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Sunday, October 1, 1989/»«g« IDWhen Bill exposed the staircase, the original spindles were missing. The ones in place were salvaged from an old home.A Victorian buffet reflects the current set-up in the dining room. Jackie rearranges furniture often.RefurbishedPainstaking work restores home's old-time characterRed gingham curtains hide storage areas below the sink base that Bill made from butternut. The baker's cabinet belonged to Bill's mother.Un tStained-glass windows accent the century-old home.In the summer, Bill and Jackie Wood often relax on their pleasant porch that faces a quiet street.When Jackie and Bill Wood bought their century-old Queen Anne home at 119 S. Wisconsin nine years ago, it was admittedly in “rotten to awful shape.”The 3,330 square feet of living area—not counting 1,500 square feet in the attic and its equivalent in the basement—had been chopped into a duplex.Linoleum was caked on floors, upstairs walls were mildewed and the exterior hadn’t been painted in 20 years.But Bill Wood fell in love with the woodwork, which was unpainted and in surprisingly good condition.Today, the home’s lovely stained-glass windows splash their colors onto shining maple floors. Tin ceilings are freshly painted. Period furnishings, lacy curtains, pocket doors, tiled fireplaces and bold, Victorian wallpaper highlight the home’s decor The only sign of the former duplex is the extra front door.Bill had always wanted to refurbish an old house, and the couple bought the structure in September 1980, intending to work on its insides before moving in the next year.But before they did anything, they had a party The empty house with its cobwebs was perfect to celebrate Halloween.With a sledgehammer. Bill chopped a hole in the wall that sealed off the front staircase. TheStoryMarcia NelesenPhotos Al Koch100 or so guests were led up the back staircase, down the front and through the new entryway.“It was easy to clean up afterward,” Jackie recalled. “We just used a push broom.”Then the couple rolled up their sleeves. And they’ve kept them rolled up “There’s a lot of maintenance in a home this age,” Bill said. “If you don’t enjoy it, you shouldn’tget an old house.”His first project was smashing down walls to convert the homeL back to its single-family statusThe dining room had been carved into a bedroom and bath* room, and the floor was riddled with holes for the fixtures. A toilet paper dispenser was screwed into a dining room window frame?“Bill threatened to leave it,’1 Jackie said with a laugh.When Bill removed the wall that blocked the front staircase, he uncovered a lovely, maple-paneled staircase.After the walls were down and the rooms restored to their original dimensions. Bill turned his at; tention to the maple and oak floors.“There were an unbelievabl* number of holes in the floors,* Bill said.After he received a bid of almost $3,000 to refinish the floors, he rented the equipment and did it himself.He also repaired damage in thfc □ Turn to HOMEFRONT/3P 1
Newspaper Details
Janesville Sunday Gazette
Janesville, Wisconsin, US
Sat, Sep 30, 1989
Page 39
Full Page
Clipped by
Ruth A.
NA, NA 06 Jun 2025
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