Happy 2017 everyone!

Over the past month, Bryan and I have been fielding client inquiries (did you know we now offer services?) and spending lots of time planning for THIS.

Say hello to our newest home.  It was built in 1900 in the King Lincoln District, a neighborhood known for it’s historic homes and rich jazz history.  The home is 3000 sq ft and has 3 stories, 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms.  It’s going to be our biggest renovation so far, and we can’t wait to get started.

Having an opportunity to renovate this home brings things full circle for us.  Before we moved to Columbus, we were living in NYC.  I’m from NJ, but Bryan has spent most of his life in Columbus and never stopped paying attention to what was going on here.  He’d check websites like Columbus Underground to stay on top of the latest developments, new restaurants, and neighborhood updates, and never failed to get excited about them.  I admittedly didn’t think too much of it, because I didn’t think it could get better than NY.  One weekend we were back in Columbus visiting Bryan’s family and decided to drive through some of the neighborhoods surrounding Downtown.  We saw people restaurant hopping in the Short North and strolling through Schiller Park in German Village, but what really intrigued us was seeing people renovating boarded up homes in neighborhoods like Olde Towne East and King Lincoln District.  There was an energy and sense of community that neither of us had experienced before.  I started dreaming about living here and bringing an old house back to life.  It felt like it could be a new adventure.  Intentionally or unintentionally, Bryan convinced me that I wanted to be a part of it.

Although we didn’t end up starting our real estate journey in that neighborhood, we’ve kept a close eye on it over the years.   Before selling our Chesterfield Cottage, we decided it was about time to do a project in this neighborhood.  We made an offer on a property and were set to close, but had to back out at the last minute because our Chesterfield sale fell through at the last minute (that was a fun day).  We were really, really bummed about losing that house.

We ended up selling Chesterfield a month later to a different buyer, and a few days later, we received an email from the owners of this house.  They had seen our work on Instagram and wanted it to go to someone who would give it the love it deserved.  It felt like it was meant to be – the house, the timing, everything.  I forwarded the email to Bryan that day with a lot of !!!’s, and we set up a meeting with the seller to see it in person.  He told us a little about how the previous occupants stole a lot of the old doors and banister and other features in the house (sidenote: who steals doors?).  The house was in really bad shape, but had good bones.  We could tell it was a special one and saw so much potential.  We decided to go for it after running some numbers, agreed on a purchase price, and just a few days ago signed papers to make it official!

We’re almost done with our plans and hope to get the ball rolling on the renovation soon.  We’re looking forward to sharing it all with you!  It’s going to be a fun one.

Psst.  There’s more!

• 1st Floor Before Tour
• 2nd Floor Before Tour
• 3rd Floor Before Tour
• Design Changes