We’re starting the week off with a Monday mystery. This will be the first of a series of posts discussing the process of restoring and renovating the interior.

With no historic photos of the interior, we’ve relied on every little clue the house has given us in order to restore it. During past renovations, the original cased openings on the first floor were changed to arched openings. A few days ago, we removed the remaining non-historic wall studs in the front foyer to reveal the tall cased openings. Upon removal of the studs, we discovered a piece of the original base cap. With this new discovery, we can now replicate the original baseboard moulding for each room. My inner archaeological self is jumping for joy. It’s discoveries like these that make this project so exciting.

Location of original base cap hidden by non-historic wall studs in foyer

The several layers of paint on the base cap will help us determine the evolution of color in the house. So far, we have come across white, dark green, blue, turquoise and yellow paint. Previous owners must have loved the color yellow, as this piece matches the exterior of the house.

Not only did we find a big clue into the original moulding of the house, but wallpaper as well. It’s extremely delicate, but I’ll be sharing photos soon. Is it original to 1890? Time and research will tell!

Have a happy week.