A 135-Year-Old "Victorian Maximalist" Attic Apartment Has over 200 Pieces of Art
Adrienne Breaux
·7 min read
For the past five years, Katherine's rented the third floor and attic of a large subdivided Victorian house built in 1890. Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"The apartment was lovely and historic if a little bit run-down; it had a spiral staircase and light-filled attic (these details clinched it for me), and is in a neighborhood I love," Katherine begins. Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
An enviable collection of well-worn books rests on a mismatched set of bookshelves. Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
Katherine says that something guests often ask about is the "borderline maniac abundance of art on the walls." Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"There are almost 200 pictures altogether — I tried to count them for this submission. One of my friends, Anna-Claire, is a northern renaissance art historian; she introduced me to a lot of these paintings in person." Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"I love the playfulness and morbidity of the late Ren paintings. Especially in the big genre scenes, there’s often something saucy, scatological, or silly happening, even as death looms or lurks in one way or another." Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"My friend Allie painted the canvas in the hallway, my friend’s 6-year-old made one of the prints in the dining room, and some of the pieces are family art from my grandmothers, including some prints of my granny’s beloved house in Vermont." Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"The rest are photos of loved ones. All of the other paintings are reproductions. (I’ve found that museum gift stores often have the highest quality prints; 1,000 Museums is another site that generates reliably decent prints.)" Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"Many pictures are just postcards sent by friends or pages from books. I made all of the picture mats — this is why a lot of them are uneven." Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
Katherine actually considers the dining room a favorite spot because "it feels extravagant, warm, and enveloping, especially at night with candles and string lights, and is fun to host in." Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"I really love my dining room table and chairs. I bought them for $150 from a lovely couple on Craigslist," Katherine continues. Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"The table is a Mexican door and is incredibly sturdy and characterful (though covered in these photos), and the chairs are perfect in my opinion, though I probably should put cushions on them." Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
When asked about the oldest thing in her home, Katherine estimates that it's probably her granny’s hutch: "I think it’s from the 19th century." Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
When asked about whether there were any house rules, Katherine shares three: 1) You can always lie down anywhere. 2) Wander wherever you want and open any cabinets or drawers. Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"A lot of the work I’ve done on the house is to cover up or distract from imperfections or elements I don’t love, such as beige wall tiles and chipped floor tiles," Katherine admits. Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
The kitchen affords a lot of storage in the form of open shelving, and other easy-to-access storage can be found with pots hanging on the walls ... Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
Katherine's apartment is on two levels in the subdivided Victorian house; the attic level accessible by a spiral staircase. Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
The pink color on the landing is painted in Farrow and Ball's "Rangwali." Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
An office area at the top of the stairs features lots of storage. Similar pieces can be found at IKEA and Amazon. Curtains can be found at Etsy. Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"The attic space was originally open all the way underneath the eaves, with exposed ductwork — it wasn’t a super hospitable space," Katherine describes. Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
"I got fabric (mostly William Morris) from Etsy and stapled pieces between the posts to make 'walls.' It makes the attic space feel like proper rooms, and allowed me to use the perimeter for hidden storage and my cats’ litter boxes. I intended to hem the fabric, but never got around to it, so there are a lot of loose threads." Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
Katherine, a nurse practitioner, had been working in inpatient medicine and oncology until last year, when her mother, Esther, was diagnosed with cancer. Since then, Katherine’s taken time off of work to help mom out, renovate an old house in Chestnut Hill, and figure out what her next work chapter might be.
"I love reading on the couch at night, cuddled up on the couch with my boyfriend and the cats, with candles lit," Katherine writes. Credit: Carina RomanoCredit: Carina Romano
For the past five years, Katherine’s rented the third floor and attic of a large subdivided Victorian house built in 1890. “The apartment was lovely and historic if a little bit run-down; it had a spiral staircase and light-filled attic (these details clinched it for me), and is in a neighborhood I love,” Katherine begins.
“Before I moved in, I was living with my then-boyfriend in a part of the city that didn’t feel like home to me. That breakup was seismic — it made me reconsider who I was and what I wanted, and then COVID happened. COVID intensified and concentrated my natural homebody tendencies, and the apartment became a way for me to channel, articulate, and experiment with my sense of self. The space is a sort of modern Victorian maximalism — moody, exuberant, colorful, often messy.”
Along with Katherine, her mom, Esther, and Katherine’s partner, Igor, who lives in the space part-time, the apartment is also home to Gremlin and Raisin, two cute cats, and Persy, Esther’s dog.
And to create this home for everyone, Katherine repainted all of the downstairs rooms, added peel-and-stick wallpaper, installed peel-and-stick tiles in the kitchen to cover up a beige backsplash, and used fabric on unfinished walls in the bedroom.
“Over the five-plus years I’ve lived here, I’ve learned a lot about how to create a comfortable and vibrant home that feels alive and can accommodate my own various interests as well as be an easy place for friends, family, babies, and animals to ebb and flow through,” Katherine writes.
“My next home (in Chestnut Hill) will likely be a little less saturated and hyperactive, since I’m feeling more settled in myself and won’t need to cover up imperfections in the physical space in quite the same way, but it will still be layered, vibrant, and adaptable for the people and animals who come through.”
Living room — Farrow and Ball “Green Blue; Farrow and Ball “Dix Blue” (balcony door); Farrow and Ball “Fruit Fool”
Dining room — Sherwin-Williams resounding rose
Hallway and kitchen — Farrow and Ball “Teresa’s Green,” “Rangwali,” and a blue they don’t make anymore. “I don’t remember the paints I used for the downstairs bedroom door.”
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