Our Historic Victorian House Tour Part Deux 2nd Floor and Ballroom S1 Ep12

[@nanasewdear]

I love that, for the Victorians, no space was too insignificant to adorn with lovely decoration. #EyeCandy!!!

[@kristindacus8642]

I am amazed that every little detail was thought out and executed so beautifully. You are blessed to have such a jewel to live in and restore.

[@susanschultz1762]

Wonderful! What a beautiful house!!

[@Libby-sw9yg]

How absolutely beautiful !!! You can feel the love that people put into their workmanship. Puts new builds to shame. ❤

[@stevenkaskus6173]

Always cracks me up to hear how our modern families took stuff out or blocked off something in order to "Protect"the children when the older families and precious generations were able to have kid's and those same features.

[@MaxineYager]

Your home is magnificent!

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@@MaxineYager thank you and thanks for watching

[@karenwright9123]

I really,really like your house. I really love all the wood, the staircase is marvelous!!! The carvings and the mantles, divine. All the porches. You know I was thinking, you could spend everyday in a different room or a different porch and never ever get bored,there'll always be somewhere to go and something to do right, inside the house. That lovely little tower room would be a purrfect reading nook. You definitely need to find yourself a fainting couch,too. Enjoy,enjoy. 😁

[@helen1962]

You found a gem! Thank goodness they are still out there and good people save them.

[@shesshyshescrafty9084]

Absolutely Gorgeous ... what a blessing it must be to live in this Beautiful Victorian mansion .. Love it ! 😍

[@jeannecox136]

You have a beautiful home .What a great adventure for your family ,thanks for sharing !

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@jeannecox136 thank you and that's for watching

[@LeahSease]

Absolutely Gorgeous way to go you both are doing incredible work what a Masterpiece it is

[@JamesABeckHouse]

Thank you so much!

[@stevenkaskus6173]

Thank you for giving us a tour of your beautiful home

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@stevenkaskus6173 and thank you for watching.

[@terrig4750]

Wow absolutely beautiful home you got a good one I'm currently in a 1905 home but it's grandure I'd call it is sparsely here lost during different owners over the years modernizing it but yours has so much original and good condition you are very good care takers for that gorgeous house thank you for sharing.

[@JamesABeckHouse]

Thank you. Yeah theres plenty of things over the years that have been done. some for modern convenience and other modifications for just personal convenience. Which are some of the first things we are DE-renovating.

[@melodyfisher1512]

Amazing, beautiful home! Thank you for sharing it !😊

[@ritasnellgrove6343]

I seem to remember painting porch ceilings light blue is very traditional in the south.

[@beckyclemmons8829]

Yes, it was done to deter the bugs,bees, wasps. I hope they leave it!

[@JamesABeckHouse]

the chemical (lye)used in older paints is what deterred the insects not the color itself. We covered this in another video when we start stripping the "Haint Blue" and repainted the porch ceilings their original color from 1896

[@ddmr7902]

Was that outdoor roof space a sleeping porch or an airing porch? I know little about either, except that an "airing porch" was used to freshen mattresses and other fabrics from the 2nd floor. P.S. Love your videos and thanks for the grand tour!

[@KMF3]

I really like the purple tile

[@JamesABeckHouse]

same not sure when exactly it was put in but theres a house up the street built in the 1920s that was the exact same size and color so guessing thats the case here

[@georgiasmalley8984]

Great house ❤

[@joycedudzinski9415]

Door opening to flat roof used to bring coal bundles or other heavy items to higher floors. Also putting out chimney fires. So many uses... Thanks for the lovely tour. House will be an absolute gem when done.

[@JamesABeckHouse]

its original purpose I think will surprise you and will be next weeks video.

[@juliahelland6488]

It's truly a labor of love! 💯❣️ I believe they may have painted the ceiling of the balcony blue to mimic the sky so birds wouldn't build their nests there. 😅 I'm also working on an old house and wondering what is your favorite paint stripper? Any paint stripping tips ir tricks you can share?😊 Thanks for sharing! 💯 ❣️

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@juliahelland6488 Kaleb over @secondempirestrikesback has a great video on the strippers he uses which I also use and will have a video soon on a paint stripper project I just started

[@janewasson4845]

Rookwood is a tile, ceramic and pottery maker from Cincinnati. They've been around since the 1880s. Asked because some fireplace tile here is Rookwood. An antique dealer might help.

[@markbrautigam2502]

Lovely house, the original floor plan doesn’t give a lot of choices for a bed against walls . Love the house

[@JamesABeckHouse]

Thats true for most of the rooms in the house as there are not that many walls that dont have doors, windows, or vents.

[@karenhusmann6881]

Loved the tour. Beautiful home.Thanks for sharing.

[@JamesABeckHouse]

Thanks for watching!

[@Goldie...]

What a Beautiful home! Thanks for the tour,it was fun to see!

[@JamesABeckHouse]

Thanks for watching

[@KMF3]

What an ingenious little contraption in your laundry room that looks very old but is new. I love it.

[@JamesABeckHouse]

We love this. Found it on etsy and is a reproduction from an original 1880s. There might be other sellers but this is the one we got www.etsy.com/listing/829426663/vintage-victorian-clothes-airer-kit-no?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=victorian+laundry+rack&ref=sr_gallery-1-4&content_source=1335bd40dca77bcb0258d8564db527050124b950%253A829426663&search_preloaded_img=1&organic_search_click=1

[@KMF3]

Wow lovely lovely cedar closet.

[@KMF3]

That balcony off of the bathroom looks a little dangerous. But with some railing it would be an awesome space.

[@JamesABeckHouse]

Thanks for watching and noticing more on it will be our next video.

[@kellyschroer2114]

What an awesome house! I would love to live in a home like this! We actually drove through Fairfield about a month ago and I totally forgot this is where you guys live. Wish I would have known we were going to take that route home and then we would have driven by your lovely house.

[@lisaknell1809]

I love your home!! ❤❤ A cousin owns a Queen Anne which has a ballroom very similar to yours. It is also accessed via a small back staircase. This surprises me, as I thought Victorians wanted really fancy “public” spaces. Thanks for the tour!!

[@JamesABeckHouse]

I think location and house size plays a big part in that

[@allonesame6467]

Awesome!

[@siameseire]

💛💛💛

[@KMF3]

I love those old button push light switches. Is it possible to get them and retrofit them into a modern house?

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@@KMF3 yes new modern reproductions are available

[@janewasson4845]

Hi, fellow Iowan and neighbor!! Love it!!! How fantastic!!! Ours is an 1898 Vic, we had to give the upstairs bathroom back to the 80s, but at least it had a clawfoot tub. Is the fireplace tile Rookwood? ❤️

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@@janewasson4845 I’m not sure about the tile. Is that a mfg? We have a box of unused tiles from all the fireplaces. So do have makers marks I’ll have to check

[@KetsuekiRose]

before deciding if you want to "fix" it, maybe read up on "haint blue porch ceilings" so you'll know the history. Lovely house!

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@@KetsuekiRose we have, and fully aware of its history, meanings, and reasons. As mentioned in a previous video they are getting repainted their original color as at least these porch ceilings were never painted “Haint Blue”

[@natesteiner5460]

The wallpaper in the upstairs hallway, back stairs and sewing room looks to be quite a bit older than 64. The ghost of the top railing over the port cochere is visible where it met the wall to the right of the door.

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@natesteiner5460 that's what we thought as well. Until the owner from 1964 came to visit (now 92) and was surprised that it was still up and mentioned that she picked it out when they first moved in.

[@rfyock009]

What is a gangum in the laundry / sewing room?

[@heathergreen6394]

Wow

[@rannublh678]

I need that fan from the bathroom!

[@JamesABeckHouse]

Its really nice and was a special order through Home Depot www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Decorators-Collection-Windhaven-20-in-Outdoor-Espresso-Bronze-Ceiling-Fan-with-Remote-Control-YG658-EB/305364100

[@dallen3390]

So beautiful! Where did that "paddle boat style" ceiling fan come from?? That's so cool! Do you have any info on it?

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@dallen3390 it was a special order through home depot. www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Decorators-Collection-Windhaven-20-in-Outdoor-Espresso-Bronze-Ceiling-Fan-with-Remote-Control-YG658-EB/305364100

[@PT-rg8ib]

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

[@regankeef4538]

Is it a widdow's walk? Above the porte cochere.

[@JamesABeckHouse]

Thats one, but before that it was even something else an we will be covering more of this feature in our next video

[@lauries6517]

It would be cool to keep one blue porch ceiling, just for the conversation and history of them. Will you ever use the fireplaces?

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@@lauries6517 out of the 4 chimneys only 1 has been resigned for use. But all 4 were restored and rebuilt in the 2000s

[@KMF3]

What is your idea about the wallpapered and carpeted rooms?

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@@KMF3 haven’t put to much thought into the upper rooms yet. But have found some remnants of what was originally there that will likely be the inspiration when we get to those rooms.

[@willemvandevere]

Those covers over your fire places. They are ,I suspect, not summer covers. Those would be coal fire places. I could be wrong....

[@JamesABeckHouse]

Correct they are/were coal fireplaces But the cover is also still referred to as a summer cover.

[@lisalackas4036]

Aww, hell no! That's too high up for me to not get dizzy! Geez Louise, put a railing up to hang onto! What's the population in Fairfield?

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@@lisalackas4036 population around 10k

[@lisalackas4036]

@@JamesABeckHouse Not big but a lot bigger than where I used to live. Wausa, NE when we lived there there was a whopping 690 peeps. And Magnet, NE about 7 miles away had 90.

[@heatherjones6647]

What you call the "ballroom" is servants' quarters. Guests in their best clothes would NOT be asked to climb up a set of attic stairs. It's just not that grand a house, even by Victorian era middle class standards. It IS a beautiful home for a prosperous family of the time.

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@heatherjones6647 no it was a "ballroom" we have lots of newspaper clippings dating back to its build of large parties and dances on the " 3rd floor ballroom" the servants room was likely the laundry room. Though agreed the stairs are narrow for that purpose

[@laceyjane4285]

I have loved everything victorian for years, I would research for hours. I used to sell victorian clothing. That being said this is a grand victorian house however, that absolutely is not a ballroom. That is the servants quarters. Possibly, that was written on the plans as an inside joke to the owners wife. Ballrooms were a very grand affair. Beautiful wallpaper, tile or parquet floors, gorgeous high windows and beautiful woodwork. You do have a very beautiful victorian home. There really wasn't a middle class back in the day either you were poor or you were wealthy. Original floor plans always have the rooms size. No matter, you have a room large enough to do about anything with. You could take up rollar skating !

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@@laceyjane4285 dating back to at least the 1950s there was definitely roller skating on the 3rd floor.

[@KMF3]

Wow that's really going to be a project stripping paint off things. That is like my least favorite thing to do.

[@helen1962]

Mine too!

[@JamesABeckHouse]

its my lot in life

[@juliahelland6488]

​@JamesABeckHouse I've been stripping old windows. Ugh! I was wondering what brand of strpper to you like best, and do you have any tips or tricks you'd like to share?😊 Thanks for sharing your beautiful home! 😍

[@JamesABeckHouse]

@juliahelland6488 I've had really good luck with the IR paint stripper pro on the window sashes

[@KMF3]

@@juliahelland6488 I like Citrus strip