THREE NEW-OLD BATHROOMS

FOR AN 1881 HOUSE IN MAINE

When Courtney and Donna Neff bought their 1881 Italianate in Brunswick, Maine, new bathrooms were on the renovation list. (See the related article beginning on p. 64.) They converted a small upstairs bedroom, which perhaps had once been a nursery, into a guest bathroom. They redesigned the master bath with a stepin shower. And they added a downstairs powder room. In each case, they opted for an unfussy approach with period details.

The powder room, which is just behind the kitchen, has a tall beadboard wainscot by The Kennebec Company, echoing the oak aesthetic of the new-old kitchen by Kennebec. An antique, marble-topped cabinet provides a bit of storage.

The new upstairs guest bath is lined with oak wainscoting salvaged from an old bank torn down in Leominster, Massachusetts, courtesy of the stove restorer (and vintage-kitchen maven) David Erickson. The Eastlake vanity came from an antiques store in Brunswick, Maine. Black and white tiles on the floor—a classic for decades—reinforce the bathroom’s sensibility.

In the master bath, where the Neffs traded a tub for a new, more accessible step-in shower, personality comes from reclaimed maple flooring and a freestanding apothecary cabinet set into an alcove. In this room, too, beadboard, painted in creamy white, sheathes lower walls to create a pleasing wainscot. The look skews toward 1920. — Regina Cole

A black-and-white tile floor and an Eastlake vanity with a brass sink are suited to a house built in 1881. The oak wainscoting was salvaged when an old bank was torn down.

OPPOSITE (top) The master bathroom’s sunny personality comes from a pretty tint of light green on the walls, green and white tiles in the shower, and reclaimed maple flooring. Light fixtures are refurbished antiques. (bottom right) In the downstairs powder room, a small, square pedestal sink and an antique chest with a marble top are scaled to fit. LEFT A leaded-glass window hung in the upper sash, and a lace curtain below, provide privacy in the guest bath. The room was once a small bedroom. RIGHT The antique Eastlake-style vanity cabinet called for a period marble top and separate crosshandle taps in brass.