A Period Piece -- From Doors To Doorknobs, This Wallingford Craftsman Home Is Truly Restored

SEATTLE'S OLDER homes are usually remodeled and renovated. Rarely do owners take the time or devote academic scholarship to faithfully restore, replicate and reconstruct, using authentic reproduction pieces when the right hardware, molding or doorknob is not available. Cost and time have a lot to do with such decisions, but at the heart is the person's curiosity to delve into the history of the house, its style, and the period in which it was built.

For Olivia Dresher, restoration and reconstruction seemed the only way to go.

When she acquired her 1918 Wallingford Craftsman in 1992 for $168,000, the 2-bedroom, 1-bath house had been the testing ground for the previous owner/architect's "When I get to it" school of refurbishing. The exterior and nearly every room was taken apart but never completed. "It was a complete disaster. Wires were hanging everywhere, ceilings were falling down, woodwork was painted over. We truly rescued a dead house," Dresher recalls.

The upside of its condition, and the principal reason why Dresher bought the house in the first place was that, after looking at nearly 100 houses, "This was the only one that hadn't been muddled totally." At least most of the woodwork and a good number of the windows were intact. And there were no cottage-cheese ceilings.

Still, Dresher says, "It took vision to see what this house would become." She, her design partner Victor Munoz and interior designer Laurie Taylor of Ivy Hill Interiors made the transformation happen over the next two years, assisted by Chambers Building Contractors.

In the restoration, they decided to use authentic period pieces wherever possible, and they involved many craftspeople and artists who specialize in Arts and Crafts-period building parts, hardware, furniture, textiles, wall and floor coverings and accessories. When they couldn't find what they wanted locally, they tracked down the best sources nationally. Their searches are evident even before people enter the house, at the replica Craftsman door from Omega Too, a Berkeley, Calif., firm.

On the main floor, the living room, dining room, kitchen and stair received attention first. Improper south-facing windows were replaced with double-pane windows from Cherry Creek Door & Window Co. Inc. of Vashon Island that closely matched the originals in the living room, with new brass hardware to match. Oak floors were refinished, the mottled buff bricks of the fireplace were cleaned, and cracked floor tiles replaced with new ones from Ann Sacks Tile & Stone.

Dresher and Taylor searched unsuccessfully to find new carpets with an appropriate William Morris pattern. Finally they settled on a Chinese rug with a pretty floral pattern. A month after the purchase, the owner of HOMA Oriental Rugs called about some Arts and Crafts period reproduction rugs he had gotten in that he thought would interest them. They were perfect, and Dresher bought rugs for the living room, music room and stairs.

As rare as they are in modern homes, Dresher and Taylor had heavy draperies, or "portieres," made to separate the dining and living rooms from the kitchen. These were made locally and embroidered by Ann Wallace of St. Paul, Minn. Throughout the house, draperies and under curtains are hung from brass or wood rings and rods, and opened with imported wood baton pulls in the traditional manner.

The stairs needed additional support posts to hold them up, and a design in a Stickley bungalow book did the trick. Hand-blocked marigold pattern wallpapers by Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers of Benicia, Calif., form the backdrop to the new posts. At the head of the stairs is a reproduction of a Gustav Stickley armoire built by Jerome Larusson, a woodworker who specializes in Arts and Crafts reproduction furniture.

The dining room was the least altered room in the house, although its fir box beams had been painted, along with the built-in buffet. The furniture had long ago lost drawers and beveled glass doors. By researching similar built-ins of the period, they reconstructed the hutch, its dividers, doors and cabinet faces. Crown City Hardware Co. in Pasadena, Calif., was the source for reproduction hinges for the hutch and for most of the new hardware in the house, including the period kitchen. The refinished wood beams and moldings have been paired with Compton wallpapers by William Morris to make this one of the most authentic-looking Arts and Crafts period rooms.

For Dresher, it was important that nothing in the house be modern. "All the latches, the switchplates are old-fashioned. I don't have anything modern in the kitchen, no garbage disposal or dishwasher. I love washing dishes by hand. I have a 1923 stove." She had the five-panel doors that were part of the original house replicated. Paneled kitchen cabinets have new nickel pulls. Even the Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezer has old-fashioned panels and cane to match the cabinets.

Dresher had the west-end wall of the house removed to add an office, powder room and breakfast nook. She commissioned Jerome Larusson to create a built-in table and seating with storage underneath, modeled after an original upstairs window seat. Larusson decorated the table with squares and a leaf cut-out reminiscent of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and English Arts and Crafts period design. Complementing the nook are William Morris willow-patterned curtains.

Upstairs, the master bedroom is now Dresher's library and music teaching room. It has some wonderful Arts and Crafts period touches, including a Mackintosh rose frieze from a stencil by Helen Foster Stencils of Tilton, N.H. Matching curtains and pillows were stenciled by Mary Oakley on monk's cloth (a type of cotton) purchased from Arts and Crafts textile designer Dianne Ayres of Berkeley, Calif. Ayres did the embroidery surrounding the stencil design.

The bathroom has been totally redone with beadboard and wainscoting. Reproduction toilet, tub and fixtures are from local outlets, such as Bogart Bremmer & Bradley and Johnson & Johnson. Only the refinished medicine cabinet is original.

Dresher looks back at the year-long project that grew to nearly two years before she finally moved in this June. She recalls the continuous round of weekly meetings with Taylor to talk about fabrics, wall and floor coverings, and paint colors, and the expensive decisions made along the way. That amounted to over $300,000 for basic construction and reconstruction and an additional $12,000 for interior design work, exclusive of designer fees.

"Every little detail has been totally researched and given care, down to the bumper stops and the latches. It's just the way I wanted it."

Lawrence Kreisman is author of six publications on regional architecture and historic preservation. He writes regularly for Pacific. Greg Gilbert is a Seattle Times photographer. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Everything Arts and Crafts

The second annual Pacific Coast Arts and Crafts Exposition is Oct. 7 to 9 at the Scottish Rite Temple, 1155 Broadway E. It will be the West Coast's largest invitational show and sale of Arts and Crafts furniture, art pottery, metalwork, lighting, textiles and decorative objects. Six lectures will cover aspects of the Arts and Crafts movement and its contributions to architecture and design. Tickets by advance reservation are $65, including a gala preview, admissions to the lectures and a three-day pass. Admission to show and sale only on Saturday and Sunday is $8 at the door. For more information and registration call 726-ARTS. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A Resource List

Here are some of the many firms and craftspeople who supplied their talents and materials to this job.

Dianne Ayres Arts & Crafts Period Textiles 5427 Telegraph Ave., No. W2 Oakland, CA 94609 (510) 654-1645

Antique Lighting Co. Inc. 1000 Lenora St., No. 314 Seattle, WA 98121 622-8298

Art Tile Co. Inc. 8503 Roosevelt Way N.E. Seattle, WA 98115 523-3032

Ann Sacks Tile & Stone 115 Stewart St. Seattle, WA 98101 441-8917

Bogart, Bremmer & Bradley 8000 15th Ave. N.W. Seattle, WA 98117 783-7333

Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers P.O. Box 155 Benicia, CA 94510 (707) 746-1900

Bross Light Gallery 131 S. First St. Milwaukee, WI 53204 (414) 271-8300

Cherry Creek Door & Window Co. Inc. 9409 S.W. 188th St. Vashon Island, WA 98070 463-3821

Craftsman Antiques 1520 E. Olive Way Seattle, WA 98122 324-4961

Crown City Hardware Co. 1047 N. Allen Ave. Pasadena, CA 91104 (818) 794-1188; (213) 684-1515

Helen Foster Stencils 71 Main St. Sanford, ME 04073 (207) 490-2625

Ivy Hill Interiors Laurie Taylor, Owner 243-6768

Johnson & Johnson Antiques 6820 Greenwood Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98103 789-6489

Jerome Larusson Larusson Design 6051 Sixth Ave. N.W. Seattle, WA 98107 783-3083

Omega Too 2204 San Pablo Ave. Berkeley, CA 94702 (510) 843-3636

Rejuvenation Lamp & Fixture Co. 1100 S.E. Grand Portland, OR 97214 (503) 231-1900

Seattle Building Salvage 202 Bell St. Seattle, WA 98121 448-03453

Seattle Stained Glass 2510 N. 45th St. Seattle, WA 98103 633-2040

L. & J.G. Stickley, Inc. Stickley Drive P.O. Box 480 Manlius, N.Y. 13104-0480 (315) 682-5500

Ann Wallace Textiles for the Home 767 Linwood Ave. Saint Paul, MN 55105 (612) 228-9611