11 of the Best Historic Home Before and After Transformations We’ve Ever Seen
Great before and after projects are always impressive, but it’s especially remarkable when homeowners are working with old (sometimes very old) “befores” and still manage to preserve a home’s original details and feel while updating the space.
During throwback month, AT has rounded up some of our favorite historic home transformations and homeowner tips. These homes have painstakingly restored details, from massive fireplaces to pocket doors to grand entryways to of-the-era vintage light fixtures — plus some ghost stories to boot. From the 1870s to the 1950s, these homes bring history to life.
1. A 1909 house with Victorian details has its ‘creepy, sexy, vintage vibes’ restored.
Jennifer Laskey and Hunter Grantham Hall moved into their 1909 Los Angeles home, dubbed the Historic Hobart Wallworth Home, three years ago, and have made its original woodwork, windows with diamond-shaped panes, majestic fireplace, and stained glass built-ins truly sing. “I feel really strongly that the design has to be partly based on the architecture and the bones of the house,” Jenn says. Their Craftsman-style home has must-see dining, living, and sitting rooms that have hardly changed (in the best possible way) since the house was first built.
2. A decaying house built in 1881 was transformed with a moody, maximalist remodel.
Homeowner Mick Whitcomb‘s home and career are based in mechanical and scientific innovations of the 18th and 19th centuries. “I have always been enthralled by the small window of time that birthed the technologies we live by today,” he says. From the moment you walk in, you can see Whitcomb’s curiosities on display in his restored 1881 home — which used to belong to the family of a member of the Brick Mason’s society. After the mason was killed on the job, the society built a home for his surviving family. “Because they specialized in industrial buildings, the architectural design of the building is far more similar to commercial buildings of the 19th century than the popular Victorian styles of the late 1800s,” Mick says.
3. A dark, dated California Craftsman is now a cozy, bright home.
In her 1912 California craftsman, designer Victoria Cho combines the house’s original bungalow feel with Californian and European mid-century modernism and the perfectly imperfect principle of Wabi-Sabi. When she and her partner, Ryan, first moved in, “the house was VERY dated, and not necessarily well taken care of,” she says. Victoria says she spent all of her free time thinking about the design and layout. “There were endless nights of researching, reviewing bids, and placing orders for finishes, hardware, etc,” she says. “This was the first time I was this intimately involved in the design of my home.”
4. An old 500-square-foot rental studio is now a dreamy Paris-inspired pied-à-terre.
When Savannah, Georgia, resident Heather toured her 1870s Italianate apartment, she signed the lease on the spot — and she has spent the COVID quarantine months redoing every inch to feel 100 percent like her. Her inspiration for her renovations? A magical solo trip to the Chateau de Gudanes in France in July 2019. Heather’s pied-á-terre mixes fancy French details with moody, spooky historic Savannah vibes. “Savannah is the most haunted city in the United States, and I have witnessed some pretty bizarre things,” Heather says. “We do have some interesting residents that cannot be seen but definitely heard.”
5. A 1920s bungalow gets a groovy, earthy update fit for a family of three.
Musicians Jacki Warren and Jacob Bullard’s 1920 bungalow is filled with cool vintage and secondhand goods — plus renter-friendly upgrades that completely transform the place. “I think I’m pretty good at making a space on a very small budget, but there’s only so much I can do as a renter. I still improvise though!” Jacki says. “I wasn’t allowed to paint the dated cherry stained cabinets so I just used removable black contact paper instead! Where there’s a will!” See more of the impressive transformations here.
6. A NYC rental apartment’s transformation includes uncovering envy-inducing original details.
New Yorker Hattie Kolp has lived in her 1910s Upper West Side apartment since she was 10 years old. After her parents retired and moved out of the city, Hattie continued living in the apartment (paying the rent-controlled price!) and has focused on making it her own. “I have devoted my nights, weekends, and summers for the past two years … undoing the damage from previous tenants and restoring it back to its original condition,” Hattie says. One of her favorite projects? Unearthing original pocket doors. “This apartment used to be dark and divided, and now with the all the doors open, it feels light and fluid,” she says.
7. A run-down cabin gets a cozy refresh that maximizes its 1,000 square feet.
Rachel Baiman and George Jackson‘s little red cabin is in a town situated outside of Nashville, and it is very near the former home of musician John Hartford — one of Rachel’s musical heroes, whom her dog, Hartford, happens to be named after. When Rachel and George saw the place, they knew it was meant to be — but would take some major work. It “was in terrible condition and about to be torn down for new development,” Rachel says. But by virtue of a four-month negotiation process, a lot of help from family and friends, and “a lot of luck” they landed the cabin and have restored it to match the other historic Tennessee homes in the neighborhood — complete with knotty pine wood walls fit for a cabin with such a stunning view.
8. A tiny, dated firehouse goes from dingy to charming, thanks to thrifted finds.
In a past life, Boston dweller Tim’s 398-square-foot condo in Jamaica Plain was a fully functioning firehouse. Before it was decommissioned in the 1950s, it housed one of the Boston’s first automated firetrucks. The eight-foot-wide arched window in the living area and kitchen was the station’s old front door. And Tim worked hard to showcase its original structural charm, including exposed brick, high ceilings, and wood floors. “[It] was my first foray into any type of interior design,” he says. “I completely fell in love with the process. I bought nothing new, opting instead to spend way too many hours visiting local secondhand shops and estate sales as well as scouring Craigslist for necessary and unnecessary goods and wares.”
9. A rough New Mexico house got a much-needed ‘desert modern’ refresh.
When Kelly Siebe found this Albuquerque home, she was looking for a project. “I have always lived in historic homes (this one is from the 1930s), and fixing up historic properties is one of my great passions in life,” she says. “It had great bones, like a good layout, lots of light for plants, great hardwood floors, and original cabinetry. It just needed some updating and some love.” Because the house is fairly small — at 990 square feet total — Kelly was able to do a large remodel on a small, affordable scale.
10. A 720-square-foot house untouched for decades got an incredible remodel
Isabelle Dahlin and her husband Brandon Boudet’s 1920 Craftsman-style LA home had not been updated for decades when they bought it. “Everyone thought we were crazy,” Isabelle says. Although she knew it was going to be a total fixer-upper, she could see the potential in the space. One of her favorite parts of the remodel? The added light. “The house was very dark and dingy, so we also ended up opening up the ceilings to expose the original beams and put in skylight windows, which completely transformed the place,” she says.
11. A neglected 1924 Spanish casita got a beautiful budget reno
Taylor Kitto and her partner Philip Wahl are drawn to their 1924 home’s old-world European charm. They spent almost a year remodeling it, working around built-ins and add-ons that “didn’t quite make sense to the home’s history,” Taylor says. “We worked tirelessly to let her shine again.” One of the most challenging parts of the remodel was getting the kitchen just right, as Taylor spends a lot of time there as a nutritionist — but the end result is stunning, with saltillo tiles that match the style of the original house and enviable organization. “This home has taught me to slow down and enjoy the simple things, from gardening, hanging clothing outside to dry, and being patient with our very old oven that can be a bit fickle,” Taylor says.