Chapters from this episode
Now Playing
Now Playing
Now Playing
Clip Transcript For:
Guillard-Bennet House Tour
computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate
" -Wow! It's quite a space."
" -Yes. This is a Charleston double house but it's not a typical double house because it's not a square box. We've got the a living room and the dining room but in the back, it forms a T and this is the den and the, the kitchen area. The detailing in here is remarkable. I've never seen a, a ceiling medallion that was a rectangle like this, a kind of seashell rays or something."
" -Well, there are three of them in this house."
" -Yes."
" -Really, is unique."
" -And then the freeze, the, the cornice is also beautiful."
" -We had to do a lot of work to the cornice . We had a lot of missing elements. But in the painting, we've been able to really highlight the , the, the relief of the the moldings. And we didn't have to remove a lot of paint."
" -But you've really if done that effectively with the two tones of paint.--"
" --Yes."
" -Yes."
" -I love the scale of the furniture in here though. The hall is big, the table is big, the painting is big. It fits, fits the period."
" -What about this?"
" -These are a [unk]fluted pilasters and we were able to paint those to look like marble."
" -Are they wood?"
" -They are wood and they are carved."
" -Original to 1803?"
" -Yes."
" -What about the gilding out there?"
" -Well, we gilt the top of the acanthus leaves for the capital because we found some a gold leaf originally."
" -Traces of it so you made it look aged. It's not too shiny."
" -Right."
" -I like that."
" -And this is a leading into the, to the library, or the den. You can see on this door, it it looks like mahogany but it's not."
" --It's really a, a flame finish."
" -Yes."
" -Flame mahogany."
" -Yes."
" -Now, is this an original door?"
" -This is an original door and it's painted many many layers of paint that we found in several of the doors. The original finish was this so we replicated."
" -What about the, the hardware?"
" -The hardware, we also replicated where it was missing. We had brass elements cast and then silver plate it."
" -So, this is the library you said?"
" -Yes."
" -And their mantle is a, a typical Adam's mantle with all of the composition molded elements."
" -Similar to ours."
" -Yes."
" -Yes. And then, you added all the shelves back here on this other wall?"
" -Well, yes, we had to create a library and make it look like it would have been here originally."
" -Yes."
" -So, we used the elements that we thought were of the period. It's Palladian style bookcase."
" -That nice central arch is very effective."
" -Yes."
" -And then, where did you hide stuff like a, the stereo?"
" -Well, we didn't want to put a stereo and a bar in this area. So, we had to kind of build some furniture elements that were part of the, the walls-"
" -and what we did, we took some old salvage boards from the attic and used some modern hardware to create these, these corner bookcases."
" -Marvelous. Nice job Moby. Where to next?"
" -Well, let's go in the dining room and on the way, we can look at the kitchen."
" -Oh, this is beautiful. Nice, nice proportions to the room."
" -Yes. It's the same size as the den across the hall."
" -Yes. Look at this. Southern yellow pine."
" -Yes and we salvaged these beams after hurricane Hugo--"
" -from some damaged houses and managed to mill it for the counter top."
" -So, the owners really have a flare for art. What is that?"
" -It's a 17th century Portuguese towel panel that they found and we managed to put it together and assemble it."
" -Beautiful."
" -Let's look in the dining room. "
" -Hey, beautiful dining room, isn't it?"
" -Oh, it's beautiful."
" -Nice size. But what are the proportions used [unk]?"
" -It's 25 feet long, about 18 feet wide and I think 12 feet tall."
" -And the chandelier must hang down about 6 feet."
" -Yes."
" -You suppose that's English or Irish?"
" -I'm not sure actually. I think it's, I know it's an 18th century piece but I'm not sure of the origin."
" -And then again one of these rectangular ceiling plaques?"
" -It's kind of a hallmark of this house that really, [unk]--"
" --The,"
" --ornate classic The color scheme is great though with that peach or, or vermillion color that they've used a to highlight it and then you pick it up again in the cornices all the way around the room."
" -Yes."
" -It is so effective, it's so beautifully painted."
" -Well, this is the mantle I was telling you about."
" -Incredible! Seashells huh?"
" -And you, you won't see another mantle like this in Charleston. It's really ornate. We have a, a central panel that's made up of a lot of seashells and, all this fans."
" -Taco shells and scallop shells and sea fans and all sorts of corkscrews, it's incredible."
" -And down here, this is the same detail we have at the, the house we are working on right down the street."
" -This looks like it was just made yesterday though."
" -Yes. We had to pick out 20 or 30 layers of paint to reveal this detail."
" -Unbelievable."
" -And this, this is a very very ornate marble or a metamorphosized limestone."
" -It's a good choice to go with the seashells thought because it has fossils in it."
" -Yes. -Yes."
" -And over here, we have kind of the stock fox and hound scene with the, the hunt scene."
" -Identical to one in our house?"
" --Right."
" -And over, this is a bread-fruit tree and-"
" -it's framed by this two-pilasters with the fluted chaffs and a really ornate Corinthian capitals with, again, the shells."
" -So, the local carpenters who would have made the wooden mantle piece and they would send away to England for all these applied decorations and then just stuck them on?"
" -That's, that's a good possibility."
" -Yes. And then, on up in the over mantle, we again have the fluted pilasters with the leaves for the capitals."
" -Right and a very, very ornate cornice. "
" -It's really, really something else. Now, the, the thing that grabs me also, the proportions of this room are identical to the dining room. "
" -Yes."
" -When we were looking at the outside facade, we saw that they've altered a lot of things but they haven't altered the plant at all, have they?"
" -No. The inside is pretty much as it was when it was first built."