“[Beauty] is exemplified in home building, gardening, and the design of squares, houses and streets. It is important because it expresses and amplifies the human desire for settlement, for an environment in which things fit together and people too. It is an instrument of peace.” -Roger Scruton
“for indeed a house is a little church” -St. John Chrysostom
The story of our home | on a spring afternoon in 2019 Seth stumbled upon a listing for a four bedroom Gothic Victorian home outside of St. Paul. He sent it to me immediately, and after looking at it twice, we decided to make an offer. Our first days living here that June are still etched so distinctly into my memory. Nearly every room was painted, a deep metallic green, and we fell in love immediately with this special place. Built by a New Yorker named James Castle who moved to Minnesota in the 1800s and late became a state senator, our aim has been to honor the historical nature of this lovely space.
When I gave birth to our first son at home in 2020, we chose James as his middle name to honor the man who envisioned such a special house. I like to joke that James Castle is the patron saint of our house; we keep a small framed photo of him in our dining room and his signature is still visible on a small portion of wall in our bedroom behind a bathroom door. We are so humbled by the opportunity to live here and consider it a work of stewardship to care for it as well as we can. We haven’t made many changes since moving in minus painting. I’ve been slowing learning about decor style, finding my own, and landing on English Country-Cottage which seems to work lovely with an American Victorian. Almost all of our furnishings are second hand, found at local antique shops, given to us by our parents, or Marketplace finds.
I truly believe that home can be grand or small, and that the most important component are the people who live in it and the spirit that dwells within.
