FOR SALE_ 1891 Queen Anne Victorian UPDATE! This house has sold

Welcome back to Preservation Tours with Lane and Kevin here at Our Restoration Nation. It's been a while since we've done a Preservation Tour, but boy have we saved something special for you. Today we have the Turner-Ledbetter House, an 1891 Queen Anne Victorian right here in the Quapaw Quarter in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. And to make it better, she's for sale. Now, let's talk about the term Queen Anne for a minute. For our friends across the pond who get a little bit confused by what we as Yanks mean when we say Queen Anne, we're talking about the architectural style that was developed by the architect Richard Norman Shaw. He was a British architect that developed this sort of exuberant, quixotic mixture of architectural styles, and he called it Queen Anne. So that's what we mean when we say a Victorian Queen Anne, and there could be no finer example of the style than the one I'm standing in front of today. Now, let's take a look at my favorite aspect of the facade of this beautiful gem. Of course, on almost any Queen Anne, you're going to have the stunning front work, the incredible turnings on the porch. It's what makes a Queen Anne a Queen Anne. It's balconies, it's gables, but this beautiful lady has a turret, and what a turret it is. Do you know what makes the difference between a turret and a tower? A tower would extend all the way to the foundation, while a turret starts at the second floor, and this turret is a magnificent example of the style. This home is also special in that it's brick construction. A majority of Queen Annes that we see in this area are frame construction, and this one is beautiful brick masonry and has maintained its integrity over the century that it's been here. You can see she has a beautiful facade, but not only that, she has exquisitely maintained and manicured grounds. Let's take a look at those before we go inside. The artistry of this home begins before we even get to the entryway. This glorious encaustic tile ushers us up to the raised panel oak front door surround. Well, I know that every time we show you one of these homes, I tell you this is my favorite, and this is the most magnificent that we've yet seen, but here I am again saying this is my favorite and the most magnificent we've yet seen, because look at this formal entryway. I don't know that I've seen something like this in all my years. First, how could you miss this incredible oak work all around the room? You have the raised panel bishop's board wrapping the entire perimeter, but not only that, look at these cobalt trent tiles that accent above the bishop's board and of course coordinate with this incredible oak mantle. A little piece of information about the mantle. A day before the current homeowners were going to make an offer on this home, someone stole the mantle out of the house, so they almost didn't make the offer, but they hunted down the mantle, bought it back, bought the house, and undertook an incredible restoration on this beautiful property. Treasures hide in each corner of this room. Even the fire box has one. Inside, we can see Pan playing his flute to a forest full of rabbits. You'll see here an incredible gasoleer. Very rarely in these homes that we show you do we have working gasoleers, but in this house, they're functioning. You'll see the bottom arms are electric. The top arms have gas light. They can be turned on and they do still flame, as do the sconces on either side of this beautiful mantle piece. Above these pocket doors and throughout the house, you'll see these gorgeous columns repeated in almost every room with Corinthian capital tops. How could you miss the masterpiece of this entryway, this beautiful fretwork room divider? Did you know that the technical term for this fretwork is called a meshrabia? It's actually taken from a Middle Eastern architectural form. Of course, in this period, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern themes were very, very popular, and the Victorians used them anytime they possibly could. Here we have a beautiful example of a meshrabia. Of course, mixed with Greek design with our Corinthian column tops and beautiful columns. And then behind me, the incredible main stair that wraps its way up through the entryway with this unbelievable turned banister and handrail. That's just the first room. Let's take a look at the formal parlor. And welcome in to the formal parlor. I love this room. You'll note here in the formal parlor, the window surrounds, entablature, capitals, and architraves are all constructed out of beautiful and rare maple wood. Although it's a different species of wood, the carving remains the same, and you'll see the beautiful Corinthian columns at the top of each of our entablatures. We have incredible 12-foot ceilings, another functioning gasolier, a rare treasure to be sure, and yet again, another original mantle with beautiful Trent tiles, this time in an incredible blush color with figural surround. The stenciling in the room was hand done by the current owner, taken from an 1880s pattern book and replicated here around the perimeter of the room. These colors feel just as fresh and modern today as they did when they were put up. It is worth noting that all of the furnishings in this room are also available to purchase with the home as the current homeowners are going to dramatically downsize. So if you see any of these beauties that take your fancy, don't forget to ask about those as well. And here we are in the family's parlor. I love this room because it has not one, not two, but three pocket doors that open it up when you want to have access, but can close it off nicely when the family wanted private time. Here in the family room, the carvings are the same and the theme continues on, but in this room, it's cherry wood that we see. The room overall has a less formal feel. You'll see the tile, while original and beautiful, is much less formal than our front public rooms. This room is spacious and airy and has an absolutely charming feel for warm family gatherings. And off of this room, you have an enclosed sun porch, wonderful for early morning breakfast parties or summer nights sipping lemonade. I know I told you that we have three sets of pocket doors in this room, but the other two are actually dual pocket doors that close. This one is one of the ones that when I find them in the house, I always have to show them off. This is a single pocket door that runs the entire five and a half, maybe six foot width of this span. So I have to show you this beauty. Here we are in the dining room, another magnificent, large space. This table is probably 10 feet and you can see there's plenty of clearance even with it at its full extension. You'll note that in this room, we have the same carvings, the same Corinthian columns, but we've gone back to oak wood. So another beautiful, warm, rich room. Another incredible thing about this home is it retains all of its original windows. They still work. They're still on their weight and rope system, and they still function as beautifully today as they did when they were first installed. Look at the height of these doors. These are unbelievable. We have on this side, a door that accesses a China closet. And on the other side of the room, we have the swinging door to the kitchen. Beautiful gasoliers now converted to electric. This is the only mantle in the home that isn't original to the construction date, but it is current to the period of the build of the home. Absolutely stunning aesthetic movement design. You'll see the homeowners were very careful to find one that has these incredible columns. So it fits very beautifully with the theme of the house and more gorgeous figural Trent tile. The homeowners, when they bought the home, the figural tiles were here, but the surrounding tiles were in horrible condition. And only one or two of the trim tiles remained. And they went so far as to have those trim and surrounding tiles replicated. And here we have a beautiful restoration of this incredible cranberry Trent tile original fireplace. In 1910, famed architect Charles Thompson did a little remodel to this part of the house. And we got this incredible breakfast snip with these beautiful cobalt and white inlaid tile floors, this fabulous little Inglewood breakfast area, butler's pantry, and a remodeled modern kitchen. So let's take a look at what's left of that 1910 masterpiece of a kitchen. Well, this is a treasure of a kitchen. And let me tell you why all of these upper cabinets and the subway tile are original to the 1910 remodel of this home. So you have an almost intact original Victorian kitchen. All you need is maybe a little update to the countertop, and you're good to go for another 110 years. Off of the kitchen, you have access to the original servant stairs, which now just make a great access from your master bedroom upstairs to a quick little midnight snack. So nobody panic over the fact that the woodwork up here has been painted. More than likely, it's been painted from the very beginning. If any of you understand anything about Victorian architecture, you understand that the builders and homeowners put their expensive pieces and parts downstairs where company would see it. And upstairs in the private spaces, we use less expensive materials. So more than likely, the woodwork up here is all pine and has been painted since its inception. So enjoy the tour and don't fret about the woodwork. Come look at these rooms. Here's a fantastic sitting room off the main bedroom. You'll notice this is the tower room. I tried to stand in the tower to film, but Kevin said it made me look tiny and you couldn't see my face, which I was okay with because I wanted to stand in the tower. But here we are in an absolutely magnificent sitting room that you'll notice has a beautiful mantle and original tile. What a great place to, as you can see, knit a sweater, read a book, or just relax after a long day of work. I have to show you though, even up here, we have a treasure. We have another single pocket door. This main bedroom has, of course, access from the hall, a large walk-in closet, a gorgeous original mantle with its original tile, and access to the beautiful balcony where you can enjoy your morning coffee. Come on through to this Jack and Jill bath. What could be better than a bathroom like this with extant, original, clothet tub, sink, and commode? I absolutely love this space. And a gasoleer over the tub. Come on through. This would have been the children's bedroom. And as you can see, right off of it, we have the summer sleeping porch. The children would have slept in here in the winter where it's nice and cozy and out there in the summer where they could stay nice and cool. The door behind me was access to the servants' quarters. So their personal maid could sleep right next door and could come in and tend to them at nighttime if they got scared or needed something. Come on out. Let's see the other bedrooms. Well, here we have another spacious bedroom with this gorgeous tripartite window behind the cameraman right now. We'll show you in just a second. Opening into an ensuite bath with a beautiful clothet tub, marble surround on the floor, original toilet, and sink. This house is in such original condition. It is a masterpiece. This is the last of these spacious bedrooms upstairs with another great walk-in closet. And across the hall from the final bedroom is a bathroom from the original 1910 remodel. Also part of the 1910 remodel is this delightful carriage house built for the owner's brand new automobile. Now, this building has been converted into a two-bedroom guest cottage. You could use it as an Airbnb, a long-term rental, or an artist loft. So we hope you've enjoyed this tour of the amazing Turner Ledbetter House, one of only 10 surviving brick Queen Anne style homes in the Little Rock Quapaw Quarter District. This home is on the market for $650,000. As it's for sale by owner, we're putting a Zillow link and the phone number to contact the owner in the description below. If you have any questions, contact them there. Maybe you are the next caretaker for this beautiful home.