A Cottage Bathroom
It’s in a Gothic Revival residence that was based on A.J. Downing’s Romantic designs.
The unique bath is in a revival house in North Carolina’s farm country. Architect Sandra Vitzthum [sandravitzthum.com] designed the building with reference to the 19th-century tastemaker Andrew Jackson Downing, whose picturesque “cottage residences” are in the Romantic vein. The main house has two wings, one a master suite and one a garage. More high-style or “villa” Downing, the main house has flush-board siding and label mouldings over the windows. The wings, however, are finished with board-and-batten siding and their windows have hoods or pent roofs over them—from vernacular Downing. The simple interior follows the architecture; pinnacles, pendants, and elaborate details of the period don’t appear on this rural house. Beams are from a demolished Vermont farmhouse; they were fumigated when they arrived on site. Flooring throughout is chestnut and oak salvaged from a Jim Beam warehouse in Kentucky. A newel post, quirky chandeliers, mantelpieces, cabinets, and the neoclassical sideboard that became a sink console are salvaged items that add history and surprise to a new house that feels long established.
1. REPURPOSED CONSOLE
The unique, elegant washstand was once a leggy dining-room sideboard in neoclassical style. The owner found the decorative, under-mount Kohler sink bowls that beautifully fit the room.
2. BOARD WALLS
Exposed beams in the vaulted ceiling and flush-boards on walls are the primary decoration in the room. Whitewashed wood provides a plain, rural backdrop for the antique furnishings and colorful accents.
3. INTEGRATED FIXTURES
The homey, wood-clad room avoids a “sanitary bathroom” aesthetic. The Kohler tub, for example—set into a mahogany deck and covered with a board skirt—is treated like a built-in window seat in the bay.
4. FINE FURNISHINGS
Furniture, used instead of bath fittings, conveys antiquity and luxury. An exotic inlaid dresser is used for storage. Two Thai windows were refitted as mirrors. The antique wing chair was reupholstered, and the pendant light adds a bit of Old English whimsy.