Tour a Very Cool Ohio Victorian Built in 1900

She likes vintage, he likes modern. As a home-renovating couple in Columbus, Ohio, Catherine and Bryan Williamson have perfected the art of compromise. Enter a dilapidated Victorian built in 1900. “We had always admired the old homes in our neighborhood and I’d dreamed of bringing one back to life,” says Catherine, who grew up playing hide-and-seek in the nooks and crannies of her grandparents’ Victorian.

Bryan and Catherine bought their house in 2017, and, in the ensuing two years, Bryan watched Catherine have a good old time — in his words, “This project was a lot of ‘Catherine got her way!’” The house was dim and dingy. Previous tenants had stripped away doors, mantels and banisters. To bring glory back to The Blonde Vic, as they dubbed it, the two tore down walls, replaced windows, repaired, painted and embellished, embellished and embellished some more. Color is generally spare to let architectural details stand out. The end result: about as up-to-date as a Victorian gets. Pictured: Catherine and Bryan with Bianca, 2.

A Victorian parlor was a room for ladies to gather and have tea. Catherine and Bryan chill here with wine at night. Chesterfields were trendy in Victorian times; this one is from West Elm.

To restore lost charm to this room right off the entry, the couple added decorative wall trim and an ornate mantel from Pearl Mantels. The oak pocket doors were found in the basement and refurbished. Velvet chairs (from Wayfair) and a glorious custom walnut table fit right in to this fancy old room.