Give Your Home a Historic Touch with 7 Vintage-Inspired Wall Coverings
The manufacture of modern wallpaper emerged in the United States in the 19th – 20th centuries, marking what is often referred to as “the Golden Age of Wallpaper.” Wallpaper production surged during this era, driven in part by advancements in machine and roller printing techniques. Coinciding art movements like Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau fueled public interest in modern, geometric designs. As printing technologies continued to develop and improve, wallpaper became increasingly affordable. Even businesses and public buildings began to wrap their walls in wallpaper.
Today, wallpaper is more affordable and accessible than it ever has been. To learn more about the history of wallpapers adorning the National Trust’s Historic Sites—and to see suggestions for wallpapers to feature in your own home—read on!
Villa Finale
photo by: Villa Finale
Framed wallpaper at Villa Finale in San Antonio, Texas.
photo by: House of Hackney/Perigold
Hackney Empire Floral Wallpaper Roll by House of Hackney as featured on Perigold.
When Walter Mathis restored Villa Finale to a single-family home (it had been a boarding house for decades when he purchased it), he strove to ensure the restoration was as historically accurate as possible. While conducting paint analyses throughout the house, workmen discovered wallpaper in the dining room that dated to the turn of the 20th century, when a family named Potter owned the property and called it “Norwood.” Mathis chose to have the dining room painted white rather than feature the wallpaper; however, he saved a portion of the original wallpaper, framed it, and positioned it behind the dining room door.
Though not an exact replica, this bold wallpaper also features black and white stripes underneath whimsical animal motifs.
The Brick House (The Glass House)
photo by: Michael Biondo
View of the Fortuny wall covering inside the newly restored Brick House in New Canaan, Connecticut.
photo by: Guido Malara/Fortuny
Detail view of Piumette textile, the Fortuny wall covering that was used at the Brick House.
After years of extensive restoration work, the Brick House (1949) opened its doors to the public in May 2024. One facet of the structure that required restoration was the fabric wall coverings. Fortuny, a textile design and manufacturing company based in Venice, Italy, generously replaced the original Piumette fabric originally chosen by Philip Johnson and envisioned by Mariano Fortuny to cover the walls of the bedroom. An exclusive production of the Piumette pink, aquamarine, and gold was created by Fortuny’s artists. The new fabric was produced in the same factory in Venice, with the same methods and techniques as were used 70 years ago to create the Philip Johnson version.
Visit Fortuny’s website to learn more about this Piumette textile. Alternatively, if you want to introduce texture into your home without the labor required to install fabric, consider a linen- or burlap-printed peel and stick wallpaper like this one.
The Gaylord Building
photo by: Gaylord
View of the plaster and limestone on one of the walls at Gaylord Building Historic Site, in Lockport, Illinois.
photo by: Quality Stone/Wall Theory
Faux Stacked Stone Panels - Limestone from Quality Stone as featured on Wall Theory.
The banquet room of the Gaylord Building features plaster-covered limestone walls. Faintly visible on the plaster are writings that date back to 1838, the period when the banquet room was used as a commercial enterprise. The walls and ceilings of the banquet room and restaurant feature hand-quarried limestone, plaster, and beams that were hand-hewn from forests in Illinois.
To add a rustic atmosphere to your space without laying actual stone or brick, consider installing three-dimensional panels like these.
President Lincoln’s Cottage
photo by: President Lincoln's Cottage
Wall paintings discovered in 2021 at President Lincoln's Cottage in Washington, D.C.
photo by: dessino/Spoonflower
An Italian fresco style on a tan background by dessino as featured on Spoonflower.
In 1864, Mary Todd Lincoln persuaded the Commissioner of Public Buildings Benjamin Brown French to pay for a series of repairs and furnishings, which included the application of wallpaper in eight rooms. Remnants of this Lincoln-era wallpaper have yet to be found. However, two generations of wall paintings were discovered in 2021 by Jeffrey Larry, the Director of Preservation at President Lincoln’s Cottage. These paintings may have been present when the Lincolns resided at the site in 1862 and 1863. The first exposure revealed an ornamental paint scheme that was likely installed in the 1840s, while the second exposure revealed a Trompe-l'œil paint scheme that was likely installed after the property was sold to the federal government. Though the mystery of the wallpapers is unresolved, the discovery of the wall paintings provides additional information about how the site may have looked during the Lincolns’ time.
In lieu of painting plaster in your home, you can capture the Trompe-l'œil style by exploring wallpapers inspired by the fresco style, like this one.
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
photo by: Lower East Side Tenement Museum
A collage of the identification and restoration of the wallpaper at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York City.
photo by: Galerie Wallcoverings/Perigold
A damask wall covering by Galerie Wallcovering as featured on Perigold.
When the founders of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum first entered the property in 1988, they discovered a dilapidated building with layers of wallpaper peeling from the parlor walls. The Tenement Museum hired paper conservator Reba Fishman Snyder to research and preserve the wallpaper in the upper floors. Snyder peeled back the wallpaper—sometimes over twenty layers’ worth—to identify who manufactured the paper and when. The museum then enlisted The House of Scalamandré to recreate the historic patterns discovered. Through research projects like this, the museum continues to learn new details about their buildings and the families who lived in them (like the Gumpertz apartment, in which recreated wallpaper was recently determined to be period-inaccurate and subsequently removed).
Though less floral than the original wallpaper uncovered at the Gumpertz apartment, this damask wallpaper evokes the original through similar shapes and patterns.
Brucemore
photo by: Brucemore
A detail view of wall paper on the third floor landing of Brucemore in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
photo by: Seabrook/Perigold
Ararat Floral Wallpaper by Seabrook via Perigold.
The third-floor landing of Brucemore is papered in a bright, cheerful print featuring birds, trees, and flowers. This wallpaper was selected by artist and designer Elizabeth Eleanor D’Arcy Gaw in 1928 during a redecoration project led by Brucemore resident Irene Douglas. This is a fitting wallpaper for Douglas—who lived at Brucemore with her family from 1906 to 1937—to have featured, as she had a fondness for birds and raised chickens while living at Brucemore.
Similarly bright and cheerful is this wallpaper, which features a pattern of birds in trees and blossoming flowers set against a pink background.
Chesterwood
photo by: Chesterwood
View of striped wall paper at Chesterwood in Stockbridge, Massachussetts.
photo by: lr-studio/Spoonflower
Sage green stripe - linen pinstripe Wallpaper by lr-studio from Spoonflower.
In 1901, the parlor at Chesterwood featured a two-tone green striped wallpaper. The clay-based inks used to create it contained small mica flakes, which would have shimmered in the flickering lights of candles and kerosene lamps. In 1911, Chesterwood was wired for electricity and the parlor was repapered. Today, a sample of this original green striped paper exists in a closet near the parlor.
Though it is not manufactured with clay-based inks, this wallpaper features wide two-toned green stripes, much like Chesterwood’s original wallpaper.
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