If you have ever owned a historical home, there is a sense of stewardship that comes with it. For me, it’s hard to imagine someone prior to 1910 dreaming about building this house we now enjoy. But many older homes are stripped of the original architecture and details, losing historical authenticity, for more modern design and function.

The Design-Architect Unknown

In 1910 Feng Shui wasn’t a well known concept here. But the architect knew how to design this structure with a flowing floor plan. How innovative to create ways to capture the light, protect itself from the harsh summer sun/heat and feel warm and engaging in the winter~all without air-conditioning.

Multiple fireplaces provide heat. The exterior walls are 18″ thick, built with bricks and designed to allow good air flow. Imagine that.

When I come downstairs in the morning, I always take the front staircase. The bottom step places me into the eastern morning sun pouring into the windows in the Spring and Winter months. During the summer, the large 3 foot wide exterior overhang blocks the bright, blistering sun and bathes the rooms in ambient light. It is quietly magical.

One of my favorite visual sites is standing in the dining room and looking through the foyer into the living room. It is as if the architect is trying to put the rooms in a frame, like a painting.

Adding the Mechanicals

The challenge with restoring a house that is rich in history is how do you preserve its authenticity, while making it livable in the 21st century. This is the state of the house after purchasing it in 1999. There is no central air conditioning. The existing coal chute is still in the basement. All the windows are rope and pulley with single paned glass. The electrical panel has a Frankenstein switch and bees are making hives in the walls. It is uninhabitable.

Adding all new mechanicals is a critical step and we take great care to hide as much as we could. HVAC chase vents are made to look like part of the wall and architecture. The above picture shows a corner of the dining room where the HVAC chase blends in with the original trim and cove ceiling.

The Details

Beautiful detailed brass vent covers are painted with pastel colors from a previous owner. Re-plated with brass, they are stunning reminders of a different time.

All the windows require replacing and are custom made to today’s standards. Thank you, Marvin Windows. Each and every detail of the original sash, head, grill, mullion, ogee, casing, sill, stool and apron is replicated. Most of the windows are 6 or 8 panes over 1. Windows created for new parts of the house are crafted to look like they have always been there with fine moldings and windowsills.

Walls, Doors and Floors

I don’t know about you but I can tell the difference in sound when I enter a room with plaster walls vs. drywall. It is difficult to find someone that does high quality plaster work in Phoenix. Maybe it’s easier back east or in historical communities, but our contractor wanted us to remove all the lathe and plaster(with its horse hair) and replace it with drywall. Cheaper, faster and easier was his reasoning.

Many of the walls are severely cracked, or in the case of my son’s room, saturated with honey from the bees. There are many problems in fixing the plaster but in retrospect, I’m glad I held my ground. It is the subliminal and solid quietness of plaster gives a sense of strength to these walls.

The same goes for real hardwood floors vs. engineered or laminate. I can tell the minute I step on a floor whether it is the real deal or not. The light Canadian beech planks are 2 1/8″ wide and an amazing 12′ long. You can’t find lengths like that today in real hardwood. Though we matched the flooring in the new areas, they lack the patina and history as the original.

In restoring the house, we found original pocket doors buried in the walls in the dining room. This 5 panel door style is the template for all the new doors we added in the house.

The House Today

These are just a few elements of design we used to achieve historical authenticity. Are we purists? No. The kitchen and bathrooms are 21st century. We now have air conditioning vs. sleeping porches.

But I believe that when you step foot into this lovely, unique historical home, you clearly get a sense of what life was like 108 years ago. Over time, the land was carved up into other parcels and we cherish the remaining 2 acres. With Phoenix being the fastest growing city in the U.S., we only hope this land stays whole. It certainly will as long as we are living here.

We feel blessed to call Bella Terra home. As we continue to add memories here, we hope to enrich this space even more with love, laughter, kindness, joy and hope.

Sending Wednesday hugs to all! If you want to see some of the original restoration stories and pictures, check out The Restoration Chronicles, Chapters 1-5. Have a wonderful day!

Here is a peek into our home office. I have not shown this room before, probably because it tends to get messy! The home office is located upstairs between my art room and the master bedroom. As much of our home interior is painted white and neutral colors, the office space is more masculine and dark, reminiscent of an old law office. My husband uses it primarily as his main work area.

The office is a highly functioning U-shaped space with French doors leading out to the wrap around outdoor terrace. This second story location provides expansive views to the east, south and west. To see more about this terrace, click here.

The custom-made cabinets are stained a cherry/ebony color with a high gloss finish. When designing the space, we needed lots of book shelves and filing space for important documents and records.

On one side of the short U, is the copier station. All the business supplies are stored below~file folders, binders, copy paper, ink and back up school supplies.

On the other end of the U, is a small secondary workstation. Even though I don’t do much of my work there, I do consider it my space.

Here is where I display a collection of watercolors of a previous home. When I lived in Alameda, California in an 1894 Victorian, a group of plein air painters asked if they could conduct an art class in front of the house. Four artists spent the day with their chairs and easels carefully studying the lines of the house.

Each painting expresses a different perspective. But since I couldn’t decide which one I liked the best, I purchased all four of them.

Located below the bookcases are numerous filing drawers which are perfect to keep all the required documents like taxes and titles.

The main workstation has access to the desk and computer station by way of a swivel chair. Sorry for the photo quality~lack of natural light.

An old pottery crock holds all the blueprints to the property. It is time to go in and clean out old tax records and documents again. I try and do that every 3 years or so, but it is an easy job to drop down to the bottom of the procrastination list.

I hope you enjoyed seeing our home office and forgive me for the less than high quality photos. To read more about the restoration of the 2nd story master bedroom, bath and office, click here.

Part of me is tempted to paint all the cabinets a high gloss blue, but again, there is a long list of other projects that require attention. This one would be a fun design change, but certainly not necessary. What do you think?

Wishing you a great Tuesday!

This post shared with Charming Homes & Gardens Party #21

Thank you for visiting my blog on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday! I am so grateful to my faithful readers and all the new people who are joining us every week. Your comments and questions make my day. Since many of you are new, I thought it might be fun to share some oldies but goodies. Let’s call it Life at Bella Terra’s greatest hits!

Here at our home, we have the good fortunate of space where we enjoy everything from gardening to outdoor entertaining. Here are a few areas of interest.

Gardening and Chickens

My blog post Gardening 101 stemmed from the question, “does gardening take a great deal of time”? After the initial garden plan, the actual work to plant, harvest and maintain a garden is minimal and seasonal. And the benefits are enormous! To see this detailed post, click here.

Another popular post is about Composting 101, which is an ideal project to start during COVID. Being home and creating more waste, composting is the answer to having great soil for your garden. If you could recycle 30% of your trash to make rich fertilizer, why not? See that post, here.

Before and Afters

Don’t you love to look at other people’s homes? I certainly do! And it is a bonus if there are good Before and After pictures. I actually have a file where I keep renovation photos of other projects as inspiration.

Our historic home is always going through a constant renovation. However, the initial restoration was the most significant. In an attempt to capture that journey, I am writing The Restoration Chronicles. So far there are 5 chapters and if you haven’t read our story, click here for Chapter 1.

Entertaining

COVID has definitely put a monkey wrench into our socializing and entertaining. We feel blessed to be the stewards of this unique historical property and share it often to host everything from charitable events to proms. The orchard is one of the areas of the property we use for large sit-down meals. For more details about one of our dinners in the orchard, click here.

I long for the day when we can open up our home and our arms and welcome guests again. If you are dreaming of when we can all reconnect, here is an autumn entertaining post.

Cooking, Baking and Making

The summers do put a cramp in my cooking, as it is almost painful to turn on the oven in the triple-digit heat. However, the minute there is a touch of autumn in the air, I am back to baking. This past year, I learned how to bake sourdough bread from scratch, using starter that I carried home on a plane from Washington, D.C.

If you need a new project while we are all stuck at home, baking bread using a natural yeast, is so rewarding. I just recently shared more sourdough starter with someone who reached out to me and now I have a new friend. Bake bread. Make friends. Check out my post, Sourdough Starter Basics here.

Of course, there are all sorts of recipes in the files of Bella Terra. But here are a few favorites. Key Lime Pie post

Together we made Preserved Lemons (see recipe here) and then we used them in some fabulous recipes, like the one above. This delicious chicken pasta salad is ideal for the summer~as it can be eaten warm or cold. Check out the recipe here.

DIY and Home Improvement

I am not much of a crafter, but I do like to tackle projects myself, sometimes moaning along the way.

The most recent is a hand stenciled tile bathroom floor in our pool house. If you missed that post you can see it here.

We have accomplished quite a few projects this year, and several with your helpful comments. From the great advice on the vintage mailbox above, to helping select a front door color, your feedback is gold! See that post, here.

Organizing

Staying organized is such a challenge, but I am inspired to be better at it when I see others accomplishing these tasks. This year, getting the master closet organized was a big win. To see the embarrassing before pictures and the fabulous after shots, click here.

Keeping heavily used spaces like the pantry is always a challenge. But it looks so nice when it is neat and tidy. See the improvements here.

Pets

For those of you who have pets, you know how important they are to family life. Our two dogs, two cats and numerous chickens are all part of our daily existence here. The Best Kind of Friend is a blog post about the bond we have with our pets, how they shadow us daily and love us unconditionally. Read it here.

Thank you for all your kind words during Sox’s recent back injury and Tippy’s current failing health. We share in the joy of their presence and the grief of their loss.

Just Getting Through Life

You have provided loving ears to some of my life’s challenges as we enter new phases of maturity. It was only a year ago, when I was struggling with empty nesting (see post here). But with the pandemic, nearly everyone is home again! Now, next week I will do a repeat performance as we move our daughter out of the house to start her sophomore year in college. Ah, the ups and downs!

We have talked about Kindness (see post here) and how important it is to Smile (see post here) and how to age well (see post here). Even though we cannot get together physically, we have such a supportive community right here on this blog. The goal with each and every blog post is to provide you with something interesting and important. And I’ve learned so much from all of you along the way.

Again, I cannot express how delighted I am that you have been with me from the beginning and I extend a warm welcome to new readers. In a world that seems to be filled with division and anger, it is my hope that Life at Bella Terra will be a bright spot in your day.

Happy Tuesday, my friends! If you ever want to see more content on any topic~gardening, recipes, home improvement, decorating, seasonal, whatever it is, please let me know! Thank you.

This post shared with Tuesday Turn About #61

Most of my time is spent in the kitchen. I love the kitchen overall, but I have a few favorites that, if I were to design another kitchen, I would definitely include. Here is my list of top 10 items I love and use heavily in the kitchen.

Nespresso Machine

My Nespresso Machine is the one of the best birthday gifts I have ever received. Called Creatista by Nespresso and Breville, it continues to perform multiple times day after day. This machine steams the milk and creates a range of coffee choices from espresso to macchiato. A day doesn’t go by when I don’t use this machine. A very worthy investment!

My happy cups are designed by Jennifer Orkin Lewis and purchased from Anthropologie, but not sure they are still available. To see why I call these happy cups, click here.

Double Sinks with Double Faucets

I am so glad I purchased two high quality Franke stainless steel sinks (which look as good as the day I bought them). However, when I told plumber that I wanted a faucet for each sink, he thought I was nuts. Typically one faucet will serve two sinks.

My two Kohler Artifacts faucets in polished nickel allow two people to be washing dishes or using the sinks independently. Both have a 2 function pull-down spray heads. The faucets were pricey, but again, well-worth every penny!

My Pot Filler

My pot filler is located right above the stove. The arm extends over each burner so I can fill multiple pots easily. This affordable luxury allows me to fill my large cooking pots right there vs. hauling them across the kitchen. Very helpful when I am making several pots of pet food. Mine is a Chicago Faucets Softflo Pot and Kettle filler.

Compost Bin

Disguised as a door, this pull out allows me to slide all my vegetable and fruit scraps off the island counter and right into bin inside. It is a collection method that is so convenient and small enough for easy transport to the composter on a weekly basis.

Hidden Step Stool

Tucked under the toe kick on the island, this step stool pulls out and collapses to 4″ in height. My cabinet guy added a piece of toe kick trim and a handle on the front for accessibility.

It easily pops up and provides a 2-step stool for reaching those top shelves. To see a tour of my kitchen and resource this stool, click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.

My Pedestal Organizer

Just to the left of the stove, are nearly all the things I need to cook. This vintage Italian pedestal plate holds various oils and seasonings, all within reach. It is a time saver as I don’t need to go hunting for spices or condiments while cooking.

Collection of Small Bowls

I use these bowls every single day from measuring ingredients for recipes to serving nuts or dips. The bowls are collected from various places~our trip to Italy, West Elm, The Findery (Waco) and vintage stores. My friend, Connie gave me a stack of small glass Duralex bowls from France. It is still one of my all-time favorite gifts.

Salter Family Scale

I don’t think this is a vintage scale, but I sure have had it a long time. While I own a fancy digital one, I seem to use this more often. Not only is it functional and nostalgic, but also pretty sitting on top of the shelf above the stove.

Weather Station

Even though the weather in Phoenix is mostly clear and sunny (approximately 300 days per year), I check our weather monitor every day. The wireless weather station is positioned in our orchard and transmits up to 1000 feet. This monitor has rain, temperature and humidity sensors that relay the information back to this LCD console. Made in the USA, this makes a great gift!

Paper Shredder

Don’t laugh (well most people find this amusing), but I have a heavy duty shredder in the kitchen by the island. This is used multiple times a day.

When the mail comes in I stand at the shredder and discard all the junk and unwanted mail in this receptacle. The shredded paper gets tossed into the composter and recycled. I still cannot believe how much non-essential stuff we get in the mail! But at least I am converting it into soil for the garden. To see my composting blog post, click here.

Wishing you a terrific Tuesday. It is supposed to be 109 degrees here today. I hear the mountains calling to me, so I am hoping to dash back there to enjoy the 80 degree weather. In the meantime, stay cool and make this a marvelous day.

This post shared with Charming Homes & Gardens Week 16

House Project

Happy Saturday morning! We continue to check things off our list of home projects that need to get done. However, I am beginning to tackle a new project that I’ve been wanting to try~stenciling a tiled bathroom floor in the pool house.

In retrospect, I am not sure why I selected this floor tile. It appears in both the pool house and our master bathroom. And I don’t like it in either place.

Our home restoration took years to complete. My guess is that I had renovation fatigue about two years in and selected a tile that was available, affordable and not offensive. I would not select this tile today.

So what is the solution to jazzing up this vanilla floor? It will be too expensive to remove the tile. So I will try my hand at stenciling it. The search for an attractive stencil pattern in an appropriate size came up empty. Fortunately, I discovered that Royal Design Studios will make custom size stencils.

Working with their design department, I was able to order one (13.0625″ x 13.0625″) that will work perfectly with my tile size. The cost is $39.50. Not bad.

I need to research the steps to prepping the tile, repairing any grout problems, and selecting paint types and paint colors.

The bathroom walls are white with decorative blue images. I am not sure whether to keep them or just re-paint all the walls white. I find them to be sweet, but is it dated?

The pool house theme is mostly blue, white and yellow. Since this is the only blue/white space anywhere at Bella Terra, I want to continue that with the stencil color choices.

My inspiration for the colors in the stencil may be a few shades of blue, similar to this vase.

So wish me luck! I am hoping that stenciling the floors will give it an old world look. Any time I start a project that will have dramatic results, I hold my breath a bit. There will be a great deal of prep work to do and so I don’t expect this project will be done quickly. But I will keep you posted!

Though I have never stenciled on tile before, I have had success in stenciling on concrete and wood. To see the stenciled floor project done on concrete, click here.

To view the stenciled wood floor project, click here .

Have a wonderful weekend. It’s very quiet here and I have so much catching up to do with being out of town for a week~bills to sort, the refrigerator to clean, and laundry. Plus I am dreaming of Scandinavian solutions to our cabin and will keep you up to date on what crazy ideas I develop! If you missed my last post about this, click here.

Thanks for joining me this morning!

This blog post is shared with:

Karins Cottage Centerpiece Wednesday Linky Party.

Charming Homes and Gardens Week 15

House Projects

Back in March, during the lockdown, we created a list of home projects to tackle. As I was washing all the windows in the house, my husband started working on the back terrace. Like most projects, the back terrace morphed into something bigger…..yet better. To see that post of projects, click here.

The barbecue needed cleaning. That led to putting up new tile on the backsplash behind the grill. Of course, the tile requires a sealer to protect it. That spilled over into sealing the slate countertops. I shared that project a few weeks ago when the BBQ was completed. If you missed that post, please click here!

The Floors

Now that the countertops look so good, the floors paled in comparison.

But before sealing the floor, they need a good cleaning. Pressure washing the concrete/slate floors significantly helps to remove the dirt and stains. My husband did this one half of the terrace at a time. We own the Subaru pressure washer but you can easily rent one, too.

After the floors are clean and dry, sealer is applied to both the slate and the concrete. We tried a satin finish first and didn’t like it. So we decided on this Home Depot Behr Premium Wet-Look Sealer.

Using a long handled roller, the sealer spread easily on the floor.

Here is one section done and it is a vast improvement.

After half of the terrace was dry, we moved the furniture and began the process on the other half.

The Rugs

The outdoor rugs have never been washed so this is a great opportunity to vacuum them and pressure wash to remove several years of dirt. Purchased from Rug Studio several years ago, these two 8′ x 10′ rugs are SO affordable.

I just checked and they are still available online. Click here for the link. Prices are a bit higher, but not by much. I am so pleased with how these rugs are holding up outside in our hot summer heat.

Now the floors are now cleaned and sealed, the barbecue area is complete, and well, the upholstered furniture looks like the ugly sibling. Truly, we have used this furniture outside for years. The cushions however, other than spot cleaning, have not been deeply cleaned….ever.

The Furniture

This Bissell Little Green is one of our best purchases. This little spot and stain cleaner is great for both upholstery and carpeting. If you have pets or families who spill, this is the toy for you! Being small and light weight, it is so easy to haul around. It’s approximately $100.00 and can be ordered online through Amazon. Click here for link.

All furniture cushions and decorative pillows are Sunbrella fabric and clean easily with the Bissell.

All the outdoor (really indoor) furniture was purchased from Crate and Barrel many years ago. Since this terrace is covered and somewhat protected from the elements, the furniture has survived fairly well.

The Finished Product

Here is the finished terrace. It sparkles and even smells clean. The black cabinet on the right side of the photo is a new addition. This piece used to be in the family room but will now store placemats, candlesticks, vases and other outdoor entertaining items.

I will at some point need to refinish the mahogany dining and coffee table, but not until the weather cools down a bit. The chandelier over the table needs replacing too. If you have any suggestions, please share! Also, I am still debating whether the rugs clash with the tile. Unfortunately when I selected the tile, I didn’t even consider the rug design. Let me know what you think.

We are so pleased with how the floor turned out. Custom covers are made for all the outdoor pieces and we must cover all the furniture before our dreaded summer dust storms arrive.

It feels SO good to get these projects checked off the list. Extra kudos to my husband for doing all the work on this space. We can’t wait for cooler temperatures and no more COVID so we can entertain here again.

I hope everyone took some time off and enjoyed the July 4th holiday. Are you working on any home projects?

If you missed the blog post on Fall Entertaining on the back terrace, please click here.

To see the actual restoration/construction project of the back terrace, click here.

Sometimes in my posts, I provide links to the products. Sometimes I get a stipend at no cost to you. Other times I don’t get anything but want to share my resource.