FLOORING REPLACEMENTS

Butler’s Pantry & Back Hallway

The original 1883 flooring in the butler's pantry and back hall was a patterned linoleum. Over time, the pattern rubbed off and the floor looked like brown leather. In the heavily trafficked places, the movement of the wood floor caused the linoleum flooring to wear out completely. It had become a trip hazard. Those places had been patched by red linoleum pieces and a turquoise linoleum rug. These were nailed in with millions of small square nails—no glue.

In May 2021, Hank Dunlop (long-time board member and preservation expert) located Mark Spicher of Spicher and Co., a vinyl flooring manufacturer in Pennsylvania who recreates historic patterns on vinyl. Seeing the house for the first time, via Facetime, he fell in love and decided to copy the original pattern. The replica is the first picture below. The original linoleum still exists in the upstairs linen closet.

Kitchen Flooring

During the pandemic we were not using the kitchen for events and we took advantage of this time to clean, top to bottom, and to paint. We also uncovered the original 1883 brick range and fixed the 1926 gas range. There were layers of flooring over the original red-painted wood floor—it had been covered with linoleum, and in the 1950s asbestos vinyl was glued over the linoleum.

We had to have professionals remove the asbestos, adding an additional $2,000 to the project. The photo below shows the underlayment plywood, with the Sparks stove on rollers, before the linoleum was laid down. The replacement material is linoleum, like the original. This compostable linoleum, from Floor Dimensions in Albany, CA, and manufactured by Marmoleum, is made from linseed oil, pine sap and cork or sawdust with a jute grass backing. We chose to install the pattern called "Himalayan."