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Sunday, May 18, 2003

By Lynda Guydon Taylor, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The lavender Victorian in East Washington, its front yard brimming with perennials, reveals nothing of its former disheveled self.

But in 1991, the house was a renovation waiting to happen. When current owners Kevin and April Ryan began restoration, they filled two big trash bins withrefuse.

"I don't know exactly what was here before, but the house was in really bad condition," April Ryan said.

Sometime during its past, the three-story home was divided into three apartments. By tearing down walls and ripping out a trio of kitchens, the couple focused on reclaiming it as a single-family residence. Among other unexplained changes, previous owners had dropped the ceilings in the kitchen and installed metal sheeting on the walls and ceilings.

Recently, April Ryan, owner of Dezines By Ryan, a boutique with a distinctly feminine approach to home decor, explained how the renovation took shape. After the home's purchase in 1991, a year lapsed before the couple and their daughters moved in.

Starting from the top and working their way down, however, they accomplished a major makeover -- ripping out and replacing a bowed ceiling on the third floor, installing drywall, painting, wallpapering and refinishing hardwood floors throughout the house.

"The kitchen [on the first floor] was probably the worst. It was divided into two rooms -- a breakfast room and a little tiny kitchen, and we opened [a window] up and that was the back porch," April said, referring to what is now a breakfast room.

The breakfast room is furnished with a 200-year-old corner cupboard inherited from April's great-great or great-great-great grandmother. She gave it new life by hand painting it in an off-white crackled effect and adding a floral design.

The breakfast room accesses a deck, and from there steps lead to a gazebo shrouded among the branches of a tree and, at ground level, a shade garden.

Today, inside and outside, the house reflects its true Victorian nature. Owned originally by a lawyer, the circa-1880s three-story 15-room house, including baths, is spacious even by today's standards. There are eight bedrooms and five fireplaces, one of which functions using gas.

The Ryans are not newcomers to home makeovers, having renovated two other Victorians, one in Washington and another in Taylorstown, sbefore moving into their current home.

Like other homeowners braving the restoration process, the Ryans salvaged parts from demolished homes to finish theirs. Recovered tiles gave a face lift to the hearths of fireplaces in the parlor and dining room.

"We had to put [tile work] together like a puzzle. It was really something," April said.

They also recovered an old tub in the basement that they put to use again in the second-floor bath. Her grandfather's oak dresser is being used as unique storage space in the bathroom.

While some areas of the house definitely needed a lift, others, such as wall coverings, remained in surprisingly good shape. Lincrusta, a heavy, durable wallpaper meant to duplicate tooled leather, needed only to be repainted. It was brown when the Ryans bought the house, and April repainted it a rich plum. A second-story wall covered with anaglypta, an embossed printable wall-covering thinner than lincrusta, had to be recovered, however.

On this day, the dining room table was set for a tea party Aprilrecently held. Teacups and saucers tied to ribbons dangled from a chandelier.

Throughout the home, April has painted floral murals on the walls, including one above the dining room fireplace and others in the bedrooms.

The first-floor entry is distinguished by a center hall with a parlor on either side that can be closed off by pocket doors. At the end of the hall is a staircase to the second floor. At the landing is a beveled glass window looking out onto the side yard.

"It's probably what made me buy the house. It's all beveled and has prisms in it," April said, pointing to the top of the staircase.

The parlors help set the tone for the house. The one on the left is furnished with a plum-colored velvet sofa, piano and lots of family photos. April fondly calls it the music parlor but speculates that it probably is where a wake would have been held for family funerals. The other parlor is her favorite room, where she likes to light a fire and read a book when time allows.

The home is furnished in a mix of inherited antiques and reproductions. The overriding theme is one of romanticism carried out in colors of sage, mauve, ecru, rose, plum and burgundy. Lace and floral curtains hang from the windows.

The only concession to masculinity is Kevin's third-floor office, formerly a kitchen but now furnished with a large desk and built-in bookcase. Across the hall is a bathroom decorated with wicker accessories.

April said she grew up in a Victorian, "so I think it's just in my blood. I love old houses. I guess it's the character and the story behind them, the ambience like you just can't get with new houses."

If you'd like to have your home featured in Home Showcase, contact Lynda Guydon Taylor at 724-746-8813 or e-mail ltaylor@post-gazette.com

Think Tank and a View from the Experts will return next week.