A Grand Rescue on the Coast
This 1892 Queen Anne house, never remodeled but long neglected, gets upgrades from new foundation drainage to picture rails reinstalled.
Although Mike and Laura Brosius had lived in cities across the country and abroad, their thoughts always came back to Astoria. A historic town on the northwest coast of Oregon, Astoria is a picturesque village of 19th-century homes set on steep, forested hills that overlook the Columbia River as it flows into the Pacific. The couple felt that this would be the perfect place in retirement. They’d noticed the grand coastal Queen Anne Victorian, set high on one of the hills, and were drawn as much by its exuberant architecture as by its sweeping view.
Built in 1892, the Queen Anne/Stick Style house had never been “remuddled,” inside or out. It had original stained-glass windows, ornate Eastlake-style hardware, and beautifully faux-grained woodwork. Room layouts had not been altered substantially. Mike and Laura already had restored several houses but never a large Victorian…. When the price was reduced, in 2016, they purchased it. They would soon realize it was a substantial retirement project. A lot of work was needed to restore the house’s 19th-century elegance.
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Repairs Galore
Outside, white paint had obliterated all the decorative trim, which had been neglected for decades. The unfinished attic was covered in bird droppings from pigeons that took advantage of broken windows; buckets were placed under multiple roof leaks.
Every one of the 38 sash windows had broken rope pulleys or was painted shut; many had broken glass. Plaster in every room was cracked. Faded Anaglypta, an embossed wallcovering, remained in the dining room but holes punched through it conjured unruly dinner parties past.
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The wainscot in the front hall, artfully grained from the start, was intact but faded and water damaged. The upstairs bath had a cheap fiberglass shower and fixtures; the downstairs bath had no heat and water damage so bad, the floor was in danger of collapse. Shiny brass lighting had been installed in the main rooms, where floors were covered wall-to-wall in beige carpeting.
The kitchen had been remodeled, poorly, in the 1960s: original trim gone, aluminum slider over the sink, dropped ceiling, a peninsula dividing the room. A kitchen deck with views of the Columbia River was rotting away beneath three 1970s plastic bubble skylights.
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Water had been running through the two-brick-wythe foundation; hundreds of feet of new drain lines were required to dry it out. A new concrete foundation was poured after contractors dug down 18 inches to allow ceiling height for a mudroom and bath. (The “90-day project” stretched to nine months.)
Seismic upgrades were made; the crumbling chimney was rebuilt; a new cedar-shake roof replicates what had been there originally. A new HVAC system was installed. All 38 windows were removed for restoration, then rehung.
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Floors, some of them bleached white, were restained in a rich brown to complement the woodwork. Gilded picture-rail moulding found stored in a heap in the attic was restored and reinstalled. An archival photo of the original owners seated in the parlor guided the design, milling, and installation of missing battlement mouldings, window trim, and rosettes.
It’s a Painted Gentleman Painted Ladies are those grand, late-Victorian houses treated to boutique-style polychrome schemes—often bright, with multiple accent colors and even gilding. The Brosius family calls theirs a Painted Gentleman, as they elected to use a darker, more subdued, “masculine” palette. The body of the house is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Knoxville Gray, a serene tone that reflects the blue waters of the Columbia River and the muted palette of winter rainstorms. Historic photos show that sash was dark. So a low-luster black was selected along with Montgomery White for trim (Benjamin Moore). Complementing the golden stained glass, finishing touches are in Brass Monkey, a gold metallic from Modern Masters. |
Fine FinishWork
For finish work, the Brosiuses found talented local artisans. Paint decorator Christy Mather patched the damaged Anaglypta in the dining room; artist Joanne Lumpkin Brown and her daughter Faith Brown matched plaster and trim finishes.
Joanne and Faith went on to repair and faux-grain 29 doors, six pocket doors, and 31 trimmed windows; they also repaired or re-created trompe l’oeil wood-panel wainscoting at the entry and stairhalls. Faith stenciled the dining room and parlor walls with a gold medallion pattern. Everyone, including Laura Brosius, collaborated on the stenciled kitchen floor.
The kitchen was removed to the studs. The highly decorative floor is a painted and stenciled re-creation of a linoleum fragment found under where a wood stove had been. Wainscoting based on an original fragment was milled. Subway tile and a 1930 Magic Chef stove completed the period room. Just off the kitchen, a former pantry that had become a powder room was returned to its original use.
Swedish wallpaper from Boråstapeter was selected for the parlor in a nod to the original owner of the house, Gustav Holmes, a Swedish pioneer who started one of the first cooperative salmon canneries on the Columbia River and who was president of the local Scandinavian–American bank. Rooms have been furnished with period antique furniture and lighting fixtures found in local antique shops, along with personal travel mementos.
— Written by Brian D. Coleman. Produced by Patricia Poore. Photographs by William Wright.
RELATED STORIES
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From the entry, the stairhall leads to the kitchen at the rear. Faux-grained woodwork and the fir floors were restored. -
Homeowners Laura and Mike Brosius embark on an afternoon spin in their 1956 Corvette. -
Battlement mouldings that topped the rosette corner blacks had been removed. They were remade with reference to an old photograph. The original, fancy picture rail was discovered in the attic. -
All the Eastlake-style brass hardware was preserved through careful cleaning. -
A detail shows the original tiles and the reinstalled mantel. -
Parlor walls are papered with Boråstapeter’s ‘Anno Foglavik’, a damask with Tudor roses in red and gold. The frieze is stenciled. -
Past Perfect: The owners rediscovered the parlor’s original mantel at a local antiques store! A Swedish-inspired wallpaper echoes the color of the original fireplace tiles. Unusual trim pieces were re-created. -
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Elegant Flow: A pattern of stenciled medallions ties together the parlor and the dining room. Woodwork and floors were meticulously refinished in complementary stains. Lower walls are clad in Anaglypta. -
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The upstairs bath once again has a late-19th-century feel with a high-tank toilet, gas/electric sconces, and a hex-tile floor. -
The small pantry has been returned to its original function with an antique sink. -
The original, embossed Anaglypta wall covering was repaired and refinished. -
The grained swan on this door is an original detail by skilled, 19th-century paint decorators. -
The body of the house is painted a subdued blue-grey. Sash, trim, and accents are done in black, soft white, and a bit of metallic gold. -
William Morris’s ‘Honeysuckle & Tulip’ wallpaper in emerald and russet was chosen to echo colors in the stained glass of the original double doors at the entry. -
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Pattern Magic: Newly stenciled gold medallions and Morris & Co.’s ‘Honeysuckle & Tulip’-pattern wallpaper join re-furbished, original Anaglpyta. At the stairs, panels and wainscot are actually faux-grain painting.
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The grand Victorian set on a hill above downtown Astoria commands an imposing presence with turrets, bays, and fancy detailing. -
