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(Article from Yavapai Living Magazine)

Interior Restoration –
Hunting for Historic treasures

Text and photos by PAMELA RAVENWOOD


Bringing a historic home back to life can be an arduous task, especially if that home has been stripped, remodeled or left in disrepair. Even if the exterior is in original condition, recreating the interior can be challenging and time-consuming. For two county homeowners, the process of transforming their historic homes has become a treasure hunt for original hardware, time-related pieces and reproductions.

Marge Graziano used both reproductions and originals in order to put her Victorian mansion, “The Honeymoon Cottage,” in Jerome back together. She purchased the large home because of its character and potential, and in making it livable again, didn’t want to sacrifice the details to convenience.
The house, which was built in 1921 by copper-mining millionaire Lewis Douglas as a gift to his son and new bride, is almost 5,000 square feet of history. What Graziano didn’t realize was that when the renovation of the home started and new life was breathed into it, she couldn’t just stop with the exterior. The interior had to reflect the same values.

“Once I got started, I asked myself, where do I stop?”

For Graziano, putting the pieces back together was a matter of research and ingenuity (see sidebar). Finding the hand cranks for the original windows was a process in itself. “I contacted the company that made the original cranks but they said they stopped making them 50 years ago. Of 58 cranks, only nine worked, so I either had to replace the windows or find a way to get new cranks. I found Jay Misany (Misany Engineering) from Jerome who has a machine shop; he copied them for me and remade them of stainless steel.”

As for the rest of the house, restoration was a mix of scavenging the old and bringing in the new. In the maid’s room, the fiberglass shower was pulled out and replaced with the claw foot tub Graziano discovered in the yard. She found a few original nickel-plated pulls in the kitchen so she continued that style throughout the house with identical new pulls. More modern baseboard heaters were removed and replaced with the original radiators, that is, after they had been repaired. Matching original plaster texture with a sample that still remained on some of the walls was accomplished with drywall, sand and paint.

When it came to replacing the light fixtures, Graziano’s methodology included bookwork as well as guesswork. In addition to studying lighting of the period, she talked with people who had visited the home when it was in better repair. The renovation of the house was extreme – from outside to in – and took her a year, but Graziano said if she had it to do all over again, she would.

Peg Sarksesian was a bit luckier because her Spanish Colonial Revival in Clarkdale had most of its original pieces. Many of the Clarkdale homes, from Bungalows to Craftsman, had original interiors because United Verde Copper Co. and Phelps Dodge Corp. owned the homes until the 1950s, and renters weren’t allowed to alter them.

Even though Sarkesian’s house is mostly the same as it was in the 1930s when it was built, a few things had to be altered for the sake of repair and practicality. “The cupboards in the kitchen were in bad shape,” she said. “My husband rebuilt them, copying them as closely as he could to the originals, but widened the countertop space.”

Because Sarkesian is an antiques dealer, she was able to find a number of items from her home’s era. During her search, she found a claw foot bathtub. But when she couldn’t find original items she used reproductions, including the pedestal bathroom sinks, antique-looking fixtures and lighting she found at a local home store.

“I like the idea of bringing a home back to its glory,” Sarkesian said. “When you are restoring a house you are always on the lookout, it’s fun in that it is like a treasure hunt.”

As Graziano and Sarkesian have discovered, restoring a historic home can be a time-consuming treasure hunt for original and authentic-looking materials. But both acknowledge if you take your time and do your research, the end result is well worth it.

SIDE BAR
Homeowners can renovate historic interiors by using both antique fixtures of the home’s era or replicated fixtures. Before starting, conduct research on your home’s style and then decide on a budget, because prices can vary greatly. Secondly, do your homework. Traditional Building magazine and website (www.traditional-building.com) offers great ideas and resources for historic home renovation. While searching for products, you will discover that some companies specialize while others offer a variety of products. Crown City Hardware (www.restoration.com), located in Pasadena, Calif., is one of the one-stop stores providing hardware for Victorians, Craftsman and Art Deco. For more specialized products such as period wallpapers, check out companies such as Bradbury and Bradbury (www.bradbury.com). What they don’t have they can reproduce.

Other Restoration Resources:

Architectural Grille – archgrille.com
Tin Ceilings – tinceiling.com
Classic Ceilings – classicceilings.com
Native Tile – nativetile.com
Agrell Architectural Carving – agrellandthorpe.com
Arched Casings – archedcasings.com
Arroyo Craftsman – arroyocraftsman.com
Paul Downs Cabinetmakers – pauldowns.com
Fanimation – fanimation.com
Textile Studio – textilestudio.com
Traditional Building – www.traditional-building.com