Feature Friday: The Morgan-Ford House Mobile AL

I’m sharing a previous Feature Friday today, a fun event I took part in several years ago in Mobile, AL, the Southern Romance house. Enjoy it all over again, it’s a beautifully restored house!

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Today’s Feature Friday is really special.  I shared the gorgeous back porch of this magnificent home yesterday, but the final reveal of the interior of this home is another big part of the Southern Romance story.  Esther, the Canadian CEO of Phantom Screens, bought this house from the Ford family and after an 18 month journey of renovation, the house is finished.  We were all wondering what she was going to do with the house and the last video of the series on videos, it was shared that she is keeping her beautiful home.  I can’t blame her a bit!  After working on a house like this for so many months and pouring her heart and soul into it, I’m so glad she is keeping it in her family and she will vacation in Mobile from Canada for years to come.

If you get the chance, you will LOVE watching all the videos of the progress of this house renovation.  They did a fantastic job sharing and capturing it all.  The website also has each room documented with lots more professional pictures and details captured as well, so I hope you’ll peruse their website.

The bloggers that were privileged to tour this house were as follows:

(L to R)  Sierra with Phantom Screens, Lauren, Aedriel, Shannon, Debbie, Esther with Phantom Screens, Tiffany, Beth and me.

It’s a beauty, so I’m going to share all sorts of photos to show it off. I have some photos from Phantom Screens to share, as well as my own photos that I took in the house.  It’s magnificent and you’re going to  love seeing this restored lovely home.

The house sits on Rapier Ave. in the Oakleigh historic district of Mobile, so if you are in the area, drive by this beautiful bit of history and check out all the gorgeous homes in this neighborhood.  I love the old live oak trees and how their canopies cover the road. I think it would be a dream to live in a neighborhood like this.

The house has a wonderful presence on the street.  Esther’s old truck just adds to the story.

The front with the most beautiful railing I’ve ever seen, along with stately square columns that were all restored.

Heading up the stairs to the front porch.  I’m not going to talk all the way through, but enjoy the tour.  The front porch is about as amazing as the back porch.

Lighting by Southern Progress.  The gas lantern hanging on the porch sets it off with so much charm.

Original stained glass was protected during the renovation.

Closeup of the railings.

The entry hall (or dog trot as they call a long hallway like this) has a straight shot view to the beautiful backyard.

I loved how wide this hallway is coming in the front door and notice the set of French doors leading to the hallway.  Very nice touch.

Esther was so mindful of keeping as much as she could of the old house moldings.  After these old moldings couldn’t be reused, she came up with the idea of saving some of the old wallpaper scraps and had someone make these picture frames to hold old pictures of the families who have lived here.  Wonderful way to capture history!

The formal living room at the front of the house.

Esther wanted to save this fireplace and would have loved to make it a gas fireplace, but chose to save the tile instead of starting over to renovate it.

Original light fixture from the house was cleaned and repaired.

The double pocket doors going from the living room to the dining room are still in working order and they were renewed again.  I just loved this feature!  Pocket doors should come back into style, they are magnificent.

Esther took down the dirty old wallpaper in the dining room, but chose a pattern that closely resembled the old and kept the feel of the room intact with history.

We also had the pleasure of dining in this beautiful dining room one night we were there. What a treat that was!  Robbie, the wonderful chef at the Ft. Conde Inn where we stayed came and prepared dinner for us.  Truly a special treat!

This dining room fireplace shares a chimney with the living room fireplace. Neither work anymore, but they sure are pretty.

This little room that joins the dining room with the kitchen was saved as Mary’s pantry.  Mary was the family housekeeper who worked in this house for many years and was well loved by the family.

Esther saved scraps of the old vinyl flooring that was in the room, to capture the feel of history.

The kitchen was completely renovated with custom cabinetry in a Shaker style.  It’s just beautiful and a dream kitchen to me.  I love how she took the cabinets all the way to the tall ceiling, with lights in the glass front cabinets.

It’s such a gorgeous spot now.

Against the advice of her contractor, Esther saved the original sink in the house and I’m so glad she did  Isn’t it charming with its built in drain board?

This glass front island was built from an original base cabinet in the old kitchen.

A new wood top was built for it and Esther decided it needed supports, so she found a vintage round table and used the legs as corbels.  Great idea!

The top of the table was painted by a local artist with the Southern Romance logo and hung on the kitchen wall.

The master bedroom is spacious and cozy.

Esther reused so many things in the house, including this old door that was on a closet that was taken out.  Repurposed into a headboard, it now serves a new purpose.

All the original wood doors were stripped of paint and kept natural.  I love the stateliness and beautiful wood tone they add to the room.

The master bath has been updated and renovated in classic black and white (great minds think alike!).

I adore this tall and beautiful tiled shower.

This original window in the master was saved and renovated and isn’t it lovely?

Esther showed us around the house and opened up this cute ironing board still intact in the hallway.  Old houses are so much fun!

Off the master bedroom alcove is this built-in bookcase, hiding a little secret.

An old closet was repurposed as the laundry room, hidden behind the pretty built in bookcase.  What a great idea this was!

The middle room off the hallway is the guest room.  Esther reused the old metal iron grates that were in the windows for protection, now used as art in the room.

The hall bath kept its original claw foot tub, with the addition of black and white tile and beadboard.

Old hardware from the original bathroom was saved as art.  Fun!

The last room to tour is the front gentlemen’s parlor.  The Ford family gave Esther some of the original furniture from the house to use and display.

One other fun feature is the stairway to the attic that pulls down.  I’ve never seen one like this and it was pretty neat.  I climbed up the stairs to check out the attic.

I’ve already shared the back porch, but if you missed it, check out this back porch post from yesterday. It’s such a wonderful outdoor space!

And that’s a wrap on the Southern Romance home!  I hope you enjoyed this renovation as much as I did. I know that this house will be enjoyed by Esther and family for years to come.  It’s a dreamy and beautiful house and one of the best renovations I’ve seen!

Here are all the paint colors in the house, if you’re interested!  All by Benjamin Moore:

Doors, trim, baseboard
Oc-132 grand teton white in a semi-gloss finish

Ceilings and space above trim edge
Top half of hall guest bath walls
Bottom wainscoting board in hall guest bathroom
Oc-132 grand teton white

Kitchen
Cabinets – oc-132 grand teton white in a pearl or satin finish
Walls – 2142-50 gray mirage (it is an antique greenish-gray)

Mary’s pantry
Laundry room
HC-116 Guilford green (bm colour of the year!)

Living room
Dining room
Middle bedroom
CC-250 seaspray

Front parlour (front bedroom)
HC-111 nantucket gray

Master bedroom & master ensuite
CC-680 raindance

Porches
Ceiling – 2054-70 clear skies
Deck – HC-163 Duxbury gray

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