Reversing Time in the Carriage House
Recently, I did a post about the interior of the carriage house.
When i purchased the house in 2014, the entry had a wide, trimmed opening into the living room. To each side of the opening were low walls, clearly 1970s plywood, topped with two petite wood columns, and a pair of oak brackets in each upper corner.
Like this:
I assumed hippies in the 1970s had cobbled all this together, so I remove all these odd bits.
Oops.
It was immediately apparent that, save the 1970s low walls, all this was in fact original to the circa-1921 conversion of the carriage house into a proper house.
And the 1970s low walls had, inexplicably, replaced earlier low walls.
In short, while the low walls I found were not original, there were low walls there in 1921. There were, too, the oak brackets, and the two columns were likely original as well.
So, yeah, oops.
Obviously, I had to rectify my goof, and rectify it properly.
Wanna see?
Scroll way down….
ZOUNDS!
I am soooooooooo excited!
In 2014, I knew nothing about architect Charles Squires but, today, I know a great deal and this very curious assemblage of architectural bits seems so very very Squires-like.
The light globes were horrible 1970s junk so I used gorgeous wheel-cut shades. However, they look upside-down so I will find better globes. But…cool!
The low walls. They are just tacked into place for now, and will later be properly leveled and stuff. I worked hard to assure that the graining matched the original trim, meaning some graining but not too much. This important consideration is often overlooked when people restore their house. Oh, see the inset panels?
It is belatedly obvious that they will need this same molding installed around the outer perimeter, so as to match the stair newel see here.
I am absurdly excited about this.
Now, I will need to figure out how to stain the low walls to match the original trim.
The low walls were made by Dr. Doug (who gets most of the credit for assuring a grain match. I just nagged him)! Thank you!!!!!!!!
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Your excitement is not absurd… it is warranted! The frosted globes are especially delicious; pretty sure that Mr. Squires would approve!
Lovely! Why is the flooring plywood in this room? Was the original floor ruined along the 100+ years?
I have no answer to your question, Biki!
The dining room also has a plywood floor. Argh!
Graceful! The round globes go so well with the curvy brackets and swirly capitals.
Beautiful, this is exciting. I really like the petite columns with the light globes. The short walls are a vast improvement. And to Biki’s comment, could the plywood have been meant for linoleum or wall to wall carpet? Just thinking.
1920’s frosted figural flame globes would do nicely in that setting, no? If they take a 3 1/4” fitter, shouldn’t be too hard to find a pair!
Zounds. I’m so glad I didn’t follow through with my outrageous offer to purchase the brackets. They definitely belong in the carriage house and fit much better than they would have in my relatively new build. But still, I cringe with envy…..they are so beautiful.
Gorgeous! This slow reveal of the carriage house, btw, is testing my patience – the more you show, the more I am loving it!