An Asbury Park Victorian Gets a ‘Really Fun’ Face-Lift

In 2007, right after most of the function was comprehensive, they welcomed the arrival of their son, Owen, now 14. A handful of a long time afterwards they extra a Victorian bulldog, Watson, to the combine. And as they started entertaining far more, the 1,800-sq.-foot household they had lovingly renovated started to sense a tiny little.

So in 2016, when they saw a listing for a 4,000-sq.-foot, three-tale shingled home from 1891, with a detached 1,200-sq.-foot guesthouse in back again, they determined to invest in it, at some point offering their initially property. The price of the new residence, soon after a bidding war, was $600,000.

Their new aged residence had been restored by the earlier proprietors, and substantially of the original woodwork was intact. The couple preferred the historical specifics, but the interior was a Victorian time capsule — with a flooring prepare broken up by modest, dim rooms — and didn’t feel correct for their household. That was doubly genuine for Mr. Berman, whose business is recognised for coming up with clear-lined modernist areas.

To renovate it, they planned to maintain as numerous of the original details as doable, although opening up the dwelling to create a calm, convivial ambiance loaded with playful, sudden finishes. “For us, it was an prospect to celebrate a large amount of the traditional specifics, but give them a facial area-carry,” Mr. Berman said. “We preferred this dwelling to be truly exciting.”

In the front aspect of the home, they remaining most of the architecture in tact, but transformed its identity with new finishes, fixtures and colours. A ribbon of yellow paint now leads up the front steps, rises up along the entrance door and wraps back again in excess of the porch ceiling. In a game titles home straight away off the foyer, they bleached the wood floors and additional wallpaper resembling wood paneling and a woven-bamboo suspension lamp previously mentioned a walnut Ping-Pong desk with a leather-based net.