Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/579535
72 FALL 2015 W HEN IT CAME TIME TO REPLACE THE CONTEM- porary "Colonial-style" front door of their handsome 1860s Victorian-era house, the owners did a considerable amount of research. But not just in books: They got into their car and drove around Andover, looking closely at the entry doors of well-kept houses from the middle of the 19th century. Their attention to period architectural detail was a new enthusiasm, brought on by the purchase and subsequent renovation of a historic home near Phillips Academy. "We thought the house was pretty, but we had no experience with anything like that," says the lady of the house. While still living in Ohio, she and her husband purchased the property to be near daughters attending Phillips Academy. "We wanted to be able to go to their games and things like that, so the location was what was impor- tant to us while looking. After we bought it, we started to appreciate what we had bought." "We had never lived in a house that had been around for more than 30 years," her husband laughs. "But once we figured out what we had, we became students of Italianate architecture." "They care about historic authenticity, so they drove around looking at doors," smiles Susan Howell of the Howell Custom Building Group, which recently finished an extensive renovation, modernization, and restoration of the couple's home. "When they found a front door Howell Custom Building Group revamped the entryway to be in keeping with the home's original style. vignettes nshoremag.com/nshorehome/