The Yellow Craftsman
We are taking the blog back to our roots and traveling to Newport, RI for this week’s post. Though we have featured Newport homes in the past, and will definitely continue to do so since it is our home base, we always aim to showcase something different that the area has to offer. This home is definitely unique to our blog and a style we haven’t touched upon before! Its a beautiful, bright Victorian style home that is a seemingly historic architectural design, but was in fact only built in 2001. You get the best of both worlds: a home with aged character but without the unpredictability that comes with buying a truly historic home. A common assumption of "Victorian" homes, and a true perception of this home as well, is their dollhouse-like aesthetic. Aside from this though, the architect really stuck to his inspiration and elaborated on many Victorian influenced features, both on the exterior and interior. For the sake of catchy titles listed on our blog, we have decided to call this one ‘The Yellow Craftsman’, reasons that will quickly become very clear as we unfold this home to you.
Victorian features
So lets start with the exterior. The home presents itself with classic Victorian characteristics, such as the flat-topped Mansard roof with multiple dormers, the bright earth tone color palette and the decorative woodwork framing the exterior. The carved ornamental features are present on every single facade. Where its truly highlighted, though, is along the wraparound porch. The elaborate wooden trim, balusters, and bracketsall make up a beautifully crafted frame for the spacious porch. Though left open and unfurnished at the moment, this space provides the perfect foundation for outdoor living. Just picture yourself sipping on your morning coffee or drinking wine with some friends looking out at the beautiful greenery planned out by the landscape designer. Pure bliss.
Ornate craftsmanship
Now we step into the interior, where the decorative woodwork is truly emphasized and is what made us fall in love with this home! Victorian homes are known for having intricate craftsmanship with ornate staircases and this home features exactly that. Through the use of one material you are given an array of patterns and textures and tastefully painted pictures from every perspective. The ornate spindles along the rails, the decorative detailing on each riser of the stairs, the board-and-batten paneling on walls and then continuing beneath the archways, the geometric pattern flooring…the craftsmanship is just stunning and is showcased beautifully with the contrast of the white walls.
Timeless pieces
One design feature that stands out is the decision in painting the wood paneling white in the dining room area. It separates the space from the entry and creates a refreshingly brighter space with the textured character provided by the ornate carpentry. The continuous board-and-batten walls and detailed work on the moldings still stand out even though painted white…and this is a node to any new home owner to the aesthetic possibilities that can be done with this home. Before moving onto the kitchen, I also wanted to point out the gorgeous lighting fixtures in each of the above spaces that are so timeless and really attribute to the Victorian era style!
French country kitchen
In the kitchen, we have a clean French country design with traditional style furnishings. One factor a designer could always appreciate when taking on an adaptive reuse project is having good bones that build the framework to a new vision. This kitchen is the perfect blueprint to any desired style wanting to be featured. The country aesthetic is quite muted so that one can either enhance it with added pieces or one can also go a completely different route and introduce a new style to the space. Not much needs to be done to achieve this…by just incorporating the 3 features below into the kitchen layout, you can have a completely updated and modern look!
Built ins & details
Posing as the backdrop to the kitchen is the open-layout living room. The area is quite spacious but still has a sense of comfort with the surrounding built-ins and nooks incorporated within. In any home, built ins are always a valuable feature! They provides storage and display space without having to feel cluttered with additional furniture. The furnishing here, hence, is kept at a minimum with the textured masonry in the fireplace adding another layer of coziness to the space.
Stunning master
Another characteristic of Victorian style homes are their vast space. Typically 2-3 stories, this home has three plus a full sized basement. Each bedroom has a big enough floor plan to fit anyone’s needs. The master bedroom is no exception, offering a spacious area with a beautiful bay window bringing in the natural light and a double-sided fireplace connecting to the en suite. The bathroom too has an open and clean look with some sprinkled in earth tone color features that tie it back to the aesthetic of the bedroom.
Nook galore
As I said, this home is spacious. In addition to the master suite, the home offers another 6 bedroom/office spaces. A feature to point out in these bedrooms and a common Victorian characteristic is the dormer windows, turned interior nooks, allowing for maximum use of space inside the house. We had a cute and cozy nook downstairs in the living room and now in the bedrooms we have an additional eight nooks! That’s including one even in the bathroom! Nooks are great for added space and can be decorated with adorable touches to enhance anyone’s aimed vibe for the bedroom.
If you'd like to learn more about this home, please contact Kendra Toppa or Tracey Moore with Lila Delman Real Estate.
For any interior design and renovation services, please contact Ally Maloney.
Images credited to Lila Delman Real Estate. Additional editing done by Maloney Interiors.
