Romantic Victorians

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The excitement of rescuing a romantic old home from the wrecking ball, or from obscurity, can make the necessary restoration work look easy—or at least tolerable—at the outset.

The enthusiasm with which most people jump into such a project is sorely tested, however, by the reality of living for weeks without plumbing, with endless dust, and with noisy sheets of visquine flapping in the wind. What begins as a project schedule with a seemingly realistic deadline almost inevitably stretches into a dreary and nebulous future, while unexpected problems pop up one after another.

In spite of the difficulties, dreamers do continue to seek such restoration projects. And for them, the town of Hailey is a lucky pocket.

When Chris and Phoebe Pilaro bought a 120-year-old Victorian house in old Hailey in the spring of 2001, they immediately began an environmentally friendly restoration. With a completion date that coincided with their early November wedding, the couple returned from their honeymoon expecting to move into their new home.

It wasn’t ready, but they moved in anyway—the day before Thanksgiving. “Our whole family came,” remembers Phoebe. “We just barely had toilets. We had no interior doors, but the builders put a door on the bathroom for Thanksgiving.”

Eighteen months later, the couple laughs about it. “We spent six months remodeling, which carried over to nine months,” says Phoebe.

“And,” adds Chris, “it’s still carrying over.”

Across Main Street, in west Hailey, Sam and Terrie Davis spent 23 years on the restoration of their 1893 home. “It took us five years to make the house basically livable,” says Terrie. “It was another five years before all the finish work and trim were done.”

Thanks to the Davises, their world-renowned bed and breakfast inn, Povey Pensione, is one of the best- documented homes in the Valley. Its salvaged architectural details and rich history earned it a segment on HGTV’s If Walls Could Talk.

Local caterer Judith McQueen just moved into what was at one time Hailey’s jailhouse. Although former owners had undertaken major restoration of the 1883 East Carbonate Street home, the energetic chef faces the unique challenge of integrating the needs of a modern business—cleanliness, simplicity of use, and lots of storage space—with the strong character of an old house.

For Eltiena Campbell, who with husband Bill bought an 1880s Croy Street home five years ago, it was love at first sight. “The first time we walked in, the kitchen was so warm and inviting,” remembers Eltiena. “Bill said, ‘No way, nothing’s to code.’ But, in the airport as we were leaving to return to Seattle, we called the owners and made an offer.”

The Campbells’ home typifies many of Hailey’s Victorians, which are known as “folk” or “rural” in the genre. Built when local silver mines were booming, these homes were comparatively plain in comparison to the over-the-top, multicolored style of earlier Queen Annes—the so-called “Painted Ladies” of Victorian architecture. Still, with America’s new middle class eager to display its prosperity, sophistication and taste, Hailey’s grand ladies gazed out at the town’s wide streets through tall, multi-paned windows. Advancements in glassmaking had popularized leaded panes that were etched, frosted, or colored. Steep gables rose high behind porches busy with gingerbread and spindlework. Wide lawns manicured with newly invented hand-push lawnmowers boasted of their inhabitants’ status, for a well-kept lawn had formerly been the sole province of wealthy homeowners, who could hire dozens of workers to labor with hand trimmers.

Inside, hardwood floors met wide baseboards, which protected the walls during mopping. Wainscoting, chair rails, and a painted or wallpapered frieze rose to deep moldings under high ceilings. Steep, narrow staircases with spindle balustrades led to small bedrooms with slanted ceilings.

Like little old ladies gossiping over tea, the Victorian homes of Hailey tell tales of the city’s past. The process of caring for these rickety senior citizens coaxes them to share their secrets, brings out their personalities, and encourages their modern-day inhabitants to express themselves. Whether the goal is environmental soundness, a perfected workspace, the re-creation of an era, or simply crafting a comfortable family home, when attention, time, and money (often more than planned) are given to these grand ladies, they give something back—often much more than expected. >>>