More details on identifying and preserving your historic details

Michael Good | House Calls

Originality is much praised in theory. In practice? Not so much. The quirky kid, the odd adult, the outside-the-box guy, the woman who dresses every day as if she’s going to Comic Con — life can be perilous for the unique individual. Sometimes they get nurturing and acceptance and go on to invent important stuff, like Twitter. Other times, they are — metaphorically speaking — cast upon the trash heap of life.

And so it goes with houses (and not always metaphorically). Everyone talks up the idea of the original, but not everyone has the temperament, knowledge and wherewithal to preserve it. For most contractors, discovering something “original” is like finding dinosaur bones — an impediment to progress (and profit).

Last month I encouraged old house owners to take it slow, do their research and try a little detective work to discover their house’s original features. This month I provide a little more detailed information on where these original features came from and what to do when you find them.

Windows

In the first decades of the 20th century, there were a number of lumber mills and millwork manufacturers in San Diego that built windows. The windows were inevitably made of pine, whether they were destined to be stained or painted, and whether the rest of the millwork was gum, fir or oak. These businesses continued to produce windows for a good part of the 20th century, so just because your windows look old, it doesn’t mean they’re original. Windows were built here because the mills had access to wood (it was brought down by log raft from the Pacific Northwest), water (the mills were on San Diego Bay), and customers (rail lines to the north and east brought the windows to market; Pershing Drive brought the windows to construction sites in the city’s streetcar suburbs).

Some considerations: Original glass is wavy. It is held in place by a sash — a wooden frame. Large windows, particularly in the front of the house, usually have divided lights. Their design is often repeated in the doors of the china cabinet and bookcases. If your front windows are giant sheets of thick glass held in place by small strips of wood, they are probably not original. 

Moisture is a wood window’s worst enemy. It makes wood swell and leads to dry rot, fungus and termites. The point of entry is usually cracked putty on the exterior of the window sash. Unlike shellac, modern marine finishes have UV protection and repel water. A damaged finish needs to be removed before the wood can be recoated. Damaged wood needs to be removed by sanding. There may come a point where very little of the original window is left and replacing it makes sense.

Go-to guy for replicating wood windows? Shawn Woolery of San Diego Sash (619-944-8282).

Millwork

The trim molding in Craftsman houses is part of a design scheme based on classic Greek and Roman architecture. There is nothing haphazard about it. The architect, builder or carpenter carefully determine the proportions, design and general arrangement. Any pieces that are missing detract from the overall impression the room was intended to convey.

The molding’s purpose was three-fold — to provide beauty, utility and protection. Baseboards, casings and chair rails protect plaster. Picture rails, plate rails, mantels and sideboards provide a place to put stuff or hang stuff. Casework, such as bookcases and china cabinets provide storage. Over time, for various reasons, usually fashion, but sometimes for easier maintenance, homeowners removed millwork. There are often signs — saw marks, uneven reveals, plaster shadows — to tell you what is missing.

Some considerations: The types of wood used and its popularity had more to do with lumber company profits than any intrinsic superiority of a given species of wood. When new stands of timber became available, lumber companies promoted that species as fashionable. You can define an era by its wood. Victorian: Redwood; Craftsman: Douglas fir; Roaring Twenties: Philippine mahogany and Gumwood. (Both oak and Yellow Birch were used from around 1910 through the 1930s, although sparingly.)

Pine and fir were used for practical reasons, not because they were “cheap”: they held paint well, were easy to work with hand tools (compared to oak, for example), came in long, knot-free lengths (trees were over 250 feet tall), and were strong and dimensionally stable. The last of the original San Diego mills, Frost Hardwood (858-455-9060) is still in business and can mill wood to match pretty much any molding profile.

Go-to guy: Carpenter William Van Dusen (619-443-7689) can replicate your missing trim molding, doors and cabinets.

Finishes

The clear finish of choice for the first six decades of the 20th century was shellac. Original colors were much brighter and stronger than we see today. Intense red, yellows, greens and deep rich browns were popular. Over time, and after much refinishing, these “original” finishes transmogrify into the ubiquitous red mahogany you see in many old houses. (Not that red mahogany wasn’t originally used, too.)

You can sometimes find the original finish hidden under a door escutcheon. Sides of drawers, under drawer pulls and the inside of china cabinets are also good places to find the original color. Green was surprisingly popular. Not so surprising: Most homeowners today do not want their wood stained green. Although I’ve found evidence of very dark original finishes, they weren’t by any means the norm. It’s a myth that all woodwork was stained dark.

Some considerations: There are a million different stain colors available today. But your choices have been somewhat limited by the natural patina of the wood itself and the original stain that remains (usually every color but black has faded). It’s natural to think that the original finish is hidden somewhere below those seven coats of paint, but in most houses the original finish is gone, destroyed by UV light, oxygen and moisture. Today’s marine varnishes are superior to shellac. More thin coats are better than fewer thick coats. Some living and dining rooms were originally painted, even in houses from the early 20th century. The wood underneath is usually every bit as good as wood intended to be finished clear. Kept properly protected, wood trim can last forever. 

Go-to guy: That would be me, Michael Good, Craftsman Wood Refinishing (619-291-3575).

Tile

California China Products Company produced fireplace tiles in their factory in National City from 1911 to 1917. Their tiles (matte, hand-glazed, mottled in earth-tones) can be found in many craftsman style houses in San Diego, and were used by David Dryden and others working in the Morley Field area. The company was put out of business by government restrictions during the World War I, but regrouped in Los Angeles. Some of the tiles remained in storage, apparently, since they were used in San Diego into the 1920s. CCPC also did the Spanish-style tile for the Panama-California Exposition in 1915.

Batchelder tiles were used in Spanish-style houses, although most of the tile identified as Batchelder by real estate agents is really from one of the 39 other Los Angeles area tile makers. The art deco tile that was so prevalent in Spanish-style houses of the 1920s has mostly disappeared. In some houses, the bathroom, and its fantastic tile, was the showcase, not the living room.

Some considerations: Cracked tiles can sometimes be removed and replaced. Removing a tile without breaking it is an art. There are tile salvage yards, just like there are salvage yards for other architectural details and house parts. Tile colors often dictated the color scheme for the entire house, so use your fireplace tile when choosing stain and paint color. 

Go-to guy: Jim Crawford of Authentic Fireplaces (858-274-6134). He knows his bricks and mortar, too.

Hardware

Even the more opulent arts and crafts houses in San Diego had pretty simple hardware made out of stamped steel, patinated in bronze, copper, brass or nickel. Today we think quality hardware is made of brass, but that wasn’t usually the case back in the day. Builders bought hardware in bulk and stored it so they would have what they needed when putting the finishing touches on a job. This helps in identifying who built a house. David Dryden, for example, used the same art nouveau designed hardware in his houses for several years.

Some considerations: Doorknobs, escutcheons and window hardware tend to tarnish over time, and the patina wears off. They can be cleaned, stripped, boiled, repatinated, preserved in lacquer — there are lots of choices. The back of an escutcheon will give an idea of the original patina. Replacement window latches seldom line up with the holes from the originals and often have weak screws. Hinges are shimmed and bent to fit a specific door or window. So replacing them can be a challenge. Some of the more beautiful latches (based on their Internet appearance) tend to be some of the more uncomfortable to use. How something feels is just as important as how it looks when you use it every day.

Go-to gal: Elizabeth Scalice at Architectural Salvage (619-696-1313).

Lighting

Fixtures in Craftsman houses didn’t always look like they were ordered from the 1905 Stickley catalogue. Many traditional arts and crafts houses in San Diego had classically designed lighting. Fixtures were smaller than today’s reproductions. And, of course, they didn’t actually emit very much light. Also, all the sconces (technically, “wall brackets”) in one room didn’t match those in another (and they weren’t all symmetrically placed on either side of the fireplace). Lighting that appears original sometimes isn’t. (I’ve seen lighting with a 1924 patent stamped on the back in a 1920 house.) 

Some considerations: Lighting and hardware didn’t always match the style of the exterior of the house. Art deco hardware and lighting were often used in Spanish-style houses. The lighting sold by Rejuvenation is based on originals from the Pacific Northwest. A ceiling light from a Spokane hotel is not the same as a ceiling light from a North Park bungalow. Sometimes motifs that seem suited to San Diego (such as hand-painted palm fronds on a shade) were actually produced in a place without palms (such as the Midwest). By the 1920s, people decorated with an eye for the exotic, not the homespun.

Go-to guy: Jim Gibson, or Gibson & Gibson Lighting (619-422-2247). Tap Lighting in Hillcrest is also a good resource (619-692-0065).

Paint Colors

Painters mixed their colors on site, and were adept at faux painting, faux bois, rag rolling, glazing and other techniques. Stencils and hand-painted details were commonly used, even on small bungalows, but they got painted over as paint manufacturers began to market to homeowners, promoting the ease of painting with pre-mixed gallons of paint. Interior colors were often more vibrant than is common today, especially in the 1920s.

Some considerations: Original paint color and treatment can be found inside bookcases and on the back wall behind china cabinet doors and drawers, as these were sometimes installed after the wall had been painted. When looking for inspiration, Sherwin Williams’s historic color pallet is a good place to start. Exterior woodwork was often stained, not painted. Paint was gloss, not satin.

Go-to guy: Bruce Coons, who has a color consulting service (contact him through SOHO, 619-297-9327). As executive director of Save Our Heritage Organisation, Coons is also available to consult on all restoration issues through SOHO’s Sherlock Homes program (sohosandiego.org). If you don’t have the time or temperament to do your own original research, you might want to put Sherlock Homes on the case.