Room of the Day: Renovation Retains a 1920s Bath’s Vintage Charm

This family bath was loaded with vintage charm, but with a leak from above, the homeowners were ready for a major renovation. “Repairs had been patched together over the years to keep this bathroom going as long as possible, but the homeowners realized that so much had gone wrong that it was time for a full gut renovation,” says Matt Capitolo, owner of Whitefield & Co., a design-build firm. By searching for similar traditional elements and salvaging the light fixtures, Capitolo and the homeowners designed a remodel that befits the 1920s era, when the home was built.

Photos by Lauren Davis

Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their 3 young children
Location: Abington, Pennsylvania (outside Philadelphia)
Size: 58½ square feet (5.5 square meters); about 9 by 7 feet (2.7 by 2.1 meters)
Designer: This was a collaboration between the homeowners and Whitefield & Co.

At first glance, this new bathroom looks as though it could have been designed in the 1920s, when the house was built. While the “before” photos show a situation in which a lot needed to be addressed, the bathroom had vintage charm. “The clients loved the existing subway tile, the style of the sink and the light fixtures,” Capitolo says. He worked with them to re-create the style with new fixtures, tiles and other details. The new flooring is a period-appropriate small hexagonal tile.

The new pedestal sink has a traditional look right down to the porcelain cross faucet handles, topped with “H” and “C.” Silver grout gives the subway tile depth and is easier to keep looking clean than white grout.

Faucet: Kingston Brass; Park pedestal sink: Restoration Hardware; silver grout: Mapei


BEFORE: The leak through the second-floor family bathroom’s ceiling had come from the third-floor bathroom, so the family had Capitolo tackle both rooms at once. In addition to the ceiling damage, the console sink was in disrepair, and patch jobs from previous water damage had resulted in mismatched replacement tiles. He took out the radiator under the window to open up the space as much as possible, and installed radiant heating under the floor with a layer of reflective insulation underneath to keep the heat from going down into the first-floor ceiling.

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BEFORE: The home is a center-hall Colonial but was built in the 1920s, a period when Victorian and Art Deco styles met.





AFTER: Capitolo was able to refurbish and reuse the original Art Deco wall sconces and the schoolhouse-style ceiling light. A new recessed medicine cabinet from Restoration Hardware has vintage appeal and is an appropriate replacement for the original mirrored cabinet.

Capitolo tried to come up with a way to save the original tile, but unfortunately, it wasn’t possible. Instead the team found similar 3-inch-by-6-inch subway tiles from Daltile.

Capitolo replaced the window with a tilt-wash, double-hung unit with an SDL (simulated divided lite). “This is an all-fiberglass unit that has a true wood facing on the inside, which means it has the look and feel of an original all-wood window, coupled with the strength, durability, and weather- [and] pest-resistant nature of fiberglass,” he says.

Wall paint: Fantasy Blue, Benjamin Moore; Cartwright inset medicine cabinet: Restoration Hardware; wall tile: 3-inch-by-6-inch subway tiles in Arctic White with semigloss finish, Daltile; tile cap: 1½-inch-by-6-inch Melody chair rail in Arctic White 0190 with semigloss finish, Simple Elegance line, Daltile; flooring: 1-inch hexagonal tiles with matte finish, via Powerline Imports; Integrity Wood-Ultrex window: Marvin Windows & Doors





With its high tank, stepped-down detail at the top and side handle, even the toilet has traditional style.

Toilet: Promenade, Toto


BEFORE: The mismatched tile around the tub filler shows where a previous repair had addressed a leak. “With a wraparound curtain like this, lots of water splashed out during showers,” Capitolo says. Also worth noting is how close the light switch was to the shower; during the renovation it was moved outside the room into the hallway.


AFTER: A new wall keeps water inside the tub during showers.

To the right, Capitolo sealed up with a wall a second door that had led into a bedroom. Just out of view to the right is a new chrome train rack towel holder.


The new partition is thick enough to accommodate handy shower niches.


The faucet and tub filler also have a look that suits the 1920s era. The gut renovation suits the home’s style and age to a T.

Bathtub: Archer, Kohler; shower controls: Kingston Brass

See photos of the renovated third-floor bathroom

URL: Room of the Day: Renovation Retains a 1920s Bath’s Vintage Charm http://www.decor-ideas.org/cases-view-id-26774.html