Walking past a twisting vine carved into smoked glass on the front door, Diane Thompson enters her bright, naturally lit Victorian home that has been a fixture on Newtown’s Main Street since 1899. After launching major renovations several months ago, her eventual goal is to resell the restored home that first caught her eye with its charm.

She toured the restored rooms in late August with The Newtown Bee, talking about the challenges and satisfaction of refinishing tired floors, brightening walls with fresh paint, and making upgrades and improvements to the single-family home just a few doors down and opposite the iconic Edmond Town Hall.

Earlier this summer, shortly after starting work at the house along with stream of contractors, Ms Thompson explained that, over the last couple of years, she had watched the tan-colored house as its paint slowly peeled away and moss grew across its roof.

Patiently she waited for the previous owner to accept a price she could manage.

“It took a while to get it,” she said, eventually picking up the property on a short sale, “which is never short,” she said.

Moving through the rooms she said, “It feels homey; I hope I can bring it back so it is homey,” she said.

Her website: 54MainStreet.com, details the project. She is coordinating the renovations with her husband, Chip Carpenter, who was often seen working with the contractors this summer.

Expanding Space

Glancing at the spacious foyer, dining room, sitting room, and kitchen, which now has a new porch off the back of the house and bump-out space to accommodate modern appliances, she said the project has been “a lot of work.” And while she is making many decisions about paint, hardware, and more going into the renovations, she is “watching the money pour out.”

Repainting the exterior, for example, was an expensive, but necessary venture that required the right, qualified contractors who could handle special remediation and cleanup of the old lead paint, and applying a special sealer paint on the old shingles.

Now several months into the restoration, Ms Thompson is looking at a possible November finish date.

“But you know how that goes,” she said, adding, “a lot has been done.”

Has it been hard for her to restore?

While trying to maintain its original character, she said, “to get it as original as possible” could cost a fortune. Finding the right doorknobs, for example, proved expensive.

She ended up doing research to find places that sold restoration hardware, and located a warehouse in New Bedford, Mass. Considering her past months’ work, she said, “I don’t know how you did it without online research.

The project also posed interesting problems to solve.

Due to the narrow staircases in the 1899 house, she said she had to shop around for a washer and dryer to fit up the stairs for installation in an old bedroom that she has converted into a laundry room. Contractors also had to cut drywall, that would not make the corners around landings in the staircase, she said.

“Little things,” such as purchasing toilet paper holders or lighting took more time and thought than an average renovation. Ms Thompson chose not to splurge on details that a buyer might want to change.

“I wouldn’t make the money back,” she said.

Attic Room

In other areas, she did spend money to make improvements that added useable living space to the house. The attic now has a heating and cooling unit, closets, a third bathroom, and storage, with a widened staircase.

Walking the space recently with its new drywall, closet doors, and glass shower stall, she said she could easily picture a queen-size bed in one corner of the refinished room.

Throughout the rest of the house the cast iron radiators have been temporarily removed to make room for painting and flooring, while the kitchen will receive special treatment. The floors of that room and its small adjoining half-bath now have radiant floor heating.

The downstairs basement space has been refinished and professionally sealed against moisture as well.

While trying to stay loyal to period restoration, Ms Thompson said there are many “modern codes” to follow when doing an upgrade, and she spent time considering where and how best to spend her money. She did not install air conditioning throughout the house, “which would have been nice,” but is expensive, and a decision she will leave for the new owners.

At the start of the project, Ms Thompson was hoping the renovations would take less than a year to complete, and imagined the house would be “in good shape by Halloween.”

From a spot on the lawn in the backyard and in the shade of mature trees, she noted, “It’s remarkably quiet.” Offering details she had learned since beginning the project, she said she had spoken with an architect who told her old growth wood had been used in its architecture, which is harder and more dense than wood used from new growth lumber.

Her overall feeling toward the renovations was that “it has to be done right.” It is structurally “not bad,” and a look at her website will reveal “what we did and what we found” as contractors began repairs, replacements, and renovations.

Learn more about the restoration at 54mainstreet.com, and view photos and brief comments about each segment of the restoration process.