Revitalizing Vintage Charm in an Elegant Queen Anne Victorian Home
Have you ever seen a beautiful, antique-looking home and thought I wonder what it looks like inside! Homes from the Victorian era are known to contain multitudes of unrivaled craftsmanship, vintage charm, and asymmetrical facades, you wouldn’t be the first to want to get a look inside.
Queen Anne Victorian homes gained popularity in the late 1880s to early 1900s, combining techniques from various historical periods to create an electric, decorative architectural style.
For Brett Waterman of HGTV’s Restored, purchasing and renovating a beautiful Queen Anne Victorian was a decision fueled by a desire to restore the home’s original quirks and layout. Part of doing so included relying on Reggio Registers to customize one-of-a-kind floor registers that would match the home’s unique aesthetic and dimensions.
Read on to discover how Brett revitalized this stunning Queen Anne Victorian, focusing on the smallest details and intricacies to make the home feel perfectly of its era.
Maintaining the Home’s History
Rather than erase history, it’s always best to maintain and celebrate what came before us – which, for Brett, meant returning this Queen Anne Victorian to its original layout.
The home was first built in 1896 as a winter residence for a wealthy family, comprising three floors and nearly 3,500 square feet of space. Seated on a ¾ acre lot, the home features many charmingly vintage details including a carriage house.
Though the home retains many antique attributes (such as its windows and doors), some major changes over the years masked its Victorian interiors and layout. Brett decided to focus the restoration on reviving the home’s Victorian layout, which meant formally re-separating the public spaces on the main floor.
“The house had lost interior walls that separated the entry hall from the front parlor, so we installed a new colonnaded wall to recreate that formal separation,” said Brett.
Brett and the Restored team also restored the large mantel surround on the first floor fireplace, which had been previously removed, and introduced vintage lighting to the home. They stripped the paint from all of the millwork to recreate the original stained finishes.
In combination, these endeavors work together to reflect a Victorian architectural style and furnishings, which is exactly what Brett had envisioned for the home.
“One really fun shift was allowing Sara Zofko, our decorator, to design the front parlor as a bit of a music room, just as it would’ve been used in the late nineteenth century,” added Brett.
Crafting Custom Vintage Registers with Reggio
With the layout set and the formal rooms defined, it was time to turn the attention to the home’s smaller details and make sure they, too, reflected the Victorian aesthetic.
Thanks to Reggio Register’s ability to play around with patterns and finishes, the project came together beautifully while complimenting the existing vents that were already in the home.
“Reggio offered a perfect match to the original floor registers. We were able to use their heavy bronze floor registers to handle the new HVAC systems. The registers blended seamlessly with the original registers that were still there,” said Brett.
Moreover, Reggio was able to expertly custom fabricate a register to fit with the home’s historic standards. This was a huge benefit for Brett, as there was no need to resize any duct work or floor openings.
So, what’s next for this Queen Anne Victorian charmer? The next phase of the restoration will continue to draw out the home’s vintage details through the addition of a new kitchen. All in all, by paying close attention to the home’s original idiosyncrasies, Brett was able to redefine the eclectic, decorative style of this gorgeous antique treasure.
Ready to take on your own renovation project that harkens back to earlier design eras? See more inspired historic projects.