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Old homes oftentimes are many things.
They’re charming. They’re interesting. They’re conversationprovoking. They’re frustrating. They’re a lot of work. Deb Foglia knows all of this firsthand. She and her husband, Daniel, are the owners of a home more than 100 years old in the woods of South Mountain in Allentown, a place they’ve nicknamed the Mountain Chateau. “I’ve had a love for old homes forever,” Foglia says. “I’ve always said I need to live in at least one old home.”
With that item checked off the bucket list, she has turned her attention to turning that early-twentieth-century home into something homey enough for her twenty-firstcentury family while also maintaining a certain aesthetic. She is documenting the process on both her website (seekinglavenderlane.com) and Instagram page (@seekinglavenderlane), where she also shares family updates, design tips and DIY project ideas.
The Foglias were not new to the challenges of home renovations when they purchased the Allentown property in the spring of 2023. They already had two major overhauls under their belts, including their last home in Monmouth County, NJ, a foreclosure that they turned into a European-style farmhouse. “It was almost a new build by the end of the project,” Foglia says.
project,” Foglia says. The move to Pennsylvania was necessitated by their children’s transfer to a new school in Bucks County. But Foglia, a native of the Poconos, had entertained thoughts of returning to the Keystone State even before that. “I still had this love for Pennsylvania,” she says. “Every time I came out here I was like, it’s so cozy in Pennsylvania, why don’t we ever consider living out here?”
It was Daniel who found the online listing for the Allentown home. Foglia immediately liked what she saw in the pictures: a stone, Tudor-style home (circa 1917) with a lot of original features. Their opinions diverged when they saw the four-acre property in person for the first time, Foglia recalls: “I think his first thought was, oh no. My first thought was yes! I love this house.”
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Daniel’s reaction turned out to be prescient. “Two weeks after we closed we had a major leak in the house,” Foglia says. “Then it all began. It was one thing after the next.” The leak originated in a bathroom on the top floor of the three-story house and damaged the ceilings of the two levels below. It also quickly dashed the family’s hopes of having the bulk of the major renovations done within the first few months of moving in. “We lived without ceilings and drippy leaks,” she says. “It was a nightmare.”
Another large-scale project involved the kitchen—not renovating what was there, but assembling an entirely new one. The kitchen that came with the home was small and tucked away off the side of the dining room. The Foglias wanted a bigger space that was more central to the floor plan—a hub for gathering and entertaining. Why not, they thought, transform that generous dining room area into that space?
The end result is what Foglia calls her French-style unfit kitchen. Two built-ins that were already in the room serve as cupboards, flanking a tiled niche area that gives off a Downton Abbey vibe. The range has a presence—60 inches, Italian (ILVE)—with a look that’s nostalgic but classic. White is the dominant color—walls, island, cabinets, ceiling—with black accents in the marble countertops providing a dramatic contrast. A nook with a bistro table, positioned next to a window with interior shutters and sheer café curtains, gives a feeling of a Parisian bistro.
The plumbing leak that ruined the ceiling in the room also provided an opportunity; since they had to rip it out, anyway, they decided to raise it a couple of inches and install foam molding around the perimeter. “It instantly made it feel more grand in there,” says Foglia.
The home’s original kitchen is now the family’s pantry/ laundry room/mudroom. They kept the cabinets that were already there but painted them a charcoal color and added cabana stripes over the sink. The floor looks like tile but actually is painted plywood— Foglia completed the harlequin pattern herself. Installing real tile would have been painstaking work because the floor is noticeably sloped—one of those old-home quirks.
Foglia’s handiwork is also evident in the primary bathroom—another space where renovations were made necessary by the water leak. What used to be a sitting room off the master bedroom is now a space that feels more like a Victorian dressing room than a bathroom. On one wall is wood paneling cut from white oak and stained to match the walnut floors. A small, sphere chandelier hangs over a floating tub. Gold accents in the curtains, faucets and décor add a gilded pop of color amid dark, moody tile and wallpaper.
Now that many of the major interior projects are complete, Foglia is in what she calls the editing stage of her decorating: “I might like to rearrange furniture or buy different furniture pieces, but we’re living with what we have for now until the right piece comes along.” One recent purchase that got a shoutout on her blog was a vintage secretary desk that is tucked into a corner of the living room, creating a space that is inviting and also functional. “Having a piece of furniture that is useful can make a home not just feel staged but also a place where people can truly see you living and using,” she wrote.
Foglia says she’s long had an interest in the art of design and home décor, dating back to the days of watching Trading Spaces when she was in middle school. She studied fashion design in school but contemplated switching to interior design at one point. Fixing up the first apartment she and Daniel shared gave her a crash course in DIY and decorating on a budget. “That was I think when I started to feel like, I think I can do this,” she says.
She favors what she calls intentional clutter: curated finds that do more than just take up space, they also tell a story. She’s especially drawn to vintage goods, which is evident throughout all 4,000 square feet of the Mountain Chateau. The rooms are rich with textures, tapestries and Old World art. “I think I love the hunt, to find a perfect piece or to find things that fit my style versus buying everything brand-new,” she says. But not all of her finds will take up residence in her home. Foglia also runs Vintage Keepers, an online marketplace (vintage-keepers. com, @vintage_keepers_shop) featuring multiple vendors and a vast assortment of furniture, light fixtures, textiles, décor, art and more.
Foglia comes from an Italian family but finds inspiration all over the European map. “I love a little English, I love a little Italian and French,” she says. “It’s the culture, the lifestyle. I try to not only decorate like that but also live that way.”
One trait of an astute designer is knowing when to leave things alone. The Foglias certainly aren’t trying to erase the century’s worth of history that came before them at the Mountain Chateau. The hardwood flooring on the main level is original. The chandelier that once hung in the home’s dining room was relocated to the Foglias’ dining room, which now shares space with the living room. Sconces that formerly helped illuminate the living room of the previous owners are now providing a warm glow in the kitchen.
Of course, there is still more to do. There will always be another project. That’s the thing about homes. And old homes? Sure, they may need a little more (or a lot more) TLC, but “they’re so worth it to fix up,” Foglia says.
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“I try to not only decorate like that but also live that way.”
Published as "Home Feature" in the December 2024 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
