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House Charming

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A young family falls for an 1871 Old Village single house and transforms its disjointed quirks into divine living spaces

Photographs by
Peter Frank Edwards
The McCullough family—Clay, Catherine, Cameron (almost four), and Rodgers (two)—in front of their revamped Old Village home, built in post-Civil War Mount Pleasant as the storied neighborhood was just beginning to take shape.
A view of the 19th-century house from Whilden Street
Just inside the front entrance is a formal parlor, dressed in a cool palette of Dutch Tile blue and chocolate brown and outfitted with a pair of armchairs handed down by Catherine's great, great aunt.
Rather than dramatically expand the kitchen (formerly a porch), the McCulloughs opted to retain the original footprint of the slim galley space. They simply widened entrance points to allow in additional light and carved out a comfy breakfast area at the end.
Just a few steps up from the kitchen is an informal den, part of a wing that was tacked onto the back of the house in a previous renovation.
Blue and white florals adorn the black four-poster bed in the guest room, while a decorative iron sphere Catherine picked up at ESD adds to the aged character of the space.
Rodgers’ room, together with his sister Cameron’s and a shared bath, comprises the top floor of the original single house. Both bedrooms are outfitted with heirloom “spool beds,” so named because the designs carved into the wood resemble a spool of thread.
Thruways upstairs are narrow and feature original 19th-century plank doors and hardware.
Hand-sawn rafters were treated to low-voltage directional lights to brighten the windowless first-floor playroom. A pair of pine pocket doors separates the cozy kids’ space from Clay’s adjoining office, which also retains much of the exposed brick original to the house.
House Charming
House Charming
A long screened-in porch off the master bedroom overlooks the newly added bluestone pool and firepit, where the family spends cool winter evenings.