Carefully Updated Vickery Place Craftsman Keeps Vintage Charm With Added Modern Amenities
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Nothing makes us happier than to see a historic home beautifully updated for the benefit of another generation.
This Vickery Place Craftsman at 5639 Richard Avenue, built in 1916, was fully restored and renovated by Brian Gream. Gream has been designing, building, and renovating homes for 15 years, and the Craftsman style is his specialty. He’s particularly adept at preserving original architectural details while updating not only what you can see, but what you can’t see — often the most important aspects of a home. Gream restored, reinvigorated, and reinvented this $724,900 beauty, just listed by Kyle Williams of Williams Real Estate & Construction.
The dining area is open to both living, kitchen, and family areas.
The renovation included a 695-square-foot addition, increasing the total square footage to 2,827. The house now has two stories, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a brand new two-car garage.
“Although it’s listed as a four-bedroom home, the sunroom has a closet and can easily be a fifth bedroom,” Gream said. “Remember, old houses don’t pay attention to modern rules.”
Family room opens on to the deck and flows to the kitchen.
The key to making a home of this age work for today’s buyer is, of course, creating an open floor plan, but also keeping distinctive rooms and adding the features and finish out modern families want.
“You absolutely have to have those defined spaces,” Gream said. “You also have to have flow. One thing I always try to do is create a circular flow, and this house has great flow.”
A Gream trademark is a master suite with the bathroom opening into a walk-in closet and a connected laundry room.
And you have to pay attention to the structural and mechanical details. In addition to the beautiful soapstone countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms, Gream added a new 21 SEER, variable-speed HVAC system with electronic filtering, new plumbing and electrical, and insulation everywhere — in the attic, the exterior walls, and the crawl space. Most importantly he reconstructed the foundation.
“Every single stick of the foundation came out,” Gream said. “The biggest mistake people make is not paying attention to the foundation. You have to know what you’re doing on a Craftsman. It’s the most difficult style of home to renovate.”
All of this internal work translates to no hidden issues and low utility bills.
The second floor features two bedrooms and a bathroom. The present owners are using one bedroom as a media room.
“Craftsmans are 100 percent detail,” Gream said. So, the exterior of the home was not just given a lipstick pick-me-up with paint. It had a full face lift. “We kept the exterior details and copied original details that needed to be replaced or rebuilt,” he said. “We made things like they were originally constructed.”
A new roof was added and 90 percent of the siding replaced. New front and back decks, a decorative metal driveway gate, new front columns with stone caps, an 8-foot privacy fence, and a pool were added to make this the sort of house you can’t wait to come home to and where you want to celebrate absolutely everything.
“The open concept floor plan, large front porch, and elevated back deck overlooking the pool make this home perfect for entertaining,” Williams said.
If you’re ready to start entertaining in a hassle-free Craftsman, give Williams a call.
