Texas Bungalow Renovation — Farmhouse Before and After

Clay went so far as to track down 100-year-old plumbing fixtures, like the kitchen’s farmhouse sink which was found on eBay. A little soapstone slab resting on antique brackets provides the only counterspace in the tiny room. The glass-front cabinet above, which holds antique crystal from Melissa’s grandmother and some family Spode china, came out of a similarly aged house.

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Trim Paint Color: Jamestown Blue by Benjamin Moore

Even the home’s wallpaper stays true to its era. In the living room, a reproduction of William Morris’s “Wild Tulip” design provides a period-accurate backdrop for a cozy seating area and an antique potbellied stove. The stove was a wedding present from Melissa’s great-uncle to her mother, and it has been in her family ever since. “It looks great with the stovepipe my son had made,” she says. Melissa found the antique chandelier on eBay and had it restored by Brady’s of Austin.

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Trim Paint Color: Jamestown Blue by Benjamin Moore

While in bad shape, the original blue painted doors and moldings screamed charm potential.

Many of the home’s Victorian-era moldings were still intact when the Duckworths purchased the house. Clay duplicated them for the home’s addition, including in this hallway.

Because the original section of the house had been built out of this popular wood material of the time, Clay sought out similar-looking pine for the floors and shiplap walls in the bedroom of the addition. He left the walls raw and simply added an oil finish to the floors. “We wanted to preserve that old patina,” he says. Also of a certain age: the Bakelite and walnut twin beds that belonged to Roy’s grandfather and date back to the 1930s. The sconces were another one of Melissa’s eBay finds. “They had never been used or even taken out of the box,” she says.

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Trim Paint Color: Lehigh Green by Benjamin Moore

The bedroom’s walnut and Bakelite dresser and mirror were accompanying pieces to the twin beds from Roy’s grandfather, which the Duckworths had restored.

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Trim Paint Color: Lehigh Green by Benjamin Moore

The Duckworths’ passion for historic preservation extended to the added-on bathroom, where they installed a 1920s pedestal sink, vintage toilet, and cast-iron clawfoot tub. Even the antique stop valves and supply lines, which had to be taken apart and replated, turned into a restoration project. “It would have been a lot easier to just run to the supply house and get a modern valve, but it just doesn’t have the same look,” says Clay. Rewired Victorian gaslights provide the primary lighting in the room, and an old radio cabinet that belonged to Melissa’s grandparents now holds towels.

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Wall Paint Color: Winter Orchard by Benjamin Moore

The newly added screened-in porch had an exposed rafter ceiling where any wiring would be visible, so the Duckworths took the opportunity to introduce reproduction old-school knob-and-tube wiring with a cloth covering. “It has a period-appropriate look that metallic conduit would not have,” Clay says. He also took the time to source square-head nails and vintage two-by-four framing salvaged from other old homes.

But the charm-filled guest house isn’t just a celebration of bygone days. It’s part of the Duckworth family’s future. “I hope that our plays stays in the family for generations to come,” says Melissa. “This little house has many stories, and my hope is that more are made.”