If you had seen this 1916 Junius Heights Craftsman before 2021, you would never believe it’s the same house. Katie Conklin and her husband essentially worked a miracle here, bringing this home back to life.
Conklin is the founder of Gas Lamp Design, a commercial interior design business, and her husband is a contractor, so they knew what they were getting into. More importantly, they knew what to do and how to do it correctly.
“We took it to the studs,” Conklin said. “We reused what we could, but all of the mechanical systems are new.” A Lutron Smart System now controls all the lights. There are smart thermostats, a zoned HVAC system, and various smart appliances.
Of course, a cute Junius Heights Craftsman will always get my attention, but this one stood out in so many ways. What I was particularly excited about was Conklin’s use of wallpaper and color. Many people are afraid of deploying both, but if you look at history, bold colors and wallpaper were common in the 1900s. As cutting-edge as it seems today in our gray and white world, the couple was actually paying homage to the home’s true origins, and considerable thought was put into it.
“We researched period-specific colors,” Conklin said. “The entry is William Morris Strawberry Thief wallpaper. I have always loved it, and it complements the home’s style, tying in with the exterior color, which is Peppercorn from Sherwin-Williams. We switched the exterior trim from a buttercream yellow to white and used a red accent on the front door. The Strawberry Thief pattern has all of those tones, and the colors are continued throughout the house. The entry sets the tone for what’s to come.”
Conklin painted the living room of their 2,066-square-foot Junius Heights Craftsman home entirely in blue. “To me, when you overwhelm a space with a single color, it’s actually subtle, but still has a personality and character,” she said. “I wanted to respect the history of the home and have a bit of a modern twist so that we could incorporate more modern furnishings.”
The three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home features the original old-growth longleaf pine shiplap not only for the walls but also for the floors, which is not often seen. The original doors were kept and sandblasted back to their original finish, and the door hardware is also original. There are even two 1916 hallway pendant light fixtures. “They are all part of the story of the home and from the time the house was conceived,” Conklin said.
Although it’s always hard to determine a favorite space in a home, Conklin loves the back of the house. “We vaulted the ceilings to the attic. It’s unusual for a house of this age, but we looked into expanding the second story and felt the vaulting was a better idea.”
“We have loved living in Junius Heights,” Conklin said. “We play pickleball at Willis Winters Park and walk to the restaurants in Lakewood.”
Remember what I’ve always said about being so lucky to find a home that has been resurrected by people who know what they are doing? Buy it!
Allie Beth Allman’s Gia Marshello has this picture-perfect Junius Heights Craftsman at 5807 Reiger available for $795,000.
link