Name: Michael Cote
Location: Manchester, New Hampshire
Size: 2,800 square feet
Years lived in: 6 — owned
Who else lives there: Hunter, a Golden Retriever
Michael Cote is a finish carpenter, a custom kitchen installer, and apparently a person who does not shy away from large projects. For seven years he had been living in a modest home on the East side of Manchester admiring a beautiful but dilapidated Victorian across his yard. When it went up for sale, he bought it. Six years later he has turned it into a grand Victorian.
Defined by spacious rooms, high ceilings, and elaborate attention to detail, this Victorian period home (circa 1895) has become Michael's main source of design inspiration. The home boasts rich colors of red and natural wood throughout. The main floor is comprised of a front hall, small den, a parlor or sitting room, a dining room, an eat in kitchen with butler's pantry, a half bath, back mud room and back staircase. The upstairs has three bedrooms and a bathroom and a small, separate one bedroom apartment which he rents out. For this tour I will only be sharing the main living space, as the upstairs isn't ready for showing.
There is a lot to take in here but allow me to point out some special details. He has replaced all of the windows with beautiful wood sashes and grills and all of the doorways have large elaborate headers. The lighting in the kitchen is exceptional with under cabinet lighting on a dimmer, overhead recessed lighting and even in-cabinet lighting which reflects beautifully through the glass shelves. The wallpaper in the dining room is stunning and most of the furniture is accurate to the era. Michael has done all of the restoration himself including building the kitchen, wallpapering, painting, and refinishing all the woodwork and flooring.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
Favorite Element: The home itself, the woodwork, the Victorian period.
Biggest Challenge: The outdoor siding! I have been working on it slowly for the past 5 years.
What Friends Say: They can't believe how much character the house has. They comment that the kitchen, event though it's new, looks like it belongs to the house.
Biggest Embarrassment:The front porch. It's rotting and the house looks like a dump from that side. (It looks decent from the other sides though!)
Proudest DIY: The kitchen. It was the biggest and most expensive project in the house and it turned out exactly how I wanted it. It's my favorite room.
Biggest Indulgence: The kitchen. I didn't skimp on anything in this room. I have two dishwashers, a wine cooler, a pot filler, a professional range, and dual wall ovens.
Best Advice: The longer you take to renovate a room or a house, the better it comes out.
Dream Source: No dream source, just a dream that all of the major work will be finished soon so that I can focus on regular, normal house maintenance.
Resources:
Appliances: Carriage House Kitchen and Bath, Manchester
Furniture: Antique stores and I bought the grandfather clock from Delaney Antique Clocks in Townsend, Massachusetts.
Lighting: It's mostly recessed lighting. The kitchen pendants are from an antique store who claimed they were in the Vanderbilt Estate in NYC which was torn down.
Rugs and Carpets: Auctions
Tiles and Stones: Boston Exchange
Window Treatments: JC Penny
Paint: Benjamin Moore Aura
Flooring: All original except the kitchen
Thanks, Michael!
Images: Violet Marsh Photography
Marina Replicates Her Boston Home 
30 DIY Projects for the 3-Day Weekend
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Hunter Bennie Garde...
Make Chocolate Magic Shell Ice Cream Topping with Only 2 Ingredients
Magic One-Ingredient Ice Cream 5 Ways: Peanut Butter, Nutella, and More
Comments (29)
Wow - It's a beautiful home...
I love the wallpapers, wooden casings and wainscots and traditional fixtures & furnishings
...but where are the crown mouldings???
It's gorgeous!
wow is right--this place is drop-dead gorgeous! don't like the leafy decorations on the kitchen windows & other places but everything else is just beautiful.
I love the richness of colors used! I think my favorite part is the view from the Parlor towards the dining room - the echoing of colors and stripes makes everything just flow together! Very appealing!
there is a lot to be proud of
would love to see some
befores
Not all victorian homes had crown molding, depending on the region, specific style of victorian, etc. Molding placed down from the ceiling as a picture rail, is a popular alternate detail, or not moldings at all.
A lot of cool details, but a little TOO much for me.
The pictures of the kitchen sink made me laugh. I think because no one wiped them out before taking pictures, but I'm not entirely sure...
Wow, beautiful. I would love to see the "before" photos!
What a great job. I'm not grown up enough for it though.
Quite charming. You did a terrific job Michael and most of all, your home appears warm and inviting as well as interesting.
Absolutely beautiful, it's like stepping back in time and adding modern conveniences. I cannot thank you enough for restoring all of that beautiful wood and not painting it over!
I hate to be the single voice of dissent, but if you're going to restore a place keeping with the period details, why not source some kitchen details that are a bit more harmonious? All that stainless and granite, like putting hiphuggers and hooker shoes on a sweet old lady.
"why not source some kitchen details that are a bit more harmonious" ~What do you mean, like an icebox?
This is a lovingly restored home, thank you for sharing and AT, thank you for featuring even though it isn't lilliputin. Inspiration fills the soul!
i love the butler's pantry - that's the perfect kitchen to me :)
This is a really nice house. I love the dining room and the fireplace.
http://stitchmomshop.etsy.com
Beautiful job with this restoration. I can see you put your heart and soul into this home.
Oh this looks to me like a place to eat, drink and party in decadence!
http://www.notyourgoddess.blogspot.com/
beautiful home!
Wonderful that you found and restored a style home that suites your furniture and style. Beautiful details.
One thing the fake plants in the kitchen are weird and dust collectors, I was thrown off by that.
What's a house tour of a Victorian without pictures of the outside?
"like putting hiphuggers and hooker shoes on a sweet old lady". C'mon, just because he's trying to stay true to the original character of the house doesn't mean he has to stick with all period details. Should he put in a coal-burning furnace and oil lamps too? You can get the look of 1895 without having to live like it's 1895.
You can have modern conveniences without sacrificing period charm. Soapstone counters, butcher block counters, panel front appliances, oil-rubbed bronze hardware. Stainless steel sinks? C'mon, I'm talking about finishes, I'm not saying he should be stirring a cast iron cauldron over a wood fire. Work with me here people.
jacksonlalnode - the guy's business is custom kitchens. I think he knew all the options, what works and doesn't and chose what he wanted. I love period, but panel front appliances are hooker shoes rather than charming to me.
Just one guy's opinion. I'm glad you're able to disagree with me so vehemently, but it would be great if you were also able to articulate your own specific opinions of the project rather than just your opinions of my opinions : )
You are very talented. I love the modern twist in the kitchen. You have honored the bones of the house and that is what is important. That dinning room is great and would be very cozy during meals.
Wow, so relieving to see something besides midcentury modern on AP once in a while! Am I the only one getting tired of it?
As far as the granite goes (which I personally think is kind of a copout in most kitchens), the black countertops look just lovely against the creamy cabinets.
That fireplace is to die for. Great job.
Gorgeous kitchen. Love the white cabinets and dark counters.
The house looks updated, comfortable and nicely done - head to toe victorian would be museum-like...and boring. The only thing that perplexes me is the butler's pantry - I had to go back and read the captions - I thought you had subdivided part of the house into an apartment - but then I realized it is in the same space ...the white cabinets make it stand out rather than tucked away which is how I think a butler's pantry should be - ---did you remove a wall? I would have done differently but still I am sure it flows in person.
That mantelpiece in the dining room is STUNNING.