Understanding the Opulence of Victorian Interiors

    Victorian interiors focus on the elaborate, which was more than apparent when I toured three Victorian homes in Wheeling, WV. Typically when people think of Victorians they immediately focus on images of the grand exteriors of Victorian homes, but during my trip to Wheeling I found that the Victorian interiors were, in a way, far more impressive.
    Don't get me wrong, the exterior facades of the Hess house, John List house and Eckhart house - the three homes I toured - were beautiful, but it was the intricate patterns, grand staircases and beautiful glass on the Victorian interiors that truly captivated me. While walking through the homes, I couldn't help but wonder why the exteriors lacked the opulence the interiors possessed, but the owner of the Eckhart house, Joe Figaretti, was quick to explain.
    "What they tried to do was make the interior of their homes beautiful because on the exterior of course during the industrial revolution [the Victorians] burnt a lot of coal and created a lot of soot," Figaretti said. "So the outsides of the houses were somewhat darkened by the dirt."
    The Victorians viewed the interiors of their homes as an escape from the filth outside, and as Figaretti put it, "They wanted [the interiors of their homes] to be the beautiful part of their life."
    But don't think the industrial revolution put a damper on the Victorians' otherwise ornate homes; it is what made the opulent interiors possible. Through the industrial revolution, the Victorians were able to manufacture goods quicker and cheaper with machines, which meant more people could afford possessions adorned with details and decorations. In addition, the industrial revolution gave the Victorians the money to spend.
     "Wealth was being created in this country at an enormous rate, so we had a little bit of showing off to do," Figaretti said. "They had no income tax to pay, so they could spend that money on these amenities - these things around them."
    As the industrial revolution progressed, elaborate goods became easier to manufacture. People rushed to incorporate those new goods into their homes, and as a result Victorian interiors became more decorative as the era moved on.
    "During the Victorian era it was an evolutionary process, we start out in about the 1840s and that's rather plain," Figaretti said.
    The unadorned look of the early Victorian era was quickly replaced by more decorative styles, and with those styles came elaborate glass, detailed patterns, grand chandeliers and an overall sense of splendor. The Victorian interiors during the late part of the era exuded wealth in every room, featuring the finest quality fakes around. Yes, I said fakes.
    "The Victorians were all about fake stuff looking authentic," the manager of the Victorian Wheeling Landmarks Foundation, Carry Byrum, said.
    Can you believe it? An era overflowing with money prided itself on making great looking fakes. I was shocked and fooled. The fireplace in the Hess house looked to be made of beautiful black marble, but it was really slate covered by layers of paint that fooled all but the most discerning eye. In addition to fake marble, Victorians also used lincrusta, which is made to look like embellished Moroccan leather.
    "[Lincrusta] is really just pressed paper and linseed oil," Byrum said. "They make molds to make the intricate designs."
    While the Victorians loved their fakes, they also incorporated many real, luxurious materials. Homes featured tall doorways made of solid wood.  Large art and stained glass windows allowed light to filter into the rooms. Intricately carved moldings could be seen everywhere you turned. And that mixture of real and fake revealed the true nature of the Victorians.
    "The windows, the stained glass, the fretwork - everything you see around you, we say was put here to impress you," Figaretti said.
    And impress it did. Victorian interiors are every synonym of elaborate. From the moment you walk in the door, there is an overwhelming feeling of grandeur. But by the end of the Victorian era, the patterns, carvings and details were so overwhelming that the beauty was lost and the appeal quickly diminished.
"Everything you see in [late Victorian interiors] was so opulent and maybe somewhat overdone - and maybe, sowed the seeds of the end of the Victorian era and the onslaught of the plainer Arts and Crafts era," Figaretti said.
    While those in the early 1900s no longer favored Victorian interiors, people today forgive the overindulgence of the later part of the era and appreciate the Victorian interiors for what they were: grand and beautiful.