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.

Pink velvet chairs (from Article) may look totally now, but they have ties to the past: Lounge-like seating was popular in Victorian times, and pink was a hot color. The mantel matches the one in the dining room. Bryan brought the mod with a sprawling Serge Mouille–style light and a black metal coffee table from Crate & Barrel. Bianca is into playing hide-and-seek here and around the house — her mom’s favorite game as a kid. So cool: art displayed on a framed-out TV (it’s by Samsung).

Once a cramped space, opening it up to the living room aired it out. The gray of the cabinets — so dark it’s almost black — reads as classic and current. Catherine chose vintage-inspired latches from Emtek, a retro-look Tecnogas range, and an old-timey ladder from Custom Service Hardware. The Cherner-style counter stools are from Wayfair. "Crown molding gives newly redone rooms old cred," says Catherine.

Catherine and Bryan merged three rooms, including the “servants' quarters,” to create a suite on the third floor. “We tucked the bed in front of the window to bring attention to the architecture,” Catherine says. A botanical duvet cover from Garnet Hill looks quaint; a pair of graphic pillows from Frontgate is a nice contrast. The dormer, formerly flat, was raised for a more fab look.

Paying tribute to the small black-and-white hex tile common in Victorian-era bathrooms, the Williamsons put in 5-inch marble and basalt versions from Mission Stone & Tile. A sleek bathtub by American Standard is another updated take. “Clawfoots are smallish and the space is long,” says Catherine. Also: “Bryan really wanted it!” Bryan also made the oak vanity.

“Since there are no cool features like a fireplace, this room needed extra personality,” says Catherine. A black and brass canopy bed from CB2 has presence, with echoes of the past. The bold indigo rug, from Nordic Knots, is a Catherine pick: ”Bryan’s modern style is rubbing off on me,” she says. The chest on the far wall used to be in Catherine’s grandparents’ entry.