Vintage wallpaper revival

Sunset, Sept, 1996 by Jeff Book

The settlers who won the west decorated their rooms, grand and humble alike, with wallpapers that arrived in Conestoga wagons, clipper ships, and railroad cars. Wallpaper was a fashionable link to the homes they'd left behind. As the 19th century progressed, even remote areas had access to a dizzying variety, from mail-order papers to English and French imports.

Today many of these vintage patterns are being reproduced - and bought by people seeking to match the style and period of older homes or give newer ones a touch of bygone elegance. "Many new houses are being built in Victorian, Arts and Crafts, and other traditional styles that were originally designed to be enhanced by wallpapers," notes Bruce Bradbury of Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers. "A beautiful design from the 19th century remains beautiful today. Some of them seem quite contemporary and can work in more modern-style homes as well."

Historic wallpaper companies re-create patterns from various sources, among them original wallpaper and wallpaper sample books, old photographs, and stencils used by itinerant wall painters. "It's like being a detective," says Argine Carter of Mt. Diablo Handprints. "Sometimes we have to reconstruct a pattern from just a few fragments of faded paper." Mt. Diablo's line includes opulent Victorian patterns from the Gold Coin Casino in Central City, Colorado, and wallpaper with scenes from Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show copied from paper in his house in Cody, Wyoming.

Most historical patterns are reproduced using silk-screen printing, which can mimic the layered color effects of vintage papers. Some incorporate the metallic inks once used to reflect the glimmer of gaslights. Unlike most of today's wallpapers, historical papers are neither pretrimmed nor prepasted, and they are sometimes printed on heavier stock. "They can actually be easier to hang than flimsier modern papers," says design consultant Gary Yuschalk of Victorian Interiors.

RESOURCES:

Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers, Box 155, Benicia, CA 94510; (707) 746-1900.

Classic Revivals, I Design Center Place, Suite 534, Boston, MA 02210; (617) 574-9030 (to the design trade only).

Mt. Diablo Handprints, Box 726, Benicia, CA 94510; (707) 745-3388.

Sanderson, 979 Third Ave., Suite 409, New York, NY 10022; (212) 319-7220 (to the design trade only).

Scalamandre, 942 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022; (212) 980-3888 (to the design trade only).

Victorian Collectibles, 845 E. Glenbrook Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53217; (800) 783-3829.

Victorian Interiors, 575 Hayes St., San Francisco, CA 94102; (415) 431-7191.