It requires a specific mix of skill and compromise to turn a really old house to something warm and inviting while preserving the original charm and character. Jean-Marc Bourgouin and Kathleen McCormack have just this particular talent. On top of being built in 1891, their Queen Anne–style home in Astoria, Oregon, came with bamboo flooring from the 1920s or 1930s, a 1950s stove and original windows that appeared to allow all of the warmth out and invite each of the chilly in.

Bourgouin and McComack, that are both in the restaurant industry, kept the house mostly undamaged, adding furniture in the late 1800s, an exterior paint colour that matches the original and vibrant interior paint. The end result is a lively house brimming with both modern character and old-world allure.

at a Glance
Who lives here: Kathleen McCormack and Jean-Marc Bourgouin, plus cats Brian and Isabelle
Location: Astoria, Oregon
Size: 1,350 square feet plus basement; 3 bedrooms, 2 baths
That is intriguing: This home was built with planks. In late-1800s and early-1900s Astoria, only the wealthy built their homes with plaster.

Kimberley Bryan

Like most homes in Astoria, Bourgouin and McCormack’s Queen Anne–style home perches on a sloped hill while nestling to the bottom of yet another hill, affording them a theater-seating perspective toward the majestic Columbia River.

“Astoria was always a functioning town. Being on the lake, it was a fish-processing town,” Bourgouin states. It was a hardworking location that, after World War II, was seriously economically depressed. “After the war, homeowners didn’t have the money to work in their homes or rip them down and build new,” he continues. “That is why so many homes, like ours, have kept so a lot of their original components.”

Paint: Rematch B30.5 Cly22 E2y9.5 Ky7y33, Pratt & Lambert

Kimberley Bryan

The majority of the couple’s artwork came from local artists or garage or estate sales. “There is no subject,” says McCormack. “We have artwork piled up, waiting to get on the wall. It’s our own way of expressing what speaks to us”

Sofa: Ethan Allen; bench: Scan House; coffee table: Rosewood, Scan Design

Kimberley Bryan

A glass-front cupboard displays enamel and silver–Russian Revolution pieces McCormack has accumulated since childhood.

Kimberley Bryan

An early-1950s O’Keefe & Merritt stove takes centre stage in the kitchen.

Kimberley Bryan

Nearby an English walnut washstand in the late 1800s sits under a wall of vintage pictures and needlepoint. The large, framed news article over the washstand is signed by Julia Child, who spent a day at the French Culinary Institute while McCormack was a pupil.

Kimberley Bryan

An 1880s walnut and burled maple hutch commands one facet of the kitchen and provides a stark contrast to the modern appliances in the laundry area, which was originally a sunporch added on the home in the early 1900s.

Kimberley Bryan

Bourgouin built the bathtub and shower surround to help divide the space within the small bathroom. Care was taken to match the look and texture of the house’s molding. The vibrant turquoise at the bathroom “is a color we made up,” says McCormack.

Kimberley Bryan

Painted fir stairs decorated with glass jars lead to the house’s second-story hallway plus a 1920s English Victrola cupboard. Original windows offer generous doses of mild “but no heating,” states Bourgouin. “The original windows are all beautiful, but they do allow in the cold”

Rug: Paulsons Fine Floor Coverings

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Bourgouin removed the door of the principal bedroom cupboard to expand the room and make a sitting space. The vanity is made from birdseye maple. The molding on the slanted ceilings is original.

Chairs: J.L. Moller, Scan Design

Kimberley Bryan

Even though the measurements of the rooms are comparatively small, architectural treats such as this view of diminishing rectangles created by the bedroom, sitting area and bathroom doorways help pull the eye through the spaces.

Kimberley Bryan

The enclosed front entry is a protected spot for enjoying the views.

Kimberley Bryan

Built with the help of a friend, the back deck benefit from one of the sunniest areas of the property. The very clear roofing lets the light while providing much-needed protection from the rain, where Astoria receives 100 inches a year. Alongside the deck, a salvaged bathtub provides a raised bed for vegetable and herb starters.

Kimberley Bryan

Bourgouin and McCormack, shown here, made a collection of small, intimate outdoor spaces. This patio is just one of many areas nestled in the yard; the patio was created by Bourgouin of vintage brick.

Kimberley Bryan

When removing a false wall for a cupboard, the couple discovered a photo of the house’s background: seven layers of background and an original square-head nail. The ninth or eighth owners of the house, they keep the piece in storage.

“It’s fascinating to learn the background of your own home … the way that it had been home to others before you, also,” McCormack says. “It’s a means of sharing one another’s personal histories”

Kimberley Bryan

A year following the homeowners moved, they purchased the adjacent 15,000-square-foot lot. Once a dumping ground of sorts for both previous homeowners and many others, the yard is now a serene space full of towering deciduous trees and a garden. “I grow chamomile, parsley, chives, mint, strawberries, potatoes and fava beans,” says McCormack. “We get too many herbs and just enough potatoes and fava beans for us”

Kimberley Bryan

The couple created a meditation space with a rustic bench made from salvaged timber from the dockworks at the riverfront.

Kimberley Bryan

This chair, painted by artist Karen Bain, seems to hold a towering rustic birdhouse.

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