The Benham - Johnston Bungalow

The Benham - Johnston Bungalow A restored arts and crafts bungalow steeped in historic elegance, while offering modern luxuries.

Now available as a vacation rental nestled in historic Sheridan, WY at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains.

Cover of the February 2026 Issue of the Old House Journal that The Benham - Johnston Bungalow is featured in.
12/12/2025

Cover of the February 2026 Issue of the Old House Journal that The Benham - Johnston Bungalow is featured in.

I’ve been waiting to post about this for months and finally can share! In April, the Old House Journal sent a team from ...
12/12/2025

I’ve been waiting to post about this for months and finally can share! In April, the Old House Journal sent a team from Seattle to photograph the Benham - Johnston Bungalow and interview me about the restoration. It was a very intriguing, detailed process to watch. Brian and William were incredibly thorough and took great care to get the best perspectives of details in the house.

This week, the article has been published in the February 2026 edition of OHJ and will be on newsstands next week. It is gratifying to have my project published in the longest running nationally distributed restoration magazine in the country. The Old House Journal has been publishing since 1973 and has featured many great restoration projects since. They also have a wonderful selection of resources for products and services pertaining to old houses, including the studio I purchased the reproduction curtain rods in the house from.

Here is the full article as well as a couple photos from the photo shoot this spring.

benhamjohnstonbungalow.com

In the restoration project of my 1915 Craftsman bungalow it was important to me to restore the original double hung wind...
11/25/2024

In the restoration project of my 1915 Craftsman bungalow it was important to me to restore the original double hung windows. All too often high quality wooden window sashes are removed from historic structures for inferior vinyl replacement windows to take their place. Aesthetically speaking nothing ever looks as good as the originals and many studies have shown that original windows can be made to be quite efficient with proper glazing, weatherstripping, and appropriate auxiliary sashes / storm windows.

The windows in this home were definitely neglected and needed a fair amount of work but weren't “too far gone”. After many hours of restoration by myself and a few talented tradespeople we were able to restore all 46 original windows. Every sash had some amount of restoration done such as reglazing, wood repair, replacing missing mullions, etc. I used salvaged wavy glass wherever possible to keep the same look. I was able to order spring bronze weatherstriping online and installed it around all of the sashes for added efficiency.

We also restored the original storm windows that remained and built nearly identical reproductions where missing. In addition to the original storms I also built screens with removable glass inserts behind the screen itself to help with efficiency in the cold months and alleviate having to swap the storms for the screens seasonally, which is especially handy for the second floor. I sourced authentic storm window hardware from architectural salvage warehouses to match the few originals that remained.

I am very happy to have restored the originals and couldn't be more pleased with the result! Beyond being rather tedious, the restoration process isn’t very difficult and is something many homeowners should be able to do themselves. Otherwise, there are fortunately quite a few tradespeople that specialise in historic window restoration across the country. As far as efficiency is concerned, I noticed that my heating bills reduced after we finished restoring the windows. Fuel prices vary quite a bit regionally but in my case I have never had a heating bill over $300 in the coldest of the winter for the 1,900 sqft of heated space.

If you’re interested in seeing more of the home, please follow on Facebook or Instagram and check out the website at benhamjohnstonbungalow.com . I have recently launched the home as a vacation rental in historic Sheridan, WY. Thank you for reading!

Here is a before and after of the dining room restoration in my 1915 Craftsman Bungalow that I have spent the last few y...
11/09/2024

Here is a before and after of the dining room restoration in my 1915 Craftsman Bungalow that I have spent the last few years restoring, and have recently launched as a vacation rental in Sheridan, WY.

This space was poorly kept and had suffered numerous inappropriate cosmetic changes. One of the largest projects I completed in this room was stripping and refinishing the woodwork to resemble the original finish. It had been painted in the 30s or 40s and then stripped in the 70s but needed to be completely stripped again to achieve the dark finish that was originally there.

I used a combination of oil stains and aniline dyes to approximate the look of the original tinted varnish. Through the help of a few talented tradespeople I was also able to grain paint a few areas that had suffered extensive damage. All of the woodwork was then varnished with an oil based satin varnish with the exception of the doors, which were done in a linseed oil based glazing formula originally from a master carpenter in California in the 1870s. This process is far more labor intensive but was worth it for the doors.

I also milled the picture rail and reinstalled it where it once was. I sourced, restored, and installed antique mission lighting throughout the space as well as installed lighting in the china cabinet. It was incredibly difficult to fish wire through the walls for the wall sconces but worth it in the end. I was able to completely rewire the room without damaging the original plaster beyond the holes for the boxes.

I refinished the floors, which are 1920s oak boards that were laid over the original douglas fir, with an oil based polyurethane for durability. The room color is from a 1920s paint catalogue that I had scanned and mixed.

The curtains are meant to resemble ones from the period and are solid linen. The curtain rods are reproduction cafe style brass gooseneck rods from a company in California and are nearly identical to a few remaining original ones in the home.

All of the windows were restored as well, including using salvaged wavy glass when possible to maintain the look. Some of the hardware is original but most was sourced on ebay and from architectural salvage stores to match the few remaining original examples.

I elected to restore the original steam heating system and had the radiators sandblasted and powder coated in the original colors.

The furnishings of the room are all from the period and are relatively common examples since the home is open to the public.

For the artwork, I went with a somewhat western theme with the home being located in a historic western town. I'm going to be posting many more before and afters in the coming weeks. Thank you for looking at my posts and I'm excited to share all that went into the home! If you're interested please follow the house on Facebook or Instagram at and check out the website: benhamjohnstonbungalow.com

Here are a few before and afters of the kitchen in the 1915 craftsman bungalow that I restored. I bought the home in 202...
11/08/2024

Here are a few before and afters of the kitchen in the 1915 craftsman bungalow that I restored. I bought the home in 2020 (at age 17) and have recently launched it as a vacation rental. The home was seriously neglected when I bought it. I wanted the kitchen to appear as authentic as possible while also integrating modern conveniences such as the drawer dishwasher hidden behind a wooden front. The stove is a 1935 magic chef that I cleaned up and the refrigerator is a 1931 General Electric Monitor Top that I was able to restore the electrical components on. The tile is salvaged authentic 1920s subway tile. The cabinetry was quite damaged but was mostly existing, including the original California Cooler. I stripped the cabinetry and rebuilt damaged areas and built the countertops out of solid maple planks to match a small remaining original fragment. I restored the art deco hardware that was added during some 1930s/40s remodeling of the space and chose to emulate the art deco period in the rest of the kitchen design. I also built the breakfast nook seating and table from scratch going off of shadows in the paint. I'm going to be posting many more before and afters in the coming weeks. I'm excited to share all that went into the home! If you're interested follow the house on Facebook or Instagram at and check out the website: benhamjohnstonbungalow.com

The yard has come a long way from how it was when I bought the house in 2020. The rock is from a quarry in Montana. The...
07/01/2022

The yard has come a long way from how it was when I bought the house in 2020. The rock is from a quarry in Montana. The large spruce tree was planted in the 1920s/1930s, and the cedar is more recent. Everything else has been planted over the last two seasons as the yard was just scoria gravel before.

Hello Everyone, Here is a photo of my 1915 Craftsman Bungalow that I have spent the last two years restoring. It has bee...
06/07/2022

Hello Everyone,
Here is a photo of my 1915 Craftsman Bungalow that I have spent the last two years restoring. It has been a while since I have shared any photos. I bought the house when I was 17 (it was my first real estate purchase). It had been a rental and had lost much of it's original charm. In restoring it, I have tried to bring it back to close to it's original state/appearance through using period appropriate colors throughout, stripping and refinishing the woodwork, installing authentic lighting, restoring the original double hung windows, etc. I am now nearing the end of the process (though I'm sure I'll never truly be done) and am pleased with how it's turning out. I am furnishing it with antiques (many of which I've sourced through my antique store) and am going to operate it as a vacation rental.

So nice to have the widows clean at last!
05/29/2022

So nice to have the widows clean at last!

The kitchen is coming along nicely! Hanging the doors this evening.
01/23/2022

The kitchen is coming along nicely! Hanging the doors this evening.

Address

357 Coffeen Avenue
Sheridan, WY

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