I’m really excited to share this podcast with you, because it’s a new topic for me — an in depth look at restoration of a unique old house on the East Side of Saint Paul – and I personally loved talking to Matt about his incredible passion for his house.

I first came across Matt Mazanec through his blog, — 1889 Victorian Restoration — which I happened across years ago and added to my RSS feed. Matt has been writing his blog for years now, posting photos of his old house full of tiny details from another era. For example, here’s a list of some of the things that Mazanec found in the walls of his home as he restored it: children’s shoes, women’s purses, postcards, a halloween invitation from 1907, receipts, notes, and newspapers…

After the latest post this spring, which was about unearthing still-operating century-old “speaking tubes” out of the wall, I wrote an email to Matt and asked if he’d be willing to chat.

A few weeks later, I was getting a tour of Matt’s amazing house, which he’s been restoring to its Victorian-era standards. We walked through the multiple floors of tall-ceilinged rooms, some of which were finished and others which were still in great disrepair. Matt even took me up into the attic and showed me the turret room, before we went to the Dancing Goat coffee shop and chatted about his house, his work with the historic preservation commission, and his attempts to get some traffic calming on the East Side. I think you’ll enjoy the conversation, because I sure did.

The podcast is sponsored by Nate Pentz, so thanks to him!

Nate Pentz is realtor with Pentz Homes at Keller Williams Classic Realty NW. You can start your own home search at pentzhomes.com and if you have any questions about the buying or selling process shoot him a message at [email protected] or call 612.308.1122.

[More photos of Matt’s house over the years below.]