Haunted Beacon Hill Porch--Gothic Makeover

The original Beacon Hill, while lovely, doesn't necessarily lend itself to a Gothic theme.  To that end, I've been giving it a little facelift.  It's really still in the beginning stages, so you'll have to use your imagination a bit, but I figured I'd share what I've done so far. 

This is how it started:

The original Beacon Hill, photo courtesy of Greenleaf.

First, of course, I enlarged the dining room and built out the basement.  My next challenge is to update the facade of the house itself and, so far, I've started on the porch and one of the windows.  When complete, it'll be a combination of red brick and sandstone.  The windows are going to be a combination of stained glass and plain, diamond paned glass.  The square windows are, I think, going to be (opening) casements.

The house so far.

At the halfway point...

I lengthened the porch and added a front cupola.  The design is inspired by various stone colonnades I've seen in real life.  This is a great excuse, since I've always wanted to build one.  Eventually, there'll be a slight pitch on the porch roof, which will be copper.  I'm also waiting on the gable trim, and still making the crenelations.

Coasters make great weights!

The columns are an amalgam of found items.  The bases are wood spools from Michael's; the columns themselves are 1/4" dowels, and the caps are--again--wood spools that I cut in half.  So far, I'm pretty pleased with the results--and the price!  I think they'll look fairly convincing once they've been made into "stone."  And with all these arches, my Dremel is getting a good workout!  I come up from the basement literally coated in sawdust; hours later, it's still sifting down out of my hair.

Then, while I waited for a few things to dry, I started on the front bay window.  No, not everything on this house is going to be pointy, but I thought it suited the shape!  It's still a little plain looking, because I'm leaving room for decorative carvings.

Eventually the crenelations will carry around the front of the porch and cupola, as well.

So that's where I am right now.  It's starting to look a little bit different, which is gratifying.  Tomorrow I'm going to start on the rest of the windows and, once I'm finished with the basic wood shapes, I'll start on the carvings, ahem, Sculpey.  At first I was worried that sandstone would look too cheerful, but then I figured, hey, it works on Disney's Haunted Mansion, right?

Thoughts?