I was excited to find this colorful Queen Anne painted lady on the market in Wheaton, Ilinois, my home town. It is full of updated bells and whistles befitting its elegance.
Drawing room doors with keyhole details let you know this is a historic home. And the bathrooms and kitchen have all the right modern updates.
I wonder how they decided what colors to paint the exterior. There are design color guides for old girls like this one.
Listing details: True Vintage Exterior of Cedar & Scalloped Shingles, Clapboard, Hip Knob, 2nd story Bay w/Half Tent Roof & Lattice along porch caves.
Charming colors make this house eye-catching like the whimsical pink where the owners display a plague dated 1890.
My Grandparent’s lived in a painted lady. Here it is in its original form years ago. I remember pocket doors to the living room and sliding down the stairway banister. The upper room on the right was a sewing room. A fond memory was the bathroom. It had floor tiles. The tiles right next to the tub had 4 sets of feet of different sizes like a Mom, Dad, and two kids, as if they stepped into black paint and planted their footprints. Just like footprints in cement but with paint.
However, later Grandma and Papa (as we called them) remodeled the house into the main home on the lower level and an apartment they rented out on the top floor. New owners have added painted lady colors and changed the porch roof. Today, we hardly recognize it at first glance, but our family memories there are so thick we can never forget.
Back to our colorful Queen Anne painted lady.
As soon as we step through the double doors we see oak flooring with detailed walnut inlay.
The double front doors actually have decorative frosted glass inserts.
The Chicago Tribune calls her beautifully preserved and reports the house was originally built in 1890 for hotel owner Braman Loveless. Mark and Elizabeth Sargis have owned the 3,633-square-foot house since 1998 but recently decided to move to downstate Greenville to be closer to family.
They put the house up for sale this month after making a variety of upgrades earlier this year. “Realtors all told us to sell to a developer, but we made the decision to make (the house) lovely so another family could enjoy such a wonderful home,” Elizabeth Sargis said. “And the proximity to downtown Wheaton is one of the first things about the house — it’s so close to downtown, to schools, to the library, and to Wheaton College.”
The house was remade into a boardinghouse after World War I, and it was fully deconverted to a single-family home — with a second kitchen removed — after the previous owner bought it in 1985, Sargis said.
The oak staircase with hand turned spindles.
Original Victorian-style keyhole brass hardware, knobs, and locks are wonderful historical details still present in the house.
Like a lot of Victorian homes, there are many stained glass windows. A fireplace at the other end of this room with folding glass doors.
The formal dining room boasts Zebra Flooring of maple and cherry.
Updated Kitchen and Bathrooms
Kitchen
Bathrooms on the main floor and upstairs including a separate shower, large double sink vanity, and a clawfoot tub with silver painted feet.
As listed, there are four bedrooms. It looks like they all have transom windows too.
This Queen Anne painted lady also has an unexpected upper floor laundry room that is all the rage to have in a home today.
A spacious playroom
The whimsical charm just does not stop. More porches, a colorfully painted matching garage, and a picket fence on a corner lot.
Our hometown newspaper calls her a dazzling Victorian home. Roseann Stuker appears to have the listing currently asking $880,000.
If you liked seeing this Queen Anne painted lady, click the Old Houses page for more.
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