2016, by way of the 1920s and ’60s
Renovated home had undergone a 20th-century remodel unappealing today.
For months, a three-bedroom, almost 2,000-square-foot home in Country Club Park sat on the market.
“It’s a 1920s home remodeled for the ’60s. Spatially, it wasn’t designed for today’s home buyers,” said developer Robert Jayne of RJC Design + Build.
The screened-in sitting porch was an immediate giveaway. The home’s original oversized living room and formal dining room were amenities for a bygone age. Ditto for its color palette: honey-colored wood floors and finishes with pink and green accents.
It didn’t help that the oddly shaped property also looked “like a dentist’s office,” Jayne said.
After the price was reduced, he and his partner Brett Baer purchased the property for $724,000 in December with an eye toward updating it for a modern lifestyle while still keeping the neighborhood’s historic character in mind.
With Jayne redoing the spatial elements and Baer adding his expertise as a former president of the highly successful home staging company Meridith Baer Home, the two finally nudged the timecapsule-locked property into the 21st century.
Jayne gave the home some curb appeal by removing the anachronistic screens that enclosed the sitting porch. He also nixed the metal steps and created a sandfinished concrete walkway that matched the home’s historical exterior.
Inside, the color palette was updated to grays and whites, and the floors were replaced with European oak. Jayne rearranged the interiors to make the overly large spaces more intimate. He did away with the glass-partitioned office area and created an elegant, modestly sized dining room that now opens to the rest of the home.
By removing a wall, Jayne created a kitchen that easily overlooks a family room, making it easy to cook and entertain simultaneously.
As for the dusty basement, Jayne and Baer reimagined the space as a cozy wine tasting cellar outfitted with wine shelves.
While appealing to modern tastes, RJC Design + Build also took care to add accents that gave the home a sense of history. Jayne added trims overhead, including a coffered ceiling in the dining room. Hammered light switch plates in an old-world style and vintage ventilation grills peppered the rooms.
“This feels historic but still fits the modern lifestyle,” Jayne said.
With Baer’s help, Jayne turned an unsightly concrete backyard into a tiered patio made of Douglas fir with a dark walnut finish. Multiple seating areas give the illusion of additional space.
The flip paid off: The home was back on the market for $1.2 million on April 26, a Tuesday. It was in escrow for above asking by the following Monday.