The Ultimate Find

Take a peek inside a restored 19th-century post-and-beam home that an Ohio shopowner with a penchant for prims has filled with pieces that celebrate the past during the holidays and beyond.

Built between 1846 and 1850 by early settlers from Pennsylvania and Maryland, the two-story post-and-beam frame house in Brookville, Ohio, was definitely showing its age when Traci and Tod Ostrander purchased it in 2016.

The couple had always liked the idea of living in the country but had never found the right property. Traci had driven past the unusual house on 3 acres that would one day become her home many times over the years, but she had never thought seriously about living there.

Once part of a 65-acre parcel west of Dayton, the property had been in foreclosure, and the house either sat empty or served as a rental for many years before the Ostranders purchased it. “It was neglected, but it had a lot of potential,” Traci recalls. “I was a bit intimidated, but the price was right and I knew we could make it work if we kept an open mind.”

The family of four—Traci, Tod and daughters Madison and Lauren—gutted the three-bedroom, two-bath, approximately 2,300-square-foot house prior to moving in. They removed the existing flooring to expose and restore original hardwood; remodeled the kitchen and bath; revived the walls, ceilings and trim with fresh paint; and installed various new light fixtures.

Traci, an antiques dealer and owner of Talmadge Road Mercantile, which is housed in a former general store in nearby Clayton, knew the house would be the perfect backdrop for her enviable collection of primitive furniture and accessories. “I think the style chose me,” she says of her preference for furnishings that date from the mid- to late 1800s. “I love the coziness . . . and I love preserving these amazing pieces from the past. When I see rooms full of primitive pieces, I am immediately uplifted.”

While treasures can be found throughout the house, Traci points to her dining room as one of her favorite spaces, where she showcases several of her collections, including crocks, wood bowls, stoneware, pantry boxes and sugar buckets/ firkins. She’s also a big fan of the area she calls her “milk room,” an addition that was once an outbuilding on the farm with a concrete trough in the corner. Now joined to the house, it’s the perfect showcase for rustic goods that would have originally graced an old-fashioned pantry or root cellar.

Grouping similar articles together or housing them in the same room keeps larger collections from reading as clutter while maximizing their visual impact, Traci explains. For example, she displays all of her painted pieces together, dividing them by color, red in one room and blue in another. Sharing her finds with others also ensures her collections don’t overwhelm her limited space. “I keep my all-time favorites and let the others go to new homes,” she says. “If, by chance, I find something new to bring home, something else has to go.”

In keeping with her prim decor, Traci sticks to simple holiday adornments, such as an abundance of faux greens tucked into crocks, bowls and baskets; folk-art Santa and snowman figures; and an assortment of slender trees. Bright pops of red, introduced via stockings, mittens and union suits, introduce a jolly jolt of color.

Traci’s charming home is her largest antique, and it’s one that she is content to keep around for a while. “For the moment, this is my dream home,” she proclaims. “We took a very neglected home and turned it into something pretty special.” Her infectious enthusiasm for transformation, her enduring love of primitives and her ability to accentuate the positive have provided her family with a warm and welcoming home poised to share its rags-to-riches story with generations to come.

Editor’s Note: If you liked getting a peek into Traci’s home, then be sure to turn to “Hidden Gem” on pages 38–48 to see the residence of her sister, Robyn Thomas, who is also a Brookville resident.

“When I see rooms full of primitive pieces, I am immediately uplifted.”

Various shades of blue throughout the pieces in this living room vignette call to mind a wintry ambience.

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Traci tucks realistic pine branches and holly into year-round collectibles for an easy seasonal update. “One year, I used real greenery and it was such a mess that I decided never to do it again,”Traci says, adding that artificial options often look just as good as the real thing.

The Ostranders lined an otherwise underwhelming wall with brick veneer to create a distinctive backdrop for kitchen collectibles and a whimsical assortment of vintage Santas. The mesh-back veneer panels are similar to sheets of backsplash tile and require a special mortar.

Traci selected this mustard hue for her dining room because “it really shows off the warmth of old wood,” she says. Simple curtains and a coordinating floorcloth align with the furniture finishes, while a farm seed bag echoes the wall color.

Traci likes to employ grain sifters as display spots for special treasures. She placed the auction notice from her grandparents’ farm in one in her living room, near an unrelated framed notice that she purchased because the date matches her birthday.

Right: Traci’s enviable crock collection gets a holiday pick-me-up with a wispy garland, sprigs of greenery and a slender tree wrapped in beads and lights. Above the crocks, a gathering of belsnickles shares wall space in the upstairs hall with prim artwork.