures Kohler kohler.com paint walls CSP-40 Benjamin Moore benjaminmoore.com • trim Porcelain SW0053 Sherwin-Williams sherwin-williams.com
hardware Historic Houseparts : historichouseparts.com
designer Beauty Craft Kitchens , Green Brook, NJ: beautycraftkitchens.com cabinets Quality Custom Cabinetry qcci.com
mouldings custom New Jersey Hardwoods newjerseyhardwoods.com range dual fuel Viking vikingrange.com
hood Thermador thermador.com/us/
sink Shaw 1897 by Rohl rohlhome.com
island sink Franke franke.com
faucets Mico micodesigns.com
pendant lights Pottery Barn potterybarn.com
china & glassware Butler’s Pantry by Lenox lenox.com
bedroom paint (not shown) walls Sturbridge Stone SW0090; trim Porcelain SW0053 Sherwin-Williams sherwin-williams.com