Design & Stage - A Labor of Love

Meet the Victorian art historian who will go to great lengths to research the type of screws used in 1880s Victorian homes. She had a collection of a dozen claw-foot tubs and Victorian toilets with original pull-chain handles, plus enough properties owned by her family to keep using them. This was the house in which they raised their two daughters. Although downstairs was Victorian to the hilt — even featured in a magazine — they never finished the kitchen, and lived for 20 years with plywood countertops (true story). We completed the kitchen, redid the master bathroom, and staged it for sale. It’s unusual to see someone put so much care and love into a place they’re about to sell.