Victorian Architecture: Exotic Elements, The Onion Dome

The Victorian had a love of the exotic and often applied those exotic elements from their travels to their homes.

The rarest of the rare are onion domes. While widely seen in Easter Europe and Russia and parts of the "Ottoman Empire". The Onion Dome essentially has the look of an onion bulb. There were many variants of this design but they all had one thing in common. They were hard to build. Often requiring the services of a boatbuilder who understood the complex curved framing  to build one. They were often prone to leak as well after a period of time. many were simply 'lopped off' and today they are an even rarer site.

Perhaps the best known is the Morey Mansion located in Redlands California. It was built in 1890 for the then extravegant sum of 20,000.00. It is well known for its elaborate onion dome.

Another one of these rare birds can be seen in Minneapolis Minnesota. The Bardwell House didnt start out like this but was the result of a later remodel when the two onion dome structures were added along with other "moorish' detail., this redesign was done by Norwegian born architect Carl Struck . It was added to the national register in 1984.

Interestingly commercial buildings were treated to these exotic treatments as well. The fire house in Aurora, Illinois had this delightful onion dome on it. During WW2 it was lopped off as part of a metal drive.

 This building was seriously deteriorated before local residents took up the cause and restored it back (Including the onion dome) and today it is a firehouse museum.

Victorian Bargain Hunting: We scored a great find

I'm always on the lookout for bargains, and you never know just where you will find them. Oriental rugs are just plain expensive. if you own antique ones they are expensive and you really dont want to put them on your floor and enw ones are often expensive.

Today I had to go to the local home improvement store for some materials I ALWAYS take a quick look through the entire store because things get discontinued or marked down or sometimes are special orders that get returned.

Today was good day as I found this new Oriental for 25.00! This was the display carpet that hangs on the rack. It still had the "Display only" sign on it whih was stuck to it with a rubbery glue product, BUT, I brought it home took a little goo gone to it and It came off perfectly and you cant even tell where the sign was at. Retail on this rung was 479.00! It will be perfect for the formal dining room when its done. So remember "bargains" are sometimes in the most unlikely places!

Restoration Resources: Vintage style appliances

While we all may love the look of a vintage stove, the high price of restored ones or the ongoing maintenance cost, often keep many from going the antique look in a kitchen. However for those who want the vintage look without the issues of tinkering with them , several manufacturers now make reproduction stoves and other appliances.

Elmira Stove works offers a complete line of Vintage style appliances for those desiring a "period look".
http://www.elmirastoveworks.com/ . They have everything from Victorian era styles to more retro 50's styles.

Roosevelt home to undergo 6.2 M Restoration

Theodore Roosevelt's home "Sagamore Hill" will undergo a 6.2 Million Dollar restoration beginning in 2012. The restoration will include interior restoration of the main house as well as updates to the mechanical systems. The interior work will consist of a new roof and gutters, foundation work and restoration of historic windows doors, sidings and porches to historic preservation standards.

There is still time to see the house in its pre restoration condition as  there will be tours conducted through December 4th of 2011. Other parts of the Sagamore Hill site will remain open during the restoration.

Exotic Influences In Victorian Interior Design

Perhaps one of the greatest 'Exotic designed' rooms of the Victorian era. (photo courtesy Brooklyn Museum)

Interior Design came to the forefront in the 1870's-80's. The wealthy no longer relied on their own sense of style and taste but rather turned over those responsibilities to "designers" many of whom were an outgrowth of the furniture industry.

Furniture, drapes, and stencils all coordinated into a room design (photo courtesy Brooklyn Museum)

At the same time style inspiration often came from the exotic. The wealthy who could afford it often went to Europe and the far east in their travels and the style of exotic places was brought back in furnishings and art and those stryle elements were quickly put into production by the best firms. Much like today with designer furniture , lesser price 'knockoffs' were soon on the market for those of the middle class who could not afford a designers like Pottier and Stymus or Tiffany.

A restained exterior held such exhuberance inside (photo courtesy Brooklyn Museum)

This design movement was often referred as the Aesthetic Movement in interior design. Wealthy Victorians embraced this idea of turning over rooms to designers and the Moorish smoking room of the Worsham-Rockefeller home is one of the finest examples of 'designed' spaces.  Rockefeller purchased this house, located at 4 west 54th street from Arabella Worsham. This home was built in 1865 and she later enlarged it. Rockefeller purchased the home in 1884. His son John D Rockefeller Jr donated the room to the Brooklyn Museum in 1937. The room was 17 1/2 x 15 1/2 foot and considered by many to be a work of art.

Antique of the week: A hand colored 1852 Litho

It always amazes me when people own a historic house, spend thousands on restoration yet have posters on their walls. It doesn't have to be that way and we are proud to offer the old house restorer a wide selection of antique Lithographs, Engravings and photogravures from 1820-1900.

This week we offer a fine antique hand colored lithograph published by Day & Sons, lithographers to the Queen, published May 1852.  The depiction is of 'The quadrant, Regent Street, by E Walker . This print is original and never framed. When was the last time you found a 159 year old print that had never been framed? No sunfading as this print has been properly stored. This would look magnificent framed in a wide  hand lined and colored french mat with gilt frame and would be the focal point for your Parlor.

More details on this and other offerings can be found on our Website:
http://www.antiques.com/dealers/34818/Victorian-Antiquities

The lithograph is a view of the Quadrant, Regent Street in London looking West from Piccadilly Circus. The Street was named after the Prince Regent (later King George IV) and was one of the first planned developments in London. Its layout was based on the plans of the architect John Nash to connect Regents Park to Charing Cross and was constructed between 1814- 1825. The Quadrant was a section of buildings that formed a quarter circle between Oxford Street and Piccadilly. It was purely devoted to commercial use including fashionable shops with a covered walkway and balconies over the colonnades.

This 1852 English, hand colored Lithograph is offered at 125.00 and shipping can be arranged for 15.00. If you have any questions , please contact us at victiques@gmail.com. We accept Paypal for your convenience.

Restoration Project: Clawfoot Tub Feet

As I mentioned in yesterdays post we now have a clawfoot tub to replace the one stolen when this house was in foreclosure before we bought it. Of course that means more 'projects' and one of those projects is to restore the feet for our clawfoot tub.

These has been painted multiple times but were also a little pitted from moisture so after a good stripping with a orange based  non toxic stripper we then use a dremel tool to grind any paint off that was left and to remove any burrs or scratches in the Nickel. Yes that are nickle plate and while that would have been nice they just were not good enough finish wise to use and having them replated would be cost prohibitive. So we determined to keep with the classic motiff and paint/gild them.

Now we have the exterior of the tub to paint and stencil but that project is a ways off. I will keep you posted. Overall, when you compare the before and after, it is like night and day