A 1921 Italian Renaissance Revival house keeps its soul—original fireplaces, 2,000 lbs of handmade tile, carved windows—while a designer-artist duo add gutsy color, stone-clad kitchens, and rooms that work for 2026 life.
Most gut renovations strip a house to the studs. Jennie Bishop did the opposite. The founder of Bishop Studios treated every surviving 1920s detail in her client’s Wilmette, Illinois, home as a non-negotiable design brief.
The result: a five-bed, 5.5-bath landmark that feels fresh, not frozen. Here’s the exact playbook you can steal for your own old-house project—whether you’re staring at Depression-era bathroom tile or Prairie-style windows.
Start With an Archaeological Walk-Through
Bishop’s first move was a 90-minute “quiet tour” with homeowner Christine Richman, an artist who had lived in the house for three years. They photographed:
- Three still-functioning wood-burning fireplaces
- 1-inch-thick handmade floor tile totaling 2,000-plus lbs
- Original steel windows with wavy glass
- Parquet inlay and quarter-sawn oak planks
- Plaster ceiling medallions and corner vitrines
Rule: if a element still performed its job—structural or aesthetic—it stayed. “We let the house dictate the palette,” Bishop says. “The demo list shrank daily.”
Keep the Footprint, Flip the Function
Italian Renaissance Revival houses love compartmentalized rooms. Bishop combined the kitchen and butler’s pantry into one 22-foot-long workspace, but kept the original arched doorway into the dining room. The move gained:
- 14 extra linear feet of counter
- Space for a 10-foot island that seats four
- An 8-foot stone backsplash that doubles as art
Translation: you can modernize flow without touching exterior walls or historical openings.
Pick One Show-Stopping New Material
Bishop spent 18 percent of the kitchen budget on a single quartzite slab—Black Fusion—that climbs to the ceiling behind the range. The stone’s white veining echoes the original Carrara marble mantel in the adjacent library, creating a visual handshake between old and new.
Designer trick: order the slab first, then pull paint, hardware, and textile colors from its undertones. The palette stays cohesive even when you introduce adventurous hues elsewhere.
Use Color as a Period Bridge
1920s interiors were fearless—jade green libraries, oxblood dining rooms, gilt ceilings. Bishop revived that spirit with saturated, historically grounded shades:
- Library: Benjamin Moore Olympus Green (matches 1925 tile glaze)
- Dining room: custom brown lacquer inspired by original quarter-sawn oak
- Powder room: Moooi extinct-animal wallpaper—an artistic nod to the home’s storied past
Key: sample the color directly against an original surface, not a white drywall scrap. Your eye reads heritage undertones that way.
Salvage What You Can’t Replicate
Contractors wanted to rip out the uneven handmade floor tile; Bishop hired specialty salvage crew Mercury Mosaic instead. They lifted 900 square feet in three days, cleaned each tile with vinegar baths, and re-laid them in the sunroom and guest bath.
Cost comparison:
- New handmade cement tile: $24/sq ft + freight
- Salvage + restoration: $11/sq ft
Net savings: roughly $12,000—and zero authenticity lost.
Add Modern Muscle Behind the Scenes
While surfaces stay old, the guts are 2026-grade. Bishop’s non-negotiable upgrades:
- Closed-cell spray foam in rafters (R-49)
- Low-e storm panels over original windows (preserves exterior sightline, adds 30 percent efficiency)
- Whole-house humidification tied to new HVAC—critical for 100-year-old wood
- Cat-6 wiring run through basement joists, not walls, to avoid plaster damage
Historic tax credit tip: document every mechanical upgrade with photos; many states allow insulation and HVAC deductions even when facade changes are restricted.
Let the Owner’s Story Drive the Finishing Touches
Richman’s own artwork hangs in nearly every room. The sunroom functions as her informal gallery; the powder room wallpaper educates guests on extinct species—an artistic statement she and Bishop curated together.
Lesson: the boldest design move can be personal. Frame your kid’s sketches, blow up a vacation photo, tile a backsplash with hand-painted samples. Authenticity always reads luxury.
Know When to Stop
Bishop’s original scheme included a fourth fireplace surround replacement. On demo day she discovered the 1921 hand-painted tile beneath layers of latex paint. “We spent the budget restoring instead of replacing,” she says. The fireplace now anchors the great room exactly as it did a century ago.
Rule of thumb: if you uncover a feature that sparks an audible gasp, pause the wrecking ball and recalibrate.
Bottom Line
A respectful renovation doesn’t mean living in a museum. By treating original elements as collaborators, you gain instant patina, a smaller carbon footprint, and a house no new build can copy. “I’ll take a 100-year-old home every time,” Bishop laughs. After this tour, you probably will too.
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