When I decided to buy a 1928 Craftsman bungalow, its original features--yellow pine cabinets, birch floors, and natural woodwork--were a big part of the charm. Many of the house's original elements had gone missing over the years, however, so part of the restoration process involved hunting down replacements or reproductions of missing parts.
This was lots of fun for a veteran scavenger. I knew something about architectural salvage from a previous remodeling project in a Queen Anne house. I needed to find a new flooring material for the kitchen. It turned out that underneath the worn-out lineoleum was nothing but some scrap wood. New hardwood flooring just didn't look right. Luckily I discovered a local Cambridge, Massachusetts company that sells recycled antique flooring. Longleaf Lumber specializes in beautiful quarter-sawn heart pine flooring. This wood took my breath away. It's a gorgeous tawny yellow color with clear (free of knots) grain texture. The remilled and refinished heart pine gave the narrow, north-facing room a new warm tone. Antique lumber comes in wider widths than contemporary hardwood flooring, and this, too, adds to its suitability in old rooms. The price difference between recycled wood and high quality new hardwood is not always huge--in this case, I remember paying about 15% more.
For that same house I also needed to replace a faucet for an old marble and cast iron bathroom sink. This search introduced me to the world of antique and reproduction bathroom fixtures. Back in the 1990s, I found vendors through magazine ads; today antique salvage companies are accessible through the Internet. Many, like Old House Parts of Kennebunk, Maine and Urban Artifacts of Chicago, post extensive inventory lists with photos. Ebay and other auction sites feature a good amount of architectural salvage items. But I highly recommend visiting salvage yards and warehouses to get a feel for the types of materials used to make house elements. This way you get a feel for the difference between modern products and antiques. Antique hardware is made of solid metals and heavy materials. Old house parts were made to last. My favorite example are the wonderful old cast iron shade brackets made up until the 1940s. After you've hung shades on these sturdy brackets, you'll never go back to the cheap flimsy versions sold in today's hardware stores. Sometimes the best of an historic style is manifested in its humblest manifestations. Simple utilitarian hardware items like door hinges and key escutcheons were made with beautiful stamped designs during the Victorian era. Thus while I don't like the Eastlake style in furniture, I love it in metalwork.
You may also get inspired by the sheer volume of stuff. No fancy showrooms: instead you find rows and rows of old sinks, roomfuls of old doors and windows, and shelves lined with boxfuls of old door hardware. Salvage dealers bid on old buildings scheduled for demolition and rip out (carefully, one hopes) everything from flooring and woodwork to towel bars and tiles. (Many fine bathroom fixtures come from old Catholic convents!) Browse through salvage warehouses and you'll get an education in design history. Be aware, however, that salvage merchandise may need more than a light cleaning. Sometimes fixtures come with dents or covered in dried paint. Metal fixtures and hardware often need polishing, and light fixtures may need rewiring. Doors and window frames may have lead paint. I found a local antique dealer who polishes metal items; lighting stores will usually rewire old sconces, lamps, and chandeliers for a reasonable charge. But get an idea of costs before you buy. More and more salvage dealers offer these services. For purchases of structural items, like wooden columns or flooring, consult with your architect or contractor first. The same goes for old bathroom fixtures.
For my bungalow project I used architectural salvage items mostly for decorative purposes. The original birch flooring was in amazingly good condition throughout the house and only needed a light sanding. For the new room addition, however, I wanted antique wood with a different look--wide boards and a richer hue. Back I went to Longleaf Lumber. It turned out they had just the thing--450 square feet of antique chestnut which they had taken out of an old building in West Virginia. My contractor graciously agreed to work with this somewhat difficult wood, and now I have a beautiful rustic floor.
At a salvage warehouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, I spotted a complete set of fireplace tiles featuring my favorite motif, the morning glory vine, done in incredibly delicate relief work. I bought the set without knowing where I would use them because they were so beautiful. Eventually they found a place, framed and mounted as a continuous image on the soffit above my kitchen sink. Antique tiles are often sold individually. Browse through several web sites or books to learn about the many styles, glazes, and functions of antique tiles--and the price ranges. In salvage warehouses, antique tiles often have old grout on them and are covered with old smoke residue. Here's a great tip I got from a tile dealer--put old dirty tiles in a big old pot of boiling water and remove with tongs after they've been in the water for 5 minutes or so. The old grout and residue will then come off easily with a bristle brush--no harsh chemicals needed!
Through the internet I found a pair of sconces with hand painted glass shades for the downstairs bathroom, and a funky deco ceiling light for the laundry room. Internet purchases are tricky--be careful about size and dimension. The pair of sconces I purchased for a bedroom wall turned out to be too big. No returns with antiques! Light fixtures, old or new, are the most difficult element to choose in any remodeling or decorating project. It took me months to find the right dining room pendant light--my first two choices didn't work and I ended up reselling the fixtures--at a loss--each time.
A trip to the Brimfield Antiques Market yielded another salvage item--this time an unusual stained glass panel with a water lily image done in the Arts and Crafts style. A skillful carpenter was able to mount the piece as a swing-out interior panel over the bottom sash of the upstairs bathroom window. The stained glass design adds color to the room and provides privacy without the addition of curtains. I can open the window sash behind it and latch it in place in front of the screen. This idea worked because the window had been made for the same size window in a similar Craftsman house.
Architectural salvage lends itself to the creative repurposing of objects. With the pile of antique Bennington doorknobs I'd collected, the same carpenter created a unique coat rack next to the front door. Cast iron brackets were used to support wooden shelves in closets. An old restaurant order wheel became a tool holder in my basement workshop and old granite cobblestones bought through Craig's List line some of my garden beds.
While it's true that these recycled items were a minor part of the remodeling project, they helped connect me with earlier periods of house construction and design. I didn't use them in a purist historical fashion, but I like to think that they add to the historic charm of my home and saved some natural resources in the process.
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