Project Spotlight: METALLAIRE Panels Blend Old and New in Historic Home Renovation

Topics

Backsplashes
Design & Inspiration
Dining Room
Kitchen
Metal Tin
Surface Mount

Model #: 5400210BNA

18.5" x 48.5" METALLAIRE Vine Backsplash

What’s the perfect project to blend together the old and the new in a 230-year-old home? Mark and Judy Ashley were about to find out. Mark had been remodeling his historic home for roughly 4 years and was looking for finishing touches when he joined forces with Armstrong Ceilings to enhance the kitchen and dining room with a ceiling product applied in a unique way.

Back in 2014, Mark Ashley already had a busy life as the Supervisor of Health and Physical Education, and the Head Boys’ Soccer Coach at Hempfield High School in Landisville, PA. The farmhouse in question was located in the middle of the high school campus, where it had sat unoccupied for many years. Through a series of serendipitous events, Ashley bought the home through a sealed bid auction, with the stipulation that he agree to move it, and use it for a personal residence. But was it possible to move a historic stone house, weighing more than the Statue of Liberty, over a mile across roads, fields, and streams?

The historic home on the move - it took a hydrualic system of 125 wheels to move it down the road!

Ashley and family decided to attempt the “impossible”: take on the challenge to move the house from the location at the school to a vacant lot across town. “It was not a simple endeavor,” says Ashley of the months of prep work and three-day moving event with Wolfe House & Building Movers. “We had to figure out how to move it without damaging it,” he explained. The Wolfe crew jacked the house up, put it on a hydraulic system of 125 wheels, and moved it across town to the new lot, where renovations could begin.

Mark and Judy Ashley's home in it's final spot with renovations started

Capping off years of renovations including; gutters, a new roof, windows, doors, new countertops and appliances and lots of paint, Ashley was exploring kitchen backsplashes when he came across METALLAIRE Vine backsplash panels from Armstrong Ceilings. These 18.5”x 48.5” pre-cut panels fit most kitchens and are made of rust-proof stainless steel.

The FarmHouse Kitchen Before

The FarmHouse Kitchen After using METALLAIRE Vine Backsplash Panels

“The METALLAIRE panels went up easily. We were glad to have help from Armstrong, but we felt like it would have been a manageable DIY project to enhance any kitchen,” Ashley explained.

Working with an Armstrong team for the dining room project was a little more in depth. Ashley had a particular octagon-shaped table that was the centerpiece of his dining room. In order to make the piece stand out, and to add a more dramatic element to the room, Armstrong recommended a reverse tray ceiling structure again using the METALLAIRE panels, this time in a Large Floral Circle pattern. Making the reverse tray ceiling the same shape as the table joined the two elements together and complemented the lighting fixtures as well.

What’s next for Mark Ashley and his family? More home fixes. “This is a never-ending project!” Mark sighs. “But we are so grateful to our friends and family for all their help and hard work. We were happy to work with Armstrong Ceilings and appreciated the experience they brought to making the final project look so nice. They were great to work with!”

Thanks, Mark! We had a great time, too and wish you all the best in the future!