Glass House
I’ve always been an original hardwood floors, marble mantle pieces, moldings etc kind of gal. All those details that hint to a house being old, built and designed at a time of real craftsmanship but I’ve lately changed my mind. I now think all that matters is character whether that is character from the past or character from one person who shaped the house to their taste.
In this instance, that person would be Jeanine.
I like that our house is infused with the essence of Jeanine. The lady is dead but she lives on in every single one of the choices she made for this house wether it was how she propelled the old mancelle into the 20th century, her obsession (they is no other word) for ONE wall paper pattern (it’s EVERYWHERE) or the cat fresco on the kitchen door… however dubious some choices may seem, they were hers and if you add up all these choices, you can make out the shape of an actual individual.
I didn’t get a chance to meet Jeanine, our house’s previous owner and I’m the worse for it, I’m sure. She and her husband bought the house in the late 1980s and immediately hired an architect for a fresh take on the classic mancelle. And fresh meant modern. And modern meant glass and steel, of course.
So street side, the house is completely nondescript. Even a bit desolate if you ask me. Bleak. Nothing at all to get your imagination going. But garden side, it’s a whole different story because this is what it looks like :
When I first saw the house in May, I think Jeanine’s spirit was lingering, whispering « I choose this, this is me, take it or leave it » and though I don’t think I immediately fell in love, I do think on some level I was sensitive to Jeanine’s lasting impression.
And then I saw the study and it was game over.
Even with its horrible orange wall paper peeling off, the study was my favorite part of the house. I could see myself in it, doing whatever in this light basked space while watching the garden whether just to admire our hard work or keep an eye on Le Baby’s activities. The ground floor being rather uninviting when we moved in (and still to this day) we invested the study as a place to regroup at the end of the day when Le Baby was out and grownup day could start.
But on the fateful 15th of December, we decided we were going to really make the study our own. It all started with a simple question : how easily does the wall paper peel off in our bedroom ? Answer : very satisfyingly easily. So we took it all off. But in our room we were blocked in our progress by the ginormous closet that Jeanine had put in BEFORE doing the floors. Which means that if we dismantle them, we have to immediately tackle the floors which we weren’t prepared for. So the next question was : how easily does the wall paper peel off in the study ? (both rooms are adjacent) Answer is : not at all easily. At all. But once you’re started, you do it anyway. And then we discovered the state of the walls, decided we didn’t have the money to have someone come in and redo them completely, agreed we’d make do so that has us on the 16th doing plaster work for the very first time in our lives, then sanding, washing, painting, wallpapering, painting again, and again. What started off as just a random innocent question led us down a renovation rabbit hole that WAS ABSOLUTELY NOT PLANNED. We even chose the paint color on a bit of a spur of the moment whim … – I think possibly spur of the moment and rash are kind of our MOs – so obviously, the result is far from perfect, newbies to the renovation game as we are BUT we now have the SWAGGIEST of studies EVER. Even if I do say so myself. And we LOOOOOOVE it. I can’t be sure of course, but I like to think Jeanine would approve too.
One day, we’ll do the floor. One day.
Paint color : Breakfast Room Green – Farrow and Ball