A Victorian bathing place
The first spa bath
The Victorians invented modern bathrooms with running water, China and a flush toilet. And, to celebrate their creativity, they decorate the room with as much fuss and detail as possible. The Victorian bathroom, especially in England and the northeastern United States, was a delicate, fanciful room. But while it is easy to see the Victorian bathroom as another example of Victorian excess. This, too, is an oversimplification. Some are indeed luxurious, especially in the homes of the rich, where there are often as many bathrooms as the main living room. But the point of most Victorian bathrooms was not decoration. It's comfortable. In many ways, they are the most comfortable tubs ever designed not just for bathing, but for enjoyment and relaxation. The big piping tub almost requires a leisurely soak in lavender oil and a good book. The focus on comfort translates well into today's Victorian homes -- even those that are not the most un-Victorian. Sleek, sanitized features may have dominated American bathrooms over the past 100 years, but homeowners seem to be returning to the cozy bathrooms of the past as a place to relax, refresh, renew and escape the annoyances of a busy and stressful day. Fixture and accessory companies have recognized this trend and are offering more retro looks than ever before, all with modern features. Even companies like Axor and Duravit, which make lamps by leading contemporary European designers, are creating collections inspired by 19th-century Victorian and Belle Epoque traditions to keep up with The Times. As a result, the options for your Victorian bathroom have never been richer.
Victorian bathtubs
The defining feature of a Victorian bath was a large bath, usually claw-shaped or plinth bath. Tubs connected to tap water were an innovation that sparked a change in American hygiene. Before Victorian times, one or two baths a year were considered sufficient. More frequent showering is considered unethical and even harmful to health. In the second half of the Victorian era, the Victorians changed this by making health a social priority. A whole host of organizations and societies advertised the benefits of regular showering -- with soap, mind you -- and by the turn of the 20th century, weekly showering had become routine, at least in Victorian cities, and Saturday night showering had become a family ritual. If you're lucky, your Victorian bathroom already has a lovely old claw-foot or plinth tub, so all you need to do is clean it out and polish it. Most of these tubs have a thick enamel coating, thick enough to be polished several times. So if your bathtub doesn't actually rust (and sometimes if it does), it can be restored to an almost new state.
If your bathtub is too far away to clean and polish, it will need to be repaired. Typical patching involves applying acrylic polyurethane resin to the original enamel after filling in any crumbs or gouges and grinding them smooth. Costing about $350, it's a cheap way to get more use out of a historically accurate bathtub. However, the disadvantage is that the coating can only be used for 5-10 years and then must be applied again. Replacing the original glass with new glass is a more expensive proposition. It can't be done on site. The tub must be transported to the finishing shop. Companies like Custom Ceramic Coatings of Renzburg, Ill., will re-porcelain the tub in a furnace, just as the tub gets its original finish. The old finish was sandblasted off and the new enamel coating was baked at 1,475 degrees Fahrenheit. Treating the tub costs $800 to $1,400, not including shipping, and the waiting list is six months or more. The benefit is that the new glaze coating is just as tough as the original and can last for decades or even centuries with proper maintenance. If you don't have a tub, or can't keep it even if refurbished, there are plenty of new and refurbished tub sources available locally and nationally. The new tub has some nice features, including compatibility with modern plumbing fixtures, and can include whirlpool tubs or jacuzzi tubs. However, old bathtubs have something that new ones never will: the sheen and spirit of antiquity and history. Given the choice, we usually choose to renovate the old tub over a new one.
Unfortunately, if you have the original claw-foot tub, you probably have the original plumbing, too. Plan to replace most of them. It could include pipes made of lead (which you definitely want to get rid of) or more likely in this part of the country, galvanized steel. But in either case, it is well beyond its useful life and needs to be used.
The faucets (actually called "fillers") used with claw-foot bathtubs are special. The most compatible with modern bathing is the "telephone" arrangement with a separate hand-held shower. But some older tubs don't fit with modern faucets, and the option might be to find an old standing drain valve and drain valve. These are designed for old bathtubs with no holes in the right position for overflow and filling, so all these functions are moved out of the bathtub and into this complex device that handles filling, drainage and overflow protection.
The original standing waste is hard to find, but worth the effort, and often needs to be repaired and sometimes reprocessed. Modern alternatives are available from companies such as Strom Plumbing, our preferred source for replicating Victorian Plumbing.
If possible, the bathtub should be near the center of the room, away from the wall. Place a claw-foot or pedestal tub next to a wall, which makes cleaning behind the tub a major task. Of course, if your room is too small to have a tub in the center, a large tub (but no smaller than 6 inches) next to the wall is better than none but regular - and - knee cleanouts. 
If your space is too small to accommodate a large claw-foot tub or base tub, use a smaller claw-foot tub, especially a slipper tub, which can provide almost the same comfort in a smaller footprint. If your room is smaller, we have successfully used a standard 60 "recessed tub. We built Victorian walls to accommodate the tub, and the arrangement seems to work well.
