NORTHFIELD — Northfield native Wesley Janssen remembers the first time she saw her New Orleans home, driving back from her son James’ rainy birthday party in City Park five years ago.
The “For Sale” sign in front of the 1917 house caught her eye, and she was immediately struck by the building’s outward beauty. Janssen, 35, and her husband, Levi, 44, were living in a duplex at the time, and were looking for a more permanent spot to raise their growing family, which now includes James, 7, Anders, 5, and Julia, 1.
Though the real estate agent called the house “a diamond in the rough,” Janssen said she wasn’t fully prepared for what a disaster it was on the inside.
“We couldn’t even enter one side of the house, the mold was so bad,” she recalled. There were two uncovered holes in the roof, so “whenever it rained outside, it rained in the house.”
Though the floors were originally hardwood, subfloors had been installed on top and eaten by termites. The backyard was so overgrown, Janssen said, she could barely walk into it.
“It was absolutely the worst house you could imagine,” added Janssen’s father, Michael Noble, 68, of Northfield. “When I went to see it, I was pretty shocked. There were various forms of excrement because every animal had decided they were going to live in this place.”
“Despite all of this, I absolutely loved it,” Janssen said. She loved the 12-foot walls, the curved ceilings, the original hardwood floors, the fireplace and the impressive columns.
Plus, she continued, any house that was 100 percent finished didn’t appeal to her. Not only would such a house be out of her family’s budget, but she wanted to invest some sweat equity to personalize it for her family. A house with “beautiful bones,” but that was also a project, was perfect.
Today, the house has been completely redone, incorporating modern aspects while “respecting its heritage and lineage,” Janssen said. It was also recently featured in Apartment Therapy, a lifestyle blog focused on home design and decor.
Though Janssen didn’t have a background in home design, growing up in Northfield with parents Michael and Natalie Noble made her resourceful, she said.
“When you live a 15-minute drive from the store, you figure out how to make something work,” she noted.
Her father taught her how to recognize a diamond in the rough and see the beauty behind something, and she inherited family interest in DIY projects. Growing up, they restored plenty of Transfer Station finds.
“On Saturdays, my dad and I would take a trip up to the dump,” she remembered. “He’d kind of send me scavenging.”
Janssen lived in Northfield until college, attending Northfield Elementary School, Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School and Deerfield Academy. Her father said she always had artistic skill.
“As a kid, she was constantly drawing,” Noble said. “She loved acting. … We always figured she’d end up somewhere in the arts. … Anything she can put her artistic hand to, she’ll do it.”
Janssen started studying art at Tulane University, her first experience with New Orleans. Though she later transferred to the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management, she returned to Louisiana after graduation.
Janssen pointed to her Massachusetts roots as giving her the skills for a successful home redesign. In addition to taking a sculpture class at Tulane University, Janssen learned ceramics at Deerfield Academy. Today, much of the art decorating Janssen’s home is her own.
Janssen said she helped out at Paul Gorzocoski III’s Northfield Auctions, which inspired her with a love of antiques. She described her home as being a mix of antiques and new items, creating “a softer, more unique environment.”
Gardening and a love for natural beauty were inherited, too.
“My dad taught me all about gardening, and plants are a big part of our life today, in our home and outside,” she said.
Northfield resident Patricia Shearer, who was Janssen’s 4-H Club instructor, taught her to sew, which aided Janssen in reupholstering her home’s furniture.
“A lot of things in our home come from a thrift shop and I reinvent it,” Janssen said.
The Janssen family has also welcomed plenty of visitors from western Massachusetts to their home’s in-law apartment, which the family rents out on Airbnb.
Renovations took less than a year, but seemingly endless work, Janssen said. Janssen and her husband did much of the demolition and design work themselves with the help of friends and family, while contracting out other repairs.
The goal, she said, was to make the home as original as possible, with a comfortable, lived-in feel.
“We didn’t want to knock down walls. We wanted to preserve all that was original in here and make it shine again,” she said. “I thought it was really interesting that someone, 100 years ago, put a lot of thought into this home, and I wanted to honor that.”
“The before and after is just amazing,” Noble said. “It shows people what can be done with a little bit of forethought.”
Janssen’s resourcefulness, Noble said, definitely showed through.
“She always manages to scrounge things, and it’s really beautiful when she’s done,” he said. “She’s found more darn things on the street that she could use, (including a 9-foot antebellum mirror) … and unlike many of us, she manages to make it look correct.”
As an avid Apartment Therapy reader for over 10 years, Janssen was thrilled to be featured on the blog, after sending in photos of her finished home. The blog, she said, features houses across the world on a daily basis and was a routine source of inspiration for her own home remodel.
It’s commonly said that the greater the struggle, the more glorious the victory. The saying is one that rings true in Janssen’s story.
“A lot of her friends, her dad included, were thinking ‘Oh boy, this is a major undertaking.’ And it really was,” Noble said. “I’m very, very proud of her. It’s amazing when you see what people can do. It’s very edifying when you see the people doing it are related to you!”
Reach Shelby Ashline at: sashline@recorder.com
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