Bellingham historic home restoration

This 1903 Fairhaven Victorian was in the family for three generations and had reached the point where deferred maintenance was catching up in a serious way. The wraparound porch was structurally failing at two posts, exterior trim had extensive rot at the second-floor bay, and the entire exterior paint envelope was at the end of its useful life.

Historic restoration is different from remodeling — the goal is to preserve the original character while making the house structurally sound and weather-tight. We removed the failing porch posts, replicated the turned profiles using a local mill, and installed with hidden steel reinforcement. Rotted trim was replaced piece by piece with cedar milled to match the original profiles — including the decorative brackets at the roofline.

Once the carpentry was sound, we prepped and repainted the entire exterior in a historically appropriate three-color scheme researched from period Bellingham photographs. The homeowners are the fourth generation to live in the house. It should be structurally sound for the fifth. Total project: eleven weeks including custom millwork lead time.

1903 Victorian, Fairhaven, Bellingham.

Structural porch repair, trim replication, full exterior repaint.

Custom-milled cedar, hidden steel reinforcement, period paint scheme.