A stained glass window lives at the top of a spiral staircase.

The philosophy of ModVic is to be sensitive to a home's history, but not a slave to it.

"We're not really preservationists," Bruce Rosenbaum said. "We're restoring and renovating the house, but taking a fresh look. We're adding modern conveniences. We feel that will give the home the best chance to survive another century, because people are going to want to take care of it."