Nothing about either bath, truly suggests the history of the house.

Agree 100%.

Malcolm, I was focusing on the gray tile in my response, since that was a point in the OP and you didn't address the options for the countertops. In general I'd stay away from gray ceramic tile and instead get any gray you want from natural stone counter top on the vanity. Or go bold and do the white with black marble (totally what I'm doing for my 1910 bathroom once I get around to restoring it).

As for reflecting the history of the house with your finish choices, the bathroom design is totally anachronistic either way (they didn't do double vanities or multi-head stand-in showers in 1912), so you can pretty much do whatever and not offend our senses (except gray isn't a great color for bathroom tile). From shopping around for old houses, bathrooms were the rooms where owners most often played fast and loose with respecting the house's history and period. Sometimes it was fine (like in the house with the pretty new travertine bathrooms), and sometimes it was terrible (1915-ish houses with awful things from the 60's and 80's).

Leaving aside the issue of architectural purity, I would opt for the white subway tile because I do think white is timeless albeit boring. I am 100% convinced that gray kitchens and bathrooms will be the avocado green/pickled oak as becoming off-trend versus white tiles in a bathroom which have been a classic choice for the past century.

That said, my personal choice would be neither I opted for Encore tiles in Precocious Blue for my recent bathroom remodels with accents of rose gold penny tiles and marble :-).

Yes, white tile would at least be a slight nod in the direction of the rest of the house.

On an unrelated topic, how big is that shower? It looks like an awful lot of hardware for a shower its size, based on the graphic, but that may just be a perspective issue with the rendering.

I like the gray tile version. It's a little more visually interesting and it in no way feels trendy to me.

I'm sorry but neither bathroom pays respect to the age of the house. Both are too HGTV to do so. Having said that, I too would choose white subway over the large tile and I would also avoid gray. Gray is like Helen said, the 2000 teens version of Avocado Green.

The Great Migration from Europe (1880 to 1920) saw a National emphasis on cleanliness and "white everything" was the height of fashion in kitchens and baths. Stick with white (black accents allowed) for the hard surfaces and you respect the period.

I do agree that potential buyers of a 1912 home are more likely to accept a bathroom that is updated but looks feels somewhat of the age of the home versus plopping in a bath that has nothing to do with the history of the home.

One doesn't have to do a slavish homage to the period in the interests of architectural purity of course and I am not a proponent of designing for mythical prospective buyer rather than using design elements one likes. However, the OP did mention that you are decorating with an eye to respecting the period of the house and neither of your bathroom choices does that.

As @beligurgmaggie wrote, you can tweak your design so that is reflects your current tastes while not looking completely out of synch with the home. If you like gray, marble is a much more suitable way to bring it into the bathroom versus gray porcelain subway tiles.

I guess we arent going for an exact replica . . . but the flooring will have a 2" basketweave pattern. I guess I dont want the bathroom to look out of place with the rest of the house once it's all done. But I do want it to feel fresh and updated. How should we change it?

We are doing this vanity with either option and changing out the hardware for brass

Helen, I was thinking the same thing, a white/grey subway marble woud be the perfect compromise, be fresh, modern and be a nod to the homes history. OP, that is what I selected and its not a maintenance nightmare. Just be sure you seal your stone and grout. I have it professionally cleaned once a year and then resealed every other year. Looks brand new.

@writersblock The shower is about 5' 4" x 5'

@bellburgmaggiewhat changes would you suggest? We did actually originally think of doing a marble tiled shower but were counseled against it in a steam shower and we didn't feel like there was much contrast with the marble shelf

I'd consider large slabs of marble-look porcelain in the shower, because all those white grout lines are a maintenance nightmare. (ask me how I know...)

Oh hey more renderings. Now that I've seen the rest of the bathroom, I'm 200% for the white tiles (instead of just 100%). There's a ton of marble, and more white is going to help highlight the veining and marbleness of said marble. I also think it's much harder to match gray to marble than white - if you don't pick the exact right shade of gray, then it's going to look "off" next to the marble, more so when you have big continuous slabs like that. I'm of the opinion that the best match up for marble is white, black, an actual color, or stained wood. Not gray though.

Also I think the brass goes way better with the white.

Check this out: Get the look: Award-winning vintage bathroom

@queenvictorianthank you! We would probably not go with the marble wainscotting on the walls around the tub if we end up with the white subway tile just an fyi

@malcom, I love @Sammy's photo. You'll note the tile is ceramic, not glass. And I think that might be the right way to go if you pick this color. The glass tile will make it skew more modern, which won't work as nicely in a vintage home.

they introduced a lot of warm elements here..wood floors(whether real or not)..wooden seat..etc

I must say I used (albeit very warm) gray tiles in our master-but there's lot of warm elements next to it..teak, dark terracota, marble(not white one) has rust or golden streaks, etc

(well the house itself is a different style and age though too)

now if i was preferring cooler, "cleaner" palette, as Malcolms seems to prefer-I'd choose white tile. I'd also go with the light counter for the vanity. Would look sharp I think.

I love marble basket weave floors. I had my master bath done in Calacatta marble basket weave and I love how there is both gray and gold tones.

For the guest bath, I did the floors in Carrara marble dog bone marble.

I think the combination of basket weave tiles just works far better with the white subway tiles and is both modern and classic.

I was concerned about grout upkeep when I did my recent remodel and so I polled my friends and all of them said they didn't have issues. One doesn't get white grout and normal bathroom maintenance coupled with higher performing grout reduces issues. And as posted upthread, it's not big deal to have a professional come out to do a deep clean if it comes to that.

"But I do want it to feel fresh and updated. "

You're going to get that simply with new tile, fixtures and cabinetry. White with black, brass accents, basket weave floor - and if you do the gorgeous tub in your rendering (which appears to be the Waterworks Empire, be still my heart) you've got a great look that spans ages.

It's called the American Sanitary movement. I grew up in a house of this era. People wanted to be assured that they lived in clean surroundings. Hence, the emphasis on white. White is viewed as clean. That's why Mr. Clean wears white.

Having said that, I suggest white subway tile on the walls. Use a lot of white subway tiles. In most of the period homes, they tile everywhere, even the ceiling. My point is to not be stingy with the tile.

For the floors, consider penny round or octagonal porcelain tile. You can spice it up with a band of color outlined along the wall. I like the look of black. You might consider doing this with grey marble instead of the white. You can even do it in a navy. I've seen that and it's handsome without being overpowering.

For the countertop, marble would be the traditional material. I love the look of black marble, but it will etch. Instead you might consider absolute black granite with a honed or leathered finish. It will wear like iron. The marble will be more finicky.

If you stick to these basic colors of black or white, you can use whichever metal finish you want. I love polished nickel for this.

The remaining walls can either be painted a color of your choice or papered. The sky is the limit with paint because it can easily be changed.

Using wood for the vanity will soften the entire effect. You could paint the vanity a deep navy if you chose to high light the floor with some navy dots.

I love white and black baths. My mother always cautioned me to keep hard surfaces neutral. This was in the days of harvest gold and avocado. She was right.

Just popping back in to say that the tub in this rendering:

Is much more in keeping with the age of your home than the first tub you showed.

If you really want to know what your bath looked like originally, there's no better reference than

https://archive.org/details/buildingtechnologyheritagelibrary

which has home plans, plumbing catalogs, etc that you can filter by year. Also google books has many old shelter mags that you can look at, including Good Housekeeping going back well before your house was built.

Edited to fix link

I think the black and white basketweave flooring, the lovely Empire tub, and white subway tiles are perfectly appropriate for a 1912 home. What I have an issue with is the black vanities and mirror frames. Could you use the same style in white?

Here are some beautifully authentic new bathrooms in an early 20th Century style:

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Diana's examples are great. I love the use of black accents in the first and last one. You've got nice materials chosen. I think what's confusing me between your stated goal and your rendering, is, well, your rendering! The shower is completely exposed (I imagine a steam shower is going to have to be completely sealed with glass,) and behind that storefront-sized expanse of glass, you've got what looks like a plumbing showroom display, complete with harsh shadows on your steam-punky fixtures. Isn't that a lot of gear for a shower? Anyway...it's visually distracting, and I wonder if that's what is throwing off other people too.

Notice how Diana's last example has a small entrance to the shower. To me, that looks more period-appropriate. That said, you probably want natural light in there. It's a tradeoff.

Anyway, I also think the white is a better choice, and consider black accents. Every room needs a little bit of black--maybe not 6' of vanity, but a stripe. The paint color in that last one is also spot-on. Looks like Iced Marble to me. Love it!

Good luck to you. I think you've got a good eye. Just don't get carried away :-)

Diana: Thank you for showing how rich and elegant mixing whites makes a space look. I have—on more than one occasion—tried to convey that message and am mostly met with resistance.

Great examples Diana.

I built a new "old" home and made both the master and my guest bedroom "period". Here are a few photos.

In the master I went with honed marble for walls and floors and in the upstairs bath I did black/white tile. The floor tiles upstairs are from Heritage Tile and the wall tiles are Daltile.

Master bath vanity. Note the more period appropriate sconces and the oak vanity and medicine cabinet. White would also be very appropriate although I did take license with the onyx countertop. However it still feels period appropriate because of the style of the medicine cabinets and vanity.

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions! I guess what's throwing me off is I dont really think the white/light gray marble pairs well with a simple white subway tile. I guess to solve this problem, we could eliminate the marble shelf in the shower (but I love that). I guess the other thing to do would be to use a marble subway tile in the shower if we get rid of the shelf.

In either case, the tile would be porcelain and not glass as I agree, it would look too modern.

Also, it is the empire tub by waterworks in the rendering but I doubt we can realistically afford that exact one!

Maybe this is better?

Not a big fan of the black subway tile or marble but we could do a wainscotting of the white subway tile and keep the gray marble in the shower and in the countertops. I like the vanity and RH doesnt make it in white and I think black would look better than the wooden versions in the space.

Also, there is a lot of hardware in the shower because we really wanted to have two independently functioning shower heads. I love hot showers but my spouse does not but we enjoy showering together still.

bellburgmaggiewow! Love that vanity. We did think about doing a halfwall next to the vanity so that it would have a niche to house the rest of our bath products. We still might include that up to the level of the wainscot for that exact reason

I'd much rather see marble rather than any sort of grey tile. The wood vanity would look much nicer than the black.

Why are you limiting your vanities to those sold by RH. There are so many better options ranging from completely custom from a local woodworker, custom from a brand or a semi-custom which would give you the exact style and finish you want.

My house is no where as old as yours - mine was built 71 years ago. When I re-did the Master Bath, I chose a porcelain honed tile that looked like Carrera marble. I used it on the walls and also on the floor (shower floor had small white square tiles). I also used polished nickel taps as that was what might have been originally used. I like that it is respectful of the age of my house, but still looks fresh and updated. The big frameless glass door on the shower helps with that. I kept the existing vanity in this bathroom and it already had actual honed Carrera marble on top. They are not directly next to one another so they do play "nicely" together. The vanity is in a sort of alcove and the 3 walls around it are wallpapered, not tiled.

Okay, here it is with white subway tile and the same carrara marble in the shower and walls and the wooden vanity as suggested. I actually dont hate this combination. Is this the winner?

I really appreciate all the suggestions! We should show you the kitchen

Love the Carrara paired with the natural wood vanity.

Make sure you choose lighting that is more in keeping with the style of the house. I suggest you look HERE

If it were me, I would NOT do marble slabs on the walls but instead marble subway tile. More in keeping with the age of the house. I'm sorry but those slabs look too contemporary.

@bellburgmaggie , ugh we know! Not much we could do about it other than make the space smaller. The bathroom was originally built where the the windows are placed like that. The tub will be centered below the windows but nothing we can do about the windows being off in proportion to the room.

For the lights, we are doing some of the RH Machinist Pendants which should go well with the Brizo Litze fixtures in the shower. We arent trying to replicate the period but freshen it up a bit

Bellemurgie, the tub and the filler are centered under the WINDOW. The window is a bit off center in the room. The vanity "balances" the space.

Curious how the glass door to the shower will be hinged so as not to hit the counter line and break the door...? Does it swing into the shower?

It swings both ways is clear of the counter in either direction

You should check with your city Code as shower doors that only swing in are not permitted in some jurisdictions because they would prevent emergency workers from accessing someone in the shower.

bellburgmaggie

A free standing tub NEEDS space. It isn't "wasted" space. It is the space this fixture requires to even look good, or to functionally be able to clean around. I offered no solution, because there is none REQUIRED. The tub is centered under a focal point window in the rendering. The tub fill is centered on the tub, and is also centered on the "off center of room" window. It requires no solution. At all. In a better scenario, the tub would have MORE space........all three sides. But you are asking as to an uneven distribution of the space. The weight of the wood vanity on the left balances the total bath. It's fine, if a little snug for a free standing tub. And an agile cleaner.

Or the built in tub, that would make more sense for the size of the bath. WITH a deck, and no way to get goo in the floor around that tub. That my dear IS the real "solution"

The way we have our current shower plumbed is to have a set of controls and nozzle on opposite sides of the shower. Just a thought. You are already running two sets of everything. It might make the wall less cluttered. Each set of controls gets it's own wall niche, too. This way I don't have to share niche space with DH.