Marci DeMino couldn't have her great-great-grandfather's house in Castroville, so she found another historic home to renovate, fulfilling a long-held dream of owning “a little piece of history.”

The Alsatian Sunday house, built by Augustin Hutzler in 1853, is one of six historic homes open for the Castro Garden Club 's Pioneer Homes Spring Tour from 1-5 p.m. Saturday.

Doug and Marci DeMino bought the house from the Kempf family in December 2008.

“They (Grace and Clemens Kempf ) moved in on Pearl Harbor Day. I believe they paid $600 for the house,” she says. “The reason they decided to buy a house is because their rent had gone up to $7 a month and they said that was too much!”

Marci took charge of the renovation in 2009, hiring Andy McDonald of San Antonio on the recommendation of several people. “He's a plumber by trade, but he did the bulk of the work,” she said.

When downsizing, make room for what matters most

A lifetime's collection of fine art, furnishings she acquired with her late husband, Dr. Carl Adatto, as well as those precious pieces of furniture left to

Cornerstone Auction Gallery

Furniture: c.1805 English cupboard, Howard Miller grandfather clock, long trestle farm table w/ 6 Windsor plank seat chairs, early inlaid tilt top table,

Homes for the holidays: Symphony tour features five Manitowoc houses

The four-bedroom, two-story Victorian-style brick home was built in 1989 but has all the conveniences of a newer home, Mosley-Schultz said. and more »

Home Front: Refreshing your dining room for the holidays

Washington, DC: Please help me choose colors for my guest bedroom! I have an antique Turkish rug that is the only colored item that will remain in the guest

At home in garage

Tony Henry's garage features an antique cash register he bought at an auction. Allen County Sheriff Ken Fries has three garages. He keeps vehicles and tools

Field Guide to American Antique Furniture, A Unique Visual System for Identifying the Style of Virtually Any Piece of American Antique Furniture , 400 pages

Creator: Joseph T. Butler, Kathleen Eagen Johnson, Ray Skibinski | Antiques & Collectibles , Dec 01, 1986

Making Antique Furniture Reproductions, Instructions and Measured Drawings for 40 Classic Projects , 256 pages

Superb, step-by-step guide enables even beginners to build masterpieces by Chippendale, Sheraton, Hepplewhite, Phyfe, other celebrated craftsmen.

Creator: Franklin H. Gottshall | Crafts & Hobbies , Aug 17, 1994

Antique furniture , 499 pages

Creator: Frederick William Burgess | Furniture , Feb 09, 2012

I have antique wood bedroom furniture. How can I update the look?

Our bedroom furniture is antique but in great condition. I have a long dresser with a huge mirror and a tall dresser. How can I update the look? Can you paint wood? It also has a shiny finish on top.

Don't mess with the finish on the furniture. You can change the look of the room by adding modern artwork and new comforter,shams and tailored bedskirt.
You could change the hardware on the drawers to something more modern. Just take one of the

You can paint it...but you would have to sand it down first, apply a coat of primer and then the paint...
Personally I would just sand them down and put a nice stain on ...

Where can I find affordable antique bedroom furniture?

I want it to be antique looking, but to come in a set not piece by piece. If you have a link or the name of the store, please post. I want it to be a dark color, not black but oak/cherry like.

The best place without doubt is your closest auction. You may not be able to pic out what you want exactly right away, but it WILL be affordable if you pick your battles.

Here's why. Furniture is very slow right now due to foreclosures

Will this white dust hurt my antique furniture?

Never noticed this white dust until we bought a new NO FILTER humidifier and now I have to wipe down the furniture daily. A pain to deal with. Just concerned about all my antique bedroom furniture.

No it should not hurt wood. I have the same problem with my humidifier. The white dust is minerals from the water. It does not harm wood, but it seems to stick to plastic (like my computer monitor frame) pretty good. Usually I just use a dry cloth to