Purchased in January 2021
This past week we have been hard at work on Kvell House.
Well, when I say we, I mean Isaac and Gavin!
The house has to be rewired and insulated for both safety and efficiency. And, while all of this is very necessary, it doesn’t make for very exciting progress pics.
I have been keeping myself busy while waiting for the big changes to come by continuing with client project planning/management and looking at several new potential Kvell projects. This phase has also given me some time this weekend to go through all of the paperwork that was left with the house. I have to say.. I am BEYOND thankful for the real estate professionals that handled this transaction. If not for them, the bits of information I am about to share could have been potentially lost forever.
So for that, thank you so much to my good friend and real estate agent, Jeremy Haven’s of Howard Hannah and to the seller’s agent, Jackie Baker of Re/Max Plus. You have given me a priceless gift!
Designation of a Landmark
In November of 2001, Mr. & Mrs. Bertalan & June Vegh submitted a well executed and informative application spelling out all the reasons that this home should be designated a Historic Penfield Landmark.
She Named it Brown – Furman – Vegh House.
The Vegh’s were the fourth owner of the property and the third owner to make any structural changes to the home. Nothing in this home has changed since the Vegh’s renovation from 1971- 1972 until now.
June Vegh was diligent in her research and record keeping leading to this designation. Her love and desire to share this home was evident in the words she expresses in her application.
“In our 30 years here, we have entertained hundreds of adults, teens and children, and all have enjoyed and loved this historic house… We love to share it’s history, starting with Abner Brown being born during Washington’s presidency, coming to Penfield during Napoleon’s reign, buying this property during Madison’s presidency and dying of old age after Lincoln was shot. Wow!! We hope after we are long gone, this house will live on to tell its story to adults, teens and children of future generations and not just be data in some historian’s office.”
June Vegh, November 2001
Phases of Construction
1817 – 1877 Abner Brown & Heirs
Abner Brown built this home in 1817. Georgian Style, 2 stories, 5 bays wide x 2 bays deep with a rear lean-to. There were two chimney’s on the east and west end of the gabled roof, a fieldstone foundation, clapboard siding, center entrance with post & girt construction.
There was a fireplace in this original layout in the same location that a new fireplace exists in today.
The house remained the same until the second phase under new ownership in 1903.
1877 – 1965 Benjamin Furman & Heirs
In 1903, Benjamin Furman and his son, along with Miller and Bert Foster built an addition to the rear of the house that ran the full width of the house plus 7 1/2′ more to the west (lower level bedroom). This is when the wrap around porch and east side porch was added.
Mrs. Vegh describes the addition as balloon construction with clapboard siding. The bedroom floors are Georgian pine along with the doors and woodwork. There are many brass push button light switches throughout the home.
Some of the original windows and doors were reused on the addition. The original front porch and front door with 2 arches of glass and 2 panels below were from the front of the original house and was moved to the rear of the addition and a new roof was added to accommodate all the changes.
She describes the General Description of the Interior architecture:
” The Original house floor plan is Virginian. One bedroom has 2 Christian Doors and original baseboards. Walls are split lath over plank. First floor floors are a random width plank with Victorian oak parquet over them and the boxed corner posts are beaded. Under the first floor staircase is the original pantry safe. The addition is described as Victorian style.
The dining room has cupboard and drawers opening either way to the kitchen and has maple floors.
The walls are plaster over 2×4’s and the doors throughout are 6 paneled with porcelain knobs. The woodwork is Chestnut throughout the main floor. The front door has a Victorian push-bell knob and there are two sets of pocket doors off of the living room. The side of the staircase is paneled in chestnut.”
1971-2020 Bertalan & June Vegh
From 1971 to 1973, Phase 3 of the construction of this house was done by the Vegh’s. They removed an entry wall divider into the main living room, added the opening in ceiling where they took out the upper original bedrooms to create a library.
They opened up the wall between the den and the kitchen.
They preserved the original chestnut kitchen cabinetry and added to it using reclaimed chestnut to keep the integrity of the original home in tact. Mrs. Vegh describes the floor as a random slate, over maple and speaks of modernizing the bathroom with the same chestnut for the vanity and woodwork. They enclosed the front wrap around porch and describes their intention was to keep the enclosure “removeable”. They sided over the clapboard with aluminum and enclosed the side porch, and rebuilt the back entry porch keeping the same style as it was originally. She writes ” We, innocently, sided it and made a few interior mistakes 30 years ago. Even in doing so, we used old materials and tried to keep with the predominant Victorian style”
She doesn’t mention how she hand painted the entire den with a mural for her children’s playroom. I found her signature on the mural dated 1972.
You have to honor her love that she had for her home. I fell upon this house with no plans of ever purchasing it and yet, here we are.
Phase I, II, III, Side by Side
Dear Mrs. Vegh,
Your diligent efforts in preserving and loving this home have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. I feel extremely honored to have your home as part of the passion of my work. I value it’s history and I am infatuated with the process of bringing it to life again.
My goal in updating this home is to stay true to it’s history and to be as minimally invasive as possible to the actual original structure and character that can never be replicated or replaced. At the same time adding in my own personal style along with modernizing and creating of a safe space for life in 2021 and beyond to be able to share it with many generations to come.
When first starting this project, I had no idea how much effort you had put into documenting the home. I had already started this blog and I had “accidentally” found and decided to keep all of the hidden gems within the walls of the space that you have written about before thoroughly reading through your records.
You expressed your wishes in your application for this home to be shared with future generations and I am so excited to be able to share the timeline of how this house has evolved for over two centuries with many others who are excited to follow along.
I hope I can do it justice for you in every way. Even though this home will always be designated as the Brown – Furman – Vegh House we refer to it as the Kvell House for purposes of our journey in it.
~ Amy, Kvell Design and Build