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About The House

Smallish, tallish, Victorian.
Built, 1890
Seven miles from Philadelphia.

Here’s the story of how we got here.

79 Comments

  1. ourheritagehome
    May 7, 2012 @ 4:08 pm

    Wow, that is alot of colour! Very charming house with lots of potential;) look forward to following along and seeing your projects and transformations.

    Reply

    • VictoriaElizabethBarnes
      May 9, 2012 @ 4:59 am

      A lot of color… yes. Which equals a lot of primer. We have gone through a small sea of five-gallon buckets of white primer. Trying to cover that pink is enough to drive you crazy. We haven’t even tried to cover any purple yet, but I imagine it will be just as fun…

      Reply

      • letitia
        December 1, 2013 @ 8:57 pm

        We just bought a house built in 1890 in Cincinnati Ohio. Hardwood floors under all the carpet, beautiful, but has buckling in three rooms in the downstairs. good thing is it is only like one board in each room that has lifted. I have not seen any boards like these. they are not as thick as normal ones nor are they as wide. These boards do have tongue and grove i think. It also has a design as a square starting in the middle working out from about 6 ft in the center of the room. it isa beautiful but need to find a few more boards to fix buckled boards. working now on down spots and getting the leaks fixed so we can move in it and finish the restoration. We have been told it is a three family but i suspect it was just a one family at one time. This house has 12 foot ceilings and beautiful intricate tall pocket doors downstairs. The front door is hand carved wood and i suspect it had stained glass in it along with the sidelights and the top. These are broken due to vandals but i am researching to see if anyone has pictures of the house originally and I will remake the stained glass. right now I am just trying to get my wood working machinery in the house so i can start to re manufacture the small intricate windows up on the third floor. I love to see your pics. and it has inspired me to continue. If u have any idea where to find things like door handles or old skeleton keys. The house has a slate roof and i have had 2 people come and look at it to seal it or repair a few slates but they didn’t want to get on roof because it is so steep. Anyone know of someone in Cincinnati who doesn’t charge an arm and a leg let me know. Again thanks for the pics. they are great and i wish u luck. Please don’t stop letting us know of your progress and more pics pls.

        Reply

      • Shannon
        June 24, 2014 @ 9:37 am

        What color is the outside of the home. It’s like an ice blue? Very refreshing. I’d love to paint my house that color. Could you email me the color code/name etc. to Shannon.oshea.darsch@gmail.com. I’m in the process or prepping my home now for the paint.

        Reply

        • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
          June 25, 2014 @ 10:21 am

          It’s Behr, Cool Sky (Home Depot)… I hope you like it. I looked at about 57,000 shades of blue.
          GOOD LUCK!

          Reply

        • Carmen
          January 14, 2015 @ 12:14 am

          Do you have any Amish people nearby? I just had my roof done and had a hard time finding anyone too – someone tipped me off, and they did a beautiful job! And, were cheaper too! Someone drove them in (about 45 miles away) each day and they finished in 2 or 3 days. And, the house is huge with real ugly pitches. Just a thought. Good luck!

          Reply

          • letitia
            February 11, 2015 @ 10:00 pm

            thanks for the info. i never thought of the amish people but will check it out. thanks and keep up the good work. love looking at the picts. i have a window upstairs that has a 12 in square in the center with 5in squares around it like maybe 15 or 20. someone told me these smaller ones were colored glass. can anyone send me a picture of this. please?

            Reply

  2. hns83
    May 25, 2012 @ 10:32 am

    Lovely blog! We moved into a 1940s home a month ago and are in the process of working through renos as well. Our pervious owners were also colour happy (red, yellows, orange, blue)! Eventually we will tansform it to a lovely white box. Looking forward to reading more of your posts!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      May 26, 2012 @ 7:27 am

      Nice to meet a fellow renovator suffering the color-choices of their po… Sometimes people will tell me that these must be the original, historic colors. Which makes me laugh. No self respecting Victorian painted their interior and exterior ceilings orange…

      Reply

      • julian
        June 29, 2013 @ 2:30 pm

        They really did use amazing color – including orange.

        Reply

  3. oddprofessor
    June 9, 2012 @ 10:30 am

    I… kind of like it, but I don’t have to live with it! My husband calls that kind of color “B&B choices.” He feels that an old house gets painted like that in order to create “whimsey,” and that’s the province of a certain kind of B&B.

    However, orange ceilings? 😀

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      June 9, 2012 @ 10:41 am

      Yes, whimsy we had LOTS of. It suited the previous owners… their décor and style was appealing it its own way. But for us, the color onslaught was crazy. I didn’t dislike any of the colors individually, but the effect of all the rooms together was too much. The bright-salmon color traveled through the foyer, up three flights of stairs, and down a hallway… it sucked all the light out of the area. By the time we got around to painting it, I couldn’t believe how much brighter the house was.

      Reply

      • Bonnie MacEvoy
        December 13, 2014 @ 4:13 pm

        Hi Victoria,
        Curious just to very round numbers what your ballpark costs will have been for this project? Looking at a 5000 sq ft in town that is firmly standing, but has boarded windows and other projects that I’m sure will need love from the ground up. I have done many renos on modern homes, but they were mostly small projects and cosmetic work. I have no idea what to expect here. Home is for $350; would probably be double that when fixed up in this area. View of the bay, large lot, etc. so much potential. I will have to subcontract the big projects that surface as it is just little me and my dogs.

        Reply

  4. Tonya
    June 28, 2012 @ 1:03 pm

    I can understand why it would make you a bit crazy, but I really like the color in what looks like an attic room.

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      June 28, 2012 @ 6:18 pm

      Hi Tonya,
      I’m sure you’re talking about the small room with the pitched roof and half-moon window… I actually really love that color. Kind of a robin’s egg blue. It was very cozy and the color was great in the small, unusual space… but we ended up returning the third-floor to its original layout. And I couldn’t imagine using that much color in a very large room!

      Reply

      • Tonya
        June 29, 2012 @ 10:14 am

        Makes sense. I found the picture where you were re-doing the walls after I posted:).

        Reply

        • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
          June 29, 2012 @ 10:51 am

          That was a hot, dusty mess… let me tell you. I was ready to be finished after about 20 minutes… which was not nearly the amount of time needed to complete it!!

          Reply

  5. A city girl
    July 5, 2012 @ 9:17 pm

    lime green and blue? orange and purple? that would drive me mad…I bet you got a good deal on the house because a lot of people house shopping can’t see the bones and floorpan of a house because all they can see are things they can easily change…like colors. I lovve your house and the things you are doing with it. I am an eclectic decorator but all those colors would drive me craaaaazy.

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      July 6, 2012 @ 7:36 am

      The colors were absolutely insane. Looking at the photos, I’m still confused why anyone would do that to their house. We did get a good deal… but this was my first house purchase. I saw too much of the potential and not enough of the work!! I walked in and fell in love with the front doors. Literally, I was obsessed with the hinges, which are super ornate… maybe not the best reason to buy a house!!

      Our previous house, my husband had already been living in and was finished the renovation when I met him. He is extraordinarily capable, but without me having an understanding of the hard work involved, it kind of seemed like he just fixed stuff with magic.

      So when we considered this one, I just went ahead and fell in love with it and had no concept of the practicalities involved in renovating a 120 year old house. My husband did try to warn me…but I think until you actually do it, you cannot understand the scope of the project.

      Reply

  6. eighttreestreet
    August 10, 2012 @ 7:17 am

    Love your colors!

    Reply

  7. kathycarre
    August 10, 2012 @ 8:33 am

    What a beautifil home! We have those old hardwood floors, one of which is still under carpet…that is our next job! Thanks for visiting my blog!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      August 10, 2012 @ 9:39 am

      The carpet is probably a blessing… it really protects the floors over the years. We needed to refinish about half of ours. We still have a few rooms to do, but it makes ALL the difference in the world.

      Reply

  8. dianeskitchentable
    August 10, 2012 @ 4:42 pm

    I love your house! Okay, so you’ve got some funky colors but it reminds me a little of our first house in a way. The woman had painted every room electric blue, including ceilings…except for the purple room. It was only paint & we got a super deal because buyers had a hard time seeing past the overwhelming color.

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      August 10, 2012 @ 6:43 pm

      Well… I give her credit for going for her dream. Electric blue ceilings are a statement not too many people are comfortable making! I personally don’t need that much color in my life, but I’ve been surprised by the people who came over to our house and REALLY liked what I considered blinding!! Particularly the orange under the front porch roof. I thought it was insane, but a couple of people found it really appealing. Reminding me that I am not actually the arbiter of good taste for everyone.

      Reply

  9. morristownmemos by Ronnie Hammer
    August 27, 2012 @ 3:26 pm

    The office building we bought had to be refinished, and we tried to keep it as authentic as possible. I guess that means we didn’t use the oranges, purples or lime greens!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      August 27, 2012 @ 4:19 pm

      Sometimes we rip into something and find a new section of wall that is yet ANOTHER, different color we hadn’t even seen yet!

      Reply

  10. scottiev
    August 28, 2012 @ 12:49 pm

    lol! I love that the colors are at least really happy! It IS a bit busy, though looking at the pictures all together did make me smile!!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      August 28, 2012 @ 3:07 pm

      Yes, busy indeed! I didn’t even need to write any text for this page—the photos totally speak for themselves…

      Reply

  11. doyouspeakvintage
    September 5, 2012 @ 12:10 pm

    E-
    Wow! You are in for a ride with all of that color. Good for you for taking photos before. Yes, the photso absolutely speak for themselves. go, girl!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      September 5, 2012 @ 1:03 pm

      The before photos have sometimes escaped me… it was a lot to move in and be plunged into chaos immediately. There are whole rooms I don’t have a photo of, except once we’d dug in.

      I guess that was also back when I couldn’t imagine I’d ever need to be reminded how bad it looked!

      Reply

  12. skinnyonlinny
    September 17, 2012 @ 2:59 pm

    Color-mad indeed! Good lord! I’m excited to follow your progress.

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      September 17, 2012 @ 5:22 pm

      I know, right? If I didn’t have the photos to prove it, no one would believe the extent of the craziness.

      Reply

  13. rabidlittlehippy
    September 18, 2012 @ 5:30 am

    Wow! This looks a lot like the house we’ve just bought. The previous owner wasn’t quite so colour mad… BUT… He did love ugly coloured suede paint! The walls are either blue, burgundy or mustard yellow and even some of the ceilings have been sueded. We too will be swimming in primer and sanding it back or in some cases, replacing the plasterboard. Looking forward to following your reno journey. Thanks for popping by too.

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      September 18, 2012 @ 7:36 am

      Amazing, isn’t it? How with some paint and a texturizing tool, someone can make an unbelievable amount of work for the next owner.

      We had popcorn ceiling paint at another property… scraping it off was possibly the most tedious experience I’ve ever had. Fortunately (I guess it was fortunate??) there was wallpaper underneath, so it wasn’t adhered directly to the plaster. What a mess…

      Good luck with your projects. I can vouch for the fact that they will be miserable while in progress and that you will forget all about the misery after they’re done!!

      Reply

      • rabidlittlehippy
        September 18, 2012 @ 6:35 pm

        We’ve got 3 kids under 5 so the option to do it ourselves in this instance really isn’t there and we want to move in asap and rent out our current house so I get to pass over the dubious pleasure of de-texturising our walls to a professional. Once the floors are done (tiling and carpetting), walls are painted and a new kitchen is in (sadly the existing one is in burgundy and black and is trashed to within an inch of its life) then we will move it. Greening up and personalising the rest of the house will come in time, when we have time around veggie gardening, raising chickens and playing with the 3 kids. 🙂

        Reply

        • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
          September 19, 2012 @ 8:39 am

          Please take my word for it, that paying someone to do it for you? Is the best decision you can make… It’s pretty much my greatest fantasy at this point.

          Reply

          • rabidlittlehippy
            September 19, 2012 @ 6:18 pm

            LMAO! I’ve done painting in my time, including suede although with judicious use of both colour and limited location, but having painted first whilst pregnant, with 1 containable child and later with 1 containable and 1 non-containable, the thought of 3 uncontainable children and a whole house needing painting gives me horrors. Best of luck with your reno’s and very much looking forward to following your journey.

            Reply

  14. Tressie
    September 18, 2012 @ 12:23 pm

    Before you dive into that purple, a suggestion? Ask your Hardware store about how to K I L Z, KILZ a wall. This stuff cover virtually everything, usually only takes one coat then you can primer then paint. We used it on our lime green and sky blue walls, worked beautifully!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      September 18, 2012 @ 4:08 pm

      YES! We essentially now own stock in Kills…
      Although we found that both the purple and the hot pink required a couple of coats. Something about dark red pigment is extremely persistent!

      Reply

  15. travelgardeneat
    October 7, 2012 @ 1:53 pm

    Our century-old house was never a looker, probably more a working-class family home, farmhouse style construction, but gotta’ love those old house bones. It had been remuddled over the years when we bought it, and the entryway was one of my favorites — black and white stick on vinyl tile in checkerboard in the entryway, black metal/fake ironwork stair railing, textured walls with silver sprinkles scattered about for a late night disco effect. Renovating or even just “unmuddling” an old house is an adventure! I look forward to following yours. ~ Kat

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      October 7, 2012 @ 5:46 pm

      I personally love a disco, so I hope you kept the silver spangles…
      Old homes are wonderful… it’s the intervening owners and their wild ideas about what’s appealing!!

      Reply

  16. food.life.zen.
    October 7, 2012 @ 4:29 pm

    used to work at a paint store. God bless your soul for doing all this. Totally worth the work, it looks FAB!!!!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      October 7, 2012 @ 5:48 pm

      Thank you so much!!
      Seriously, our house could have been an advertisement for a paint store!

      Reply

  17. kolorfulkreations
    October 8, 2012 @ 3:59 am

    wow! my 4 year old son would love this house. He wants to have a “Rainbow Colored” house. 😀

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      October 8, 2012 @ 7:23 am

      I laughed out loud. Apparently my previous owners had the same design aesthetic as your four-year-old!

      Reply

  18. Amanda S.
    October 11, 2012 @ 4:22 pm

    Just stumbled onto your blog. Moving to the Philly burbs in a few months. What’s with the crazy paint?? I see it in so many homes on the market! What a great project!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      October 11, 2012 @ 7:19 pm

      That surprises me, about other houses… I’ve been attributing the colors to our previous owner’s wacky sense of style… not, a trend that anyone else would find appealing.

      Welcome back to Philly!

      Reply

      • Amanda S.
        October 11, 2012 @ 7:22 pm

        I kid you not, there was this house with the living room painted BLACK. JET BLACK!!! With a huge red lamp. It really didn’t work…at all…

        Reply

        • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
          October 11, 2012 @ 7:27 pm

          Well, you know… they say black goes with everything. We looked at a house where they painted all the ceilings a deep, crimson red…

          Reply

  19. Áine Warren
    November 7, 2012 @ 11:31 am

    That colour really is something but I love the house. I’ve been meaning to go through more of your posts to get a better feel for it!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      November 7, 2012 @ 2:34 pm

      I know, right? Every time I look at this page, I’m amazed anew—at the sheer rainbow effect.

      Reply

      • Áine Warren
        November 9, 2012 @ 9:35 am

        Haha, yes. Actually, an old lecturer of mine has recently done something similar to his hallway in his house. All I could say when he showed me the pictures was “oh wow!”. But whatever floats these people’s boats!

        Reply

  20. Meghan
    November 13, 2012 @ 3:00 pm

    Love your comment about color-mad previous owners! ALL the rooms in our house were yellow… the SAME yellow. I’m now on a mission to make every room a DIFFERENT COLOR and there are no yellow walls left!

    Reply

    • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
      November 13, 2012 @ 8:29 pm

      HA! We’ve painted every room yellow! A pale yellow. A nondescript yellow. Probably exactly what you wanted to get rid of… LOL

      Reply

      • Meghan
        November 14, 2012 @ 7:45 am

        haha… you sure you didn’t own my house before us!? I have nothing against yellow… I’m just more of a neutral wall kinda gal… 🙂 I was actually thinking grey/white/yellow for our bathroom remodel and thought… do I really want to bring the yellow back!?

        Reply

        • Victoria Elizabeth Barnes
          November 14, 2012 @ 9:25 am

          Grey and white is a beautiful combination. Half of my Pinterest boards feature that combination… whenever I see it, I wonder why I haven’t used it before.

          Reply

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