Jacksonville April 2010 : Page 73
Riverside Avondale Preservation Tou o Homes 36th Annual side Avondale Preservation Tou o Homes 36th Annual APRIL APRIL 2010 JACKSONVILLEMAG.COM | 73 SUNDAY Noon- 5 PM SATURDAY 10 AM- 5 PM
36th Annual Riverside Avondale Preservation Tour of Homes
For 36 years, Riverside and Avondale homeowners and business owners have opened their doors to local residents, not only as a gesture of hospitality but also to help raise funds for Riverside Avondale Preservation, the city’s premier grassroots historic preservation organization. Eleven residences and businesses are featured on this year’s tour.
1849 Seminole Road
Architects Henry Taylor & Son probably described this Avondale home as “vernacular” when they built it in 1925. These days, current owners Jim and Cindy Congelio think “much changed over time” is probably more appropriate.
Because the house had changed so drastically over the years (from a single-family home to a duplex and back to a single-family home), the Congelios hired an architect to help them better unify the space. By enclosing the area under the original breezeway, they were able to expand the family room and add a laundry room, full bathroom and workroom. They also relocated the kitchen to the back of the house to capitalize on the river view, moved the entryway and added large porch banisters and columns.
Rumor has it that the lot the house sits on was originally a tennis court that was part of the Frederick McConnel residence next door, which has since been relocated to St. Johns Avenue. Stories like this make the Congelios appreciate the “uniqueness of the neighborhood,” one of the main reasons, along with the varied architecture, they moved to Avondale in the first place.
2727 Riverside Avenue
O. V. Becklenberg designed and built this two-story private residence in the early 1900s for Walter Mucklow, British consul, vice counsel for Norway and acting vice counsel for Belgium. The wood-frame house features a hip roof with hip dormer, drop siding and casement windows and is considered one of the most dominant Colonial Revival styles in Riverside from the period of 1900 to 1920.
Years later, the single-family home was converted into apartments, which is how the building remains today. The tour will include both furnished and unfurnished units within the building.
3032 St. Johns Avenue
Technically, Don and Mary-Jane Kohm’s house is classified as Frame Vernacular, a broad architectural category that indicates the home is similar design-wise to numerous others built in the same area around the same time period. To the Kohms’—and almost everyone else who sees it—the home, which features a hip roof, hip dormer, second-story overhang and entrance with a shed overhang, most closely resembles the Prairie style.
With a few exceptions, the stucco home, built prior to 1920, has retained most of its architectural integrity. The Kohms added a swimming pool and surrounding wall, renovated the master bathroom and converted a bedroom into a dressing room.
Riverside Avondale’s architectural diversity and commitment to historic preservation are a large part of what drew the couple back to Jacksonville after living in St. Louis for 18 years. “Friendly and supportive neighbors” were another.
2789 St. Johns Avenue
Though no one seems to know definitively the architect who designed this three-story house in Riverside, he (or she) was obviously a fan of both Colonial Revival and Victorian architecture since the home, built in the early 1900s, reflects influences of both with the most prominent features being a rounded veranda and pedimented gable.
The architect also had the forethought to elevate the house with a masonry abutment since the St. Johns River often overflowed prior to the construction of bulkheads in the 1920s.
There is a theory that the house was designed by Captain William James, a farmer, real estate agent and namesake of James Street, who owned 35 acres of land in the area including this property.
The home, owned by Paul and Heather Kasinski, is currently unoccupied and will serve as a second RAP Tour of Homes Art House.
3017 Riverside Avenue
Kathryn Umberger is no stranger to historic restoration projects having rehabbed houses in San Marco, Atlanta and Miami. But her most recent project, a 1906 Queen Anne-style home in Riverside, had its own set of challenges.
“When I first bought the house in 2007, we discovered the city had put a stop to the previous renovations because they weren’t up to code,” she says. “We had to undo all that was done and start over.” In the 1940s, the house had also be converted into a duplex, which she also wanted to “undo.”
For Kathryn, maintaining the historical integrity of the home was of the utmost importance. When architectural details such as interior trim, casing and under-eave corbels couldn’t be salvaged or replaced, she had them specially milled to match the originals. To improve “livability,” she also fully insulated the house, reinforced the foundation, updated the plumbing and electrical, and replaced the roof.
During the renovation process, she discovered some interesting things including the original bill for the blacksmith who forged the nails used to build the house, newspapers from 1918 stuffed into the wall and reports of a ghost who roams the second floor. But don’t worry, RAP Tour of Homes guests, it’s a friendly ghost.
The home, which is currently unoccupied, serves as the RAP Tour of Homes Art House.Works from local galleries including Corse Gallery and R. Roberts Gallery will be on display with sweet treats provided by Let Them Eat Cake
2104 Post Street
“A big mess.” That’s how Maureen Horkan describes the condition of her 1912 Arts and Crafts Foursquare style home when she first saw it. The roof leaked, the kitchen floor had holes in it and the front was covered in asbestos siding, not to mention the family of pigeons living in the top of the chimney.
Despite the three-story home’s significant flaws, Horkan recognized it as a “rare gem”— and then had it renovated down to the studs. Wanting to retain as much of the house’s original character as possible, she salvaged everything that was worth saving from doorknobs to fireplace mantels. She also shopped thrift stores for period light fixtures then had them rewired.
Today, the four-bedroom, three-and-onehalf- bathroom home features brand new electrical and plumbing, an expanded kitchen, four fireplaces and a wrap-around porch. It was a lengthy renovation process that Maureen says involved replacing virtually every nut and bolt but one that was a true “labor of love.”
Be sure to ask her about the time a pigeon housesat while she was out of town.
2618 Herschel Street
The only new construction on the RAP Tour of Homes appears to be a private home, but it is actually the home of Olsen Associates, Inc., a coastal engineering firm. After the company outgrew its existing office, also on Herschel Street, President Erik Olsen sought out a larger space. He found a two-parcel lot, but the existing 1950s-era buildings had, in his opinion, “essentially no redeeming qualities,” so he decided to demolish them both and completely redevelop the site.
Designed by architect Doug Lane of the Lane Group, the building’s exterior was inspired by the Prairie style of architecture, allowing it to blend in with the mostly residential street. Olsen describes the interior as “an eclectic mix of quasi-historical features and contemporary functionality required for modern business operation.” The building is also highly energy efficient.
2322 Dellwood Avenue
Looking at Kay Ehas’ two-bedroom bungalow in Riverside, you’d never believe she paid just $35,200 for it. Of course, she bought the home more than 20 years ago, and a lot has changed since then.
Built in 1914, the house wasn’t exactly Kay’s dream home when she moved in. The kitchen and bathrooms walls were covered in vinyl board. The plaster walls in the bedrooms were in bad shape, as were the heart pine floors. And there were drop ceilings throughout the house. But it wasn’t until Kay came home from work one day to find the kitchen counter tops, cabinets and sink lying on the ground that she embarked on her first official renovation.
Kay has since renovated the kitchen a second time— and the bathroom twice (she says she learned her lesson to always hire an architect or interior designer when renovating kitchens and bathrooms)—and she couldn’t be more happy with the results. Or her neighborhood.
“I like having neighbors close to me (as long as they’re good ones),” she says. “I love all the wonderful parks and the shopping districts within walking distance and all the great restaurants.”
3728 Pine Street
Unable to find a larger home that they liked as much as their cozy Avondale bungalow, Katrina Bryant and Sylvia Loudin decided to stay put—and add on.
“We wanted this addition to be as seamless as possible and to look as it was always part of the house,” Katrina says. They tried to mirror as much of the original house as possible from the floors and windows to the baseboards and crown molding. The soffit on the exterior of the addition was even milled to match.
The overhaul also included extensive renovations to the house itself, built around 1925, including gutting the kitchen and breakfast nook to make one large room, stripping and refinishing the wood floors throughout the house, and stripping, repainting and rehanging all of the windows. While the interior reflects the owners’ creative side, the exterior is almost completely devoid of ornamentation with the exception of the Doric columns on the front porch.
“We love the final product,” Katrina says. “It’s functional, inviting and very livable.”
3743 Park Street
First-time visitors to Renee and Eric Maxey’s Avondale home are most impressed by one of two things: the ceilings or the pool.
The Mediterranean-style home built in 1938 features 10-foottall pecky cypress ceilings which are original to the house. And though the swimming pool was added decades later, it makes its own striking statement with red clay tiles and hand-painted tiles adorning the deck.
Renee is similarly impressed by the home’s sturdiness. “The walls are concrete and stucco and six to eight inches thick,” she says. “With the materials used in this house, you don’t have to worry. It will still be here 200 years from now.”
Perhaps that explains why the only major renovating the couple had to do when they bought the two-bedroom, two-bathroom house in 2007 was gutting the kitchen (they also scraped and repainted the exterior of the house and resurfaced the pool).
1261 King Street
Ever wonder who creates your favorite magazine every month? Curious about how they come up with all those fantastic stories, cool graphic design and awesome photos? Of course you are. Well, this year’s RAP Tour is your chance to see where the magic happens. Come experience the Jacksonville Magazine Reality Tour, a fun, step-by-step walk through our King Street offices. Some of you may remember the little brick building from previous incarnations, perhaps most notably the nightspots Art Bar and The Junction. Oh, if these walls could talk… Today, the bars are gone, the DJ equipment removed and the dance floor is but a memory. In fact, only one piece remains from its former life as a club—a bedazzled toilet in the ladies room. The building is loft-like in atmosphere with high ceilings, very few doors, partitioned work spaces and what we like to think of as industrial shabby chic décor.
We invite tour-goers to explore the interior, see where specific duties are performed and otherwise get an insider’s view of a publishing company. Plus, we’ll be snapping pictures of everybody who steps into our photo studio, and we’ll include those images in an online slideshow that will posted after the tour. You may even get your photo in an upcoming edition of Jacksonville Magazine. Pets welcome, too. And we’ll be handing out complimentary goodie bags full of great stuff.
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