Carla Minosh

The Victorian era produced beautiful cottages, homes, mansions, and even a few castles across the landscape of America. In addition to their grace, character, and beauty, the one thing that all of these new buildings had in common was their devout attention to detail. The new-found wealth of America was being poured enthusiastically into these new structures, […]

I stand at the foot of the stairs letting every imperfection in the iron steps make its way into my memory.  I know the solid grates of each tread and repeated decorative swirls of the risers are familiar to me, yet I had never noticed the broken tip of this curl or the unevenness of

There were so many dreams and wishes I had for our house when we first made the leap of faith involved in order to undertake a project of such enormity, and the romantic air surrounding these promises for the future was thick with the smell of newly-sawed oak, fresh paint, and a hearty meal cooked

I knew it was the smallest bedroom, and it was the only bedroom with a single window.  The two front bedrooms each had three large windows in the front, and one on the side.  The other rear bedroom had a window to the rear and side.  All of the other bedrooms had ample bathrooms, this

In the first installment of this project, I outlined our initial work on the parlors to bring them back to the original floorplan and remove all of the added modern built-in cabinets.  You can read about this by clicking here. While that one was an appetizer, this post is the main course, so settle in, make

One thing we had been searching for was an antique pool table for the house. The thought was that we would eventually create a billiard room in the attic. It would be so cool…we could have a “Clue” party with a murder mystery dinner night or something, and the guests would have to figure out

As we are quickly approaching the fifteenth year of our five-year project, the question I hear most often from friends, neighbors, and curious onlookers is: “So…when will you be finished?”  I used to do a brief calculation in my head of the projects already in process multiplied by those yet to be completed and factoring in

The clomping of work boots is the sound that wakes me.  It is coming from just outside my second-floor bedroom window.  As I tear away the dreamy haze of the beautifully finished home, the polished furniture, and the manicured lawn, the dream gives way to the reality; the workers are here on the scaffolding outside

We are now fourteen years into our “5-year project” on our house at 878 Main street, and oh, how our baby has grown!  As I experience the teenage years and growing pains of the renovations, I look back on our journey with so much nostalgia.  The birth of this project itself was accompanied with much

One thing I have always appreciated about historic homes are the “man-hours” that went into the design, craft, and execution of such places.  The attention to detail, the expertise required to execute such beautiful elements and details, the pride with which the work is performed; exquisitely turned balusters defining the charm of a Southern porch, the deeply carved corbels