The Cypress House
By: Lucianne Shoffner
When you invest in an older home, you invest more than money, although you have to invest plenty of that! It feels like I have loved this home forever, although we have just moved in, and it will be a work in progress for several years. This is the home my heart is truly being poured into—I've decorated and undecorated for Christmas, put together the Valentine food shoot in the kitchen, the Christmas food shoot in the family room and the October and Thanksgiving food shoots in the backyard, so instead of showing you this house piecemeal, I thought I would let you in from the beginning! These are the before photos, we had the snowshoes and a favorite chair in place, and a long and ever-growing list about what we are dreaming up for this house - someday.
I had a wise person tell me to take it slow [Rachael Cunningham] and just do one room at a time. So far, I've started with my office because that's where I'm spending most of my time when I'm at home—other than my kitchen. It's also the least expensive to make mine! And we're still living out of boxes upstairs!
I hate lists, I've hated them since I helped plan my wedding—Rod and I decided then and there that there was a reason that 'list' was a four-letter word! But, they are necessary evils in the world of working on a 97-year-old house.
I really appreciate the work that Jim McKee is helping with. He just shakes his head and figures out how to do things when I ask—he was the mastermind behind the flow and 'redo' at our old office. I look forward to what we will get done when we really get to work on this beautiful place.
Finds in the attic have been fun, we found a Commercial Appeal from 1923, nothing of monetary value, just a cleaned out old suitcase and the slightly charred old newspaper from the year the house was built, and some of the original light fixtures, I know I'm going to put one of those in the kitchen if they work.
Let me say, I know gray is or was a popular color to paint walls, it was modern and trendy. But I think, because this home lives in the historic district of Covington, that its walls need to reflect more of the historically accurate colors, it dictates that it should be much more like a house that was born in 1923. We will get there—I keep telling myself, Rome wasn't built in a day, nor was this house. The previous owner did a lot of work to make it suit their taste, and I thank them for putting so much effort into preserving the bones of the home as well. I know there are at least four different colors of paint on the walls and woodwork, and in the back hall, I think there is wallpaper under some of those coats of paint. I’m sure they put a lot of thought into trying to make this home beautiful, too. That’s the thing about homes like this, everyone puts their stamp on it, and it keeps going. Someday, someone else will come in here, fall in love, and change absolutely everything I’m planning on doing. It’s funny how things change over time, and who would want it to stay the same? It’s so much more fun when it does change.
I'm making notes on the photos, from my list, about things that I would like to do—although it's going to be a while. The kitchen is going to happen sometime in February 2021, after the major holiday food shoots. Only one of the double ovens work, and one burner on the stove is out, so depending on how long it holds up, that time-table may change. I do a lot of cooking for Cypress food shoots! So from here on out, just know that if it can be cooked in my kitchen, it can certainly be cooked in a more modern one with ease!
The upstairs bedrooms are good, light, bright, and will probably be painted when I can make up my mind about what color palette I want. Bedrooms are for relaxation, they need to reflect the peace and quiet essential for good sleep along with calming colors. I really like my sleep—when I'm not doing layout until 4 am. I love blues and greens for bedrooms, of course, I love water, so the deep blues and greens of the ocean are the most relaxing for me. You will probably find lots of seashells in different places in my house—good memories, and great little decorating helpers! After looking at the paint ‘colors of the year’, my thoughts are right on par for the upcoming colors. I do love paint! If I had all the money in the world, that’s one thing I would change frequently.
I'm not going to have a lot of new furniture or new trendy things. There’s something really good about a classic, traditional look, clean lines, not ‘fussy’, but something that will stand the test of time. On that note, I love antiques, and I have a LOT of family things that have been passed down through the generations, plus, my parents loved to go to antique shops. I have some Eastlake furniture from the Victorian Era, the mid to late 1800s, that are family pieces. And yes, I know, it is ‘fussy’, and detailed, and totally unique, but it’s still going in my house! My great grandmother had given some of it away and my grandmother went to see if she could get it back. She was told, "I chopped most of that up for kindlin' but you can have what’s left!" The table that I have has an ax nick in the wood under the marble top. It was almost fire fodder. I'm glad it survived! It's a lot more sturdy than it looks—but everything was well made in that time period.
You know, when you look at antiques, it's really fun to think about how each piece was made, most of it was made by hand for someone. It was special ordered, and the maker knew who the customer was. Isn't that the coolest thing? I have a cabinet, in particular, the 'Dutch hutch' that used to house my momma's paint [she painted portraits, landscapes, and yes, even chickens for her best friend, once.] I look at the nicks and scrapes, where she spilled turpentine on the finish, and where my Dad fixed the little shelf in it. I don't see a flawed finish, I see the love that she had for that cabinet, and the love that my Dad had for my Momma. That piece is definitely going into the family room!
I love so much about this house, the family room, the bathroom window, the bright light in the sun-room [my office], and that kitchen... that kitchen that needs so much work [and money] poured into it to bring it up to date, but it will be a labor of love. The halls were the last to do anything major to the kitchen, and I think the oven is from the last century, 1900s not 1800s. I have figured out, though, that the fireplace that is upstairs in our bedroom goes behind the stove and oven in the kitchen. If anybody knows if the fireplace is still back there, would you let me know? THAT could really be fun to pull into a kitchen design plan someday—especially if we have to tear the stove, oven, and counter out anyway! I love those beams in the ceiling, it makes me feel like I'm in the mountains on vacation every day. I have to laugh, though, you have to get down under the cabinet to plug in the exhaust fan and the burners for the stove. They are gas, and sometimes it's just easier to light them with a match or lighter, but when I look up, and it's a little smoky in there, I have to bend over and crawl in the cabinet to plug everything in! It's on Jim's list to fix that with some kind of switch!
The Dining Room is currently gray. In order to do photoshoots, that has to be one of the first things changed. We have to go white, with some blue undertones. That will make our photos look a lot better! I'm also going to bring the chandelier that I bought from Graham's Lighting for the dining room. I’m keeping the original to use somewhere else in the home. According to Graham’s, the chandelier was probably made by a guy in Memphis a long time ago. It’s fun when you talk to someone who knows lighting! I got lucky and got a one-of-a-kind sample from their Colony Imports line during their sale a couple of years ago. That's coming with me because I love it! We will probably replace the sconces with some of their lightings, too. The chrome and beaded fixtures, while attractive in another home, just don't fit the historical theme we are going for in this one. But that's something that I also want to go slow with, I want to make sure that the lighting is perfect, not only for 'age-appropriate fixtures', but also for our photos!
One thing that I really didn't think about in an old home is the lack of outlets in the right spots. That's something that came 'to light' at Christmas. I wanted to put a tree in the bay window in the dining room - no outlet, only one outlet in the whole room, and it’s on the wrong wall. We managed, but that's going on the list, too. You can tell that it frustrated the owners who added the family room on, either the McFaddens or the Halls, there are outlets everywhere in that room! Thank you so much!
The stairway is right outside of the dining room. It is such an important thing in a Southern home—it's what you always picture your daughter going down to meet a date. I remember going down ours when I was that age, with a date waiting, wouldn't trade it for the world! This one will be perfect!
We look forward to sharing our journey in preserving this beautiful lady as she heads toward 100 years. Built in 1923, there is a lot of history set into the bricks, wood, and plaster that make up this house. I hope that the next years have a wonderful story to add to that history. I hate to do this to you, but the 'after' photos will be coming in spurts. Everyone has asked so many questions about the house, and has wanted to see inside that I felt like I needed to at least let you see the ‘befores’! The inside, bottom floor, other than the kitchen, might be finished by the fall, and the upstairs, well, I'm still living out of boxes! I think the shoe fairy has stolen some of my shoes but left me with one-of-a-kinds! So when you drive by, think about my sea of boxes, and my one-of-a-kind shoes! Luckily, I did find the box with all of my sweaters in it right before Christmas!
I’m sure we will do an open house at some point, and I know I’m going to be entertaining all of you through the pages of Cypress, I can’t wait to get started and show you our progress as we turn this into ‘our Cypress House’.
