This couple live like they’re in the Victorian era
<p>Meet the Washington couple who live like it’s the 1890s. Sarah Chrisman, 36, and husband Gabriel, 38, have a strict “only if they did it in the 1800s” policy, which sees them live in an 1880s home, keep their food cold with an icebox, cook with a wood-burning stove, read by oil lamp and ride bicycles everywhere. Sarah has even worn a corset day and night for the past seven years!</p>
<p>The couple’s Victorian-era lifestyle all started in early 2009, when Gabriel gifted Sarah, who collects vintage clothing, a corset for her birthday.</p>
<p>"We've always been fascinated with this period," says Sarah. "We believe that the best way to understand a different culture is to interact with its daily life."</p>
<p>So that’s exactly what the Chrismans did. Every day, after Gabriel heads off to his job at a bike shop, Sarah dresses in her corset, pantalets, petticoats and a long dress, before she tackles the domestic chores. She’ll clean out the ashes in the stove and lays a new fire. She’ll then move onto emptying the drip tray from the icebox, before baking a loaf of bread, filling the lamps and the heater with oil and washing the laundry by hand.</p>
<p>The couple say their eccentric lifestyle has brought them closer together.</p>
<p>“Living like this brings us together,” says Gabriel. “Because we have all these wonderful challenges that we're both sharing and trying to understand and workout. It helps us connect.”</p>
<p>He adds, “It's not about replicating the past – we're trying to bring these principles into the modern world.”</p>
<p>Scroll through the gallery above to see how the Chrismans live. Could you live like it’s the Victorian era? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.</p>
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