Taking Interior Design Inspiration from Philadelphia’s Historic Homes
By Zach Martin - Vestige Home Designer
Sometimes the best way to gather inspiration is to time travel.
Visiting historic homes is a fantastic way to see how people coupled patterns, furniture, and paint colors, and with a little observation, you can pull details out of the past into contemporary life.
Maxwell Mansion’s historic porch.
We recently visited the stunningly restored Tudor Victorian style Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion in the Germantown neighborhood of northwest Philadelphia. The house was built in 1859 by the Maxwell family, who were successful dry good merchants. From the Civil War era restored first floor to the upstairs, which is interpreted to be from just after the 1876 Centennial Celebration, the space is a cacophony of patterns and colors.
Notice how the wallpaper, painting, and furniture harmoniously come together.
This wallpaper again! We love it, and the composition that it creates with the door and chair.
The parlor and dining rooms are drenched with fabulous wallpaper, velvet drapes accented by large silk tassels, and loud floral wall-to-wall carpets - it’s certainly anything but subtle. Our favorite wallpaper was in the dining room, where the copper background plays well to enhance the delicate white, coral and teal floral motifs. There is also an Aesop’s Fables inspired gilt chandelier hanging above the table and antler handled cutlery set on the marble topped buffet, which brings in a bit of playfulness in an otherwise formal space. By paying attention to the mix of visual textures in old houses, we discover pattern relationships and juxtaposing colors to reinterpret into our modern homes.
We love the detail on this chair, and how it perfectly complements the rest of the space.
We love a custom, luxury kitchen, and one of our favorite things about this historic kitchen is the collection of cabinetry and millwork made specifically for the house. This workspace was made for function but is certainly not lacking in beauty. The cabinets were painted in faux-bois style, which is the art of imitating wood in paint, oak in this case. It’s refreshing to find unexpected design tricks like this. Going back in time reminds us that seeing kitchens as a collection of furniture gives you freedom to paint islands different colors from wall cabinets and switching up door styles can create a layered collected feel. These decisions make spaces feel unique and special, anything but cookie cutter. Other fun features of this room are the skirted sink, brass taps, and open shelves filled with original ball jars, which were the height of food preservation when the house was built.
A beautiful mural that took inspiration from the Far East and Egypt.
We love art and murals that have not yet been restored. Look at the colors and textures!
In 1876, Philadelphia hosted the Centennial International Exposition that featured art, design and commerce from around the world, which inspired designers and architects to bring new ideas to their work. A perfect example can be seen on the second floor in the hand painted murals on the walls, doors, and ceilings. These paintings feature papyrus and lotus motifs from the far East and Egypt. We especially love the murals that have yet to be restored because they are full of patina and a bit more in line with the Vestige Home color palette. Taking cues from the forms of these murals can easily translate into millwork details or custom wallpaper, lending a well-traveled feel to spaces. While our design tendencies lean toward timelessness, including moments that celebrate the present add a personal timestamp to your home that will age with you.
We love this children’s room.
Look at this beautiful composition of a ceramic pitcher and window!
This floor is amazing and a great example of historic design sensibility.
The second-floor houses some of our favorite spaces, notably the children’s room. This space is full of inspiration from the blush pink walls and warm white trim to the sienna and cream floral carpets. A Jenny Lind Spool Bed, named after the 19th century Swedish opera singer, with off-white embroidered coverlet pairs beautifully with the chocolate velvet rocker featuring curved walnut arms. This room is extremely whimsical and layered, with an 1850’s dollhouse restored by the original owners’ descendants, and a sweet parakeet pitcher nestled in a small diamond shaped window. Visual delights abound in this room.
The role of any creative person is to be observant and absorb their environments. As Philadelphia interior designers, this means studying the decisions made by the generations that came before us. We truly love learning the different ways people made a house a home throughout history, and this home is an excellent example of unexpected pairings and custom design choices.
Want to Learn More?
At Vestige Home, we take inspiration from places like this and reinterpret them into your home. If you would like to book an interior design consultation, click here. We are excited to pull the perfect blend of historic meets modern details into your home to create your unexpectedly beautiful space.
To find out more about the Maxwell Mansion, visit ebenezermaxwellmansion.org.