Home Staging: Faulkner Castle Gets the Cinderella Treatment, IRED

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Home Staging: Faulkner Castle Gets the Cinderella Treatment

Pat Rioux

© Tom Arnold

Every home for sale can benefit from staging, the process of creating the best view of each room, the best traffic pattern and the best curb appeal to help make the home more marketable. Even a stately castle such as the historic Frederick Faulkner House in Lowell, Massachusetts can be transformed by the Cinderella touch of an Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) such as Elizabeth Callahan of HomeStageit.com, based in Massachusetts.

Callahan helped owners Brianna and Peter MacPhee prepare the nearly 10,000 square foot castle for marketing by LandVest, the exclusive Greater Boston affiliate for Christie's Great Estates. The MacPhees bought the castle in 1992 and needed Callahan's advice about how to stage the castle to make it live up to its original 1878 splendor when originally commissioned by mill owner Frederick Faulkner.

Callahan said that although people may envision a castle to be dungeon-like nothing could be further from the truth about the Faulkner castle. She felt that it has a wonderful, warm, open floor plan that she could enhance through staging. Her goal was to use the owners' belongings and furnishings to make each room a warm, welcome retreat. She wanted to call attention to the many beautiful, original features of the home, such as the rich mahogany paneling and moldings, original light fixtures, wall sconces and brass work.

The castle also has gorgeous wood floors, original curved glass windows in the turret rooms, abundant light filled, 10' arched windows and high ceilings, seven working fireplaces with beautiful woodwork and tiles or marble. Callahan says, "The endearing features of the home were plentiful but fairly hidden behind too much stuff."

Her first challenge was dealing with a vast amount of personal items that had filled this large home. Removing clutter, the first step in most of her consulting assignments, was her first priority in Lowell. Much of the fine craftsmanship of the home was hidden and needed to be featured. The floor to ceiling bookcases in the library were so full that the glass doors would not shut properly. Everything was removed and only a select third of it was put back in such an arrangement as to call attention to the detail, beauty and functionality of the bookcases.

The library on the first floor was being used as a home office, with the back of the computer and wiring facing the door, making an ugly impression as you walked into the room. The solution was to move the office to the third floor bedroom which was previously the maid's quarters and reestablishing the library as it was originally intended. Warm leather chairs, ottomans and the rearrangement of the furnishings and accessories transformed the room into a welcoming oasis in which anyone would want to sit and read, relax or just enjoy the warmth of the fireplace or the peace and serenity of the room.

Callahan had the owners gather all the items not being used in the staging into the massive foyer to pack and store at an offsite storage facility. The kitchen was the next room she tackled by removing everything in the original glass-front kitchen cabinets, replacing just one third of the glassware, arranged in such a way as to call out the amount of available space. Live plants and flowers were placed in the greenhouse window over the sink and countertops were cleared except for the barest essentials. Most of the artwork hanging on the walls was removed, giving the kitchen a larger, cleaner appearance. All magnets, photos and notes were removed from the front of the refrigerator.

Dining Room - Before

Dining Room - After

Next she tackled the dining room which had a perfect hardwood floor hidden under an Oriental carpet. She removed the carpet and rearranged furnishings to create more balance in the room. The fireplace mantle was cleared except for a plant to enhance the beauty of the woodwork on the walls and fireplace surround. Twelve tall chairs surrounding the table were scaled back to four and the remaining chairs were used as seating beside the fireplace and around the walls.

Callahan added a flower-patterned tablecloth and a few place settings. Callahan notes that "Typically, this would not be done in the average home. However, the goal was to make the expansive room feel warmer and call attention to it as a perfect setting for entertaining." Five massive windows were decorated with sheer curtain panels and plants were added. The changes gave the large, expansive room a bit more warmth and privacy.

Formal Living Room - Before

Formal Living Room - After

The living room, although beautifully decorated, was much too cluttered and furnishings were not arranged in a welcoming manner. Many of the pieces were moved to other rooms, opening the space and allowing focus on the room itself rather than the owners' belongings. The couch was angled in front of the beautiful curved, arched windows and seating was strategically placed to create an inviting nook near a wall of art.

Main Staircase in Foyer - Before

Main Staircase in Foyer - After

The main foyer (above) is L-shaped with a Baby Grand piano. Three window seat cushions were made for the built-ins from fabric coordinated with the window treatments pattern. The many pieces of art were removed from the walls, replacing only a few. This allowed the potential buyer to focus on the beauty of the paneling and gave the room a more continuous, less chopped-up feeling. Antique rugs were removed and the areas around the piano were enhanced with art, and seating nooks. Plants were placed as a divider between the foyer and the L.

Formal Living Room Entry - Before

Formal Living Room Entry - After

The entry area of the foyer was further enhanced with accessories and lighting.

The family room, done in a fun but classic jungle theme, was rearranged to be more inviting and less cluttered. Art work was hung above the recessed fireplace and the opening to the fireplace was revealed. Plants in keeping with the theme of the room were brought in, bringing life and an airy, warm feeling to the space. Attention was brought to the many built-ins by de-cluttering and placing accessories strategically.

Blue Bedroom - BEFORE

Blue Bedroom - After

The balance of the 20 rooms that were staged for the castle, were done with the same goals in mind:

De-clutter
Edit
Re-arrange furnishings and accessories
Call attention to the many architectural details and add warm, inviting areas to each space.

"Home sellers should think of their home as commodity when they put it on the market", notes Callahan. "No matter how beautiful they regard their possessions, it is vital to stage the home to appeal to the broadest possible audience of potential buyers." She says that oftentimes the most highly decorated homes are the most difficult to stage because their d�cor is so specific and personal to the seller. That is where she thinks a professional with a track record can help the seller see the home from a buyer's point of view.

After adding her Cinderella touch to Faulkner Castle she says that it is now "an unobstructed joy and truly shows off the natural assets of the house." For a peek at Callahan's work, see the before and after photos here.

About Elizabeth Callahan
Elizabeth R. Callahan of HomeStageIt.com began her staging career in early 1996; before the term or concept was even know in the Northeast. A Realtor friend was aware that Callahan had successfully sold four of her own homes almost immediately and asked her how she had managed it.
After Callahan told her that she prepared her own homes for sale, she was invited to help the Realtor with a problem home that had been on and off the market for the four years. In just one day, Elizabeth moved the contents of the home around, de-cluttered and accessorized creating an entirely different feel and flow to each room. She used only the homeowners' belongings and discovered that she had a real talent for property enhancement. The home sold that same week - for the asking price!
Callahan found that many people who weren't even selling their homes also wanted this service, which is called Staging for Living (sometimes referred to as Redesign). This is the process of creating a warm, inviting and very functional environment in a more personalized manner. Staging for Living focuses on the way that the owners live, play and work within their homes.
The rooms are de-cluttered, edited, organized, rearranged and accessorized to maximize their appeal and function for that particular family. Much of the focus is based on creating ease of maintenance. More often than not, only the owners' belongings are utilized in the redesign. The rearrangements bring new focus, beauty and utility to each room and a more livable, enjoyable space.
Callahan's resume includes builder model homes, vacant homes, million+ dollar homes, starter homes, highly decorated homes (requiring less personalization) and homes that people are not selling. In some instances, furnishings and accessories need to be brought in by her company. Every home benefits from staging, either monetarily by creating a quicker sale or by creating the best possible living space for owners for their own enjoyment.
Staging a home for sale, whether vacant or furnished, allows the homeowner to sell faster and for more money. It is an insurance policy on their most valuable asset. Staging for Living allows homeowners to truly enjoy their living space based on their living styles and personal preferences. They never again have that feeling that a room "just isn't right".

Pat Rioux

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