As you sit at home, contemplating what you are going to do while snowbound for the next few days, We are showing you some great eye-candy to stimulate your senses. This is the historic train depot in Sykesville, Md. The building now houses a restaurant, but that doesn’t diminish the stature of this grand Victorian architecture on the National Register of Historical Places.

First up on this tour is the interior shots. You can see that there is a lot of moldings and trim. That always needs special attention, to keep the profiles sharp. Letting the paint coat the grooves diminishes the craftsmanship and beauty of the woodwork.

The plaster-work and stencil designs around the main dining room took a lot of time and patience for the original painters to do, and that work was replicated when the restaurant did their renovations.

What really is stunning is the original Victorian stained glass designs in the transoms and upper sashes of the double hung windows. This glass is a bit more fragile than what you would find in modern reproduction work, and so it takes a steady hand and careful attention, to make sure that there are no accidental chips, cracks or breakages to the window jewels.

Check back tomorrow for our next installment: Doors and Windows of the Sykesville Train Depot

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and the happiest Holiday Season. Thank you once again for your Business, we truly appreciate it.

Rich Winkler talks with us about the job of choosing paint colors in historic homes.

Historic homes require a lot of work and attention, especially when they are on a large scale, such as this. The following photos show you how we work on these wonderful properties.

One tool often absent from a painters kit is sandpaper. Rich Winkler tells us why sandpaper is an important tool that every painter should use.

We know that you liked the video of the painting work  we did at this stately and elegant historic home, so we decided to post a few images of her for you to enjoy.

Rich Winkler is presented with the age old deilima: to Sand or to Scrape. His answer is not so clear-cut.

Rich Winkler tells us why the preparation work in painting matters so much to the final and lasting quality of any painting job.

Rich Winkler tells us about the work his team is doing on the Historic Bank of Alexandria Building, in Old Town. This building was built about 1790.

As one of many buildings in Alexandria that is on the National Register of Historic Places, Special care needs to be given to the maintenance and repair of the building, to ensure that the historical integrity remains intact.

Below is an image of the building from 1958, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Rich Winkler answers questions on why preparation matters on any paint job.