Author: John Griffin

Architect J. Fraser Smith came to Memphis to work in 1921. William Chandler hired him to lay out a development called the Village at the southeast corner of Poplar and Goodlet in 1938. The neighborhood became a bastion of Colonial Revival-style houses on large lots with gently curving streets.

The designs were inspired by those of colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. The excavations and exhaustive studies of that town’s architecture began in the mid-1920s and had a pervasive influence on domestic design for many years.

This house, built in 1945, shows all the hallmarks of the late Colonial Revival style. It’s got a steeply pitched roof with two front-facing dormers. The windows here, unlike the original colonial examples, are ganged in double or triple units. The exterior is sided primarily in shingles, but the two front box bays are sheathed in vertical tongue-and-groove wood. The whole exterior is unified by a light, earth-toned neutral color, with the trim called out in a crisp white and the centrally placed front door accented in red.

The living and dining rooms are across the front, each with a box bay window. The living room has a fireplace fitted with gas logs inside a nicely detailed period mantel. The oak floors are honey-toned and look like new.

The bedroom wing is pleasantly secluded. There are three bedrooms and three baths in the house, and a separate guest quarters attached to the garage holds a fourth bedroom and bath. Custom built-ins in the guest room allow this space to function as a home office, too, giving both guests and office clutter their own area out of the mainstream of activity.

The master suite has the smallest of the four baths, as they used to be before the current craze for airplane-hangar-sized dressing and bathrooms. Installing a new, frameless shower and simple pedestal sink in a minimal space would make this bath feel twice as big without the expense of a new addition.

The real draws here, other than the neighborhood, are the expanded kitchen and new family room. The rear wall to the original kitchen was removed, allowing the cooking space to be doubled and a spacious seating area to be added as well. The ceiling height in the rear addition was lifted to further expand the space. The current owners installed granite counters and a multi-hued, tumbled-limestone backsplash. The professional-model gas stove has a matching stainless-steel hood and a handy pot filler. The cabinets are painted white to match the trim and have lots of glass doors to bounce light around. The floors in the kitchen and the rear seating area are oak to match the rest of the house.

This 50-plus-year-old neighborhood has numerous family events during the year, such as an Easter egg hunt and a Fourth of July parade. It’s hard to find that small-town atmosphere in such a centrally located, older subdivision. Even during this economic slowdown, few houses sit on the market long in this recession-proof area. •

440 Greenfield

Approximately 2,700 square feet

4 bedrooms, 4 baths

$475,000

FSBO: 680-0910; will co-op

This house was so thoroughly renovated in the mid-20th century that there is no evidence of its original incarnation. The tax rolls show it was built in 1939, and its location just south of Central Avenue across from Chickasaw Gardens certainly suggests that the early date is appropriate.

The house probably began as a one-bedroom, one-bath cottage, since the front bath has creamy gold ceramic tile edged in black, something typical of the 1930s and 1940s. It was obviously not a low-end job, when you note that a built-in storage cabinet in the original bath has a native Tennessee marble top — evidence that attention to detail was a priority.

A very generously sized living room looks forward through a broad, shed-roofed bay window. A robust limestone-faced firebox and chimney comprise the room’s focal point. Behind this room is a big dining room that flows out of the living room via a large cased opening and overlooks a quiet corner of the nicely landscaped backyard.

The scale of the rooms makes furniture placement and entertaining easy. This dining room is probably a late-1950s or early-1960s addition, done at the same time the outside was restyled and the master suite was added. Vertical cypress siding installed as a shadowbox gives the exterior a lot of punch.

The kitchen is outfitted in white-painted planked cabinets that echo the verticality of the exterior siding. This sort of planking is a hallmark of mid-century California architecture.

The basement is also nicely finished. It has one large room that provides a great getaway spot for a media room or other family activities and, of course, could do double duty as a third bedroom. The space has a handy storage room as well.

The backyard is a major feature of this property. French doors from the master bedroom and a door from the kitchen open onto a large slate patio with an oval swimming pool beyond. The original carport has a garage door added at the front for privacy and security, but the back wall is still open to the patio. Since the garage is also paved with slate, it makes a perfect shady entertaining space.

Someone with foresight installed several fine plantings that have now reached specimen size. The front yard is dominated by a big chestnut tree, and a broad Japanese maple is the accent near the pool. Dogwoods run down the rear fence line under the neighbor’s oaks.

This spacious, easy-living, ranch-style house is focused on a patio made for entertaining — definitely California dreaming! •

353 Haynes

Approximately 1,650 square feet

3 bedrooms, 2 baths; $205,000

Realtor: Remax on Track, 758-1200

Agent: Larry Alexander, 454-0858

This house probably got a coat of bright white paint when it was completed in 1908. It’s fitting that it should be painted white for its centennial. It’s also had a just-completed top-to-bottom renovation.

Little has changed on the outside in the last century. The roof was originally slate, but after a large tree damaged it, a new slate-colored shingle roof was installed. The back house does have its slate roof intact. And amazingly, the large, beveled-glass front door still has its original screen door.

Visible changes inside were minimal. The richly carved wood mantel in the living room retains its old tiles, firebox cover, and even an early gas heater left on the hearth. The intricately paneled staircase also has its original delicately turned spindles.

The ceilings are 10 feet tall on the ground floor and, surprisingly, the same on the second floor. Likewise, the oak floors installed downstairs are upstairs as well, where pine was often substituted as a cost-cutting measure. On both floors, the windows are a bit over-scaled and thus bring in more light than expected. It makes the period interior feel quite modern.

The living and dining rooms occupy the front. Tall French doors lead from the dining room back to where a warren of smaller spaces were gutted and combined to hold the new kitchen, which is cleverly fitted into a broad bay window. There are lots of stained cabinets and recessed lights, and there’s plenty of room for an old farm table in the center. Light ceramic tile flooring unites the kitchen and a new sunroom created from what was originally part of the back porch.

The ground floor also has a den, a powder room, a mudroom/entry, laundry room, and back stairs.

The rear yard is newly fenced, but the two-story backhouse was not updated in the recent renovation. This leaves it to you to decide whether you’d like a garage down with a small home office up or a full two-story guest house/mother-in-law unit.

In the main house, there are three bedrooms upstairs with two full baths, both completely redone. The layout was altered just enough to create a master suite with a wall of closets and a very spacious private bath with a large shower, a separate soaking tub, and a double vanity.

The third floor has permanent stairs, and one of the two new heat and air systems was installed off to the side to maximize the central floor area, which could be easily enclosed but currently offers great storage.

The interior is just as bright and newly spiffed up as the exterior here. All that’s required are proud new owners to make this house picture perfect. •

1341 Vinton

Approximately 2,660 square feet

3 bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths

$325,000

Realtor: Sowell & Co., 278-4380

Agent: Linda Sowell, 278-4380

Before the railroads crossed the Mississippi in Memphis, the South Bluffs area was primarily residential. It is the highest spot around, with unparalleled views, and it catches every breeze that crosses the river. The advent of railroads, hotels, and storage facilities changed the South Bluffs to the warehouse district we know today. Many of the warehouses have now been converted to high-end lofts, and the South Bluffs area is once again residential.

Few of the original houses remain, but just north of the Lorraine Motel on Mulberry Street are three shotguns and two tenement buildings that still provide a touch of the residential mix that existed before 1892.

The three frame cottages and the surrounding brick tenements have been renovated inside and out. They now share a courtyard with a fountain and a rear gated parking area. These three shotguns may be the only freestanding condos in the city offering you light from four sides without requiring you to maintain the exteriors or the grounds. The houses date from the late 1880s or early 1890s.

The main facade of this home faces Mulberry and is embellished with a variety of wall finishes, beginning at porch level with a vertical siding wainscot that changes to beaded, horizontal lap-siding above. The two sides of the porch gable are a sunburst of narrow boards, and the overscale gable vent is a stick-built lattice wedge, not unlike the shape of a masonry arch keystone. The porch balustrade is obviously not original; it would have been either turned railings — the lathe was a popular new woodworking tool then — or flat boards cut with a jigsaw into a decorative shape and then pieced together. Amazingly, a few of the porch columns have their original brackets.

The floor plan retains the original three rooms. The 12-foot ceilings keep these spaces from ever feeling small, and the wealth of architectural detail inside provides visual delight that is often lost and that is such a treat here.

The front two rooms have the original vertical tongue-and-groove wainscoting and tall, four-panel doors with glass transoms. A central coal fireplace opens both to the front living room and middle bedroom; each side has a cast-iron mantel. The floors in these two rooms are the original pine planking with a dark stain.

An original hall was commandeered for storage and turned into a front coat closet, a spacious walk-in closet for the bedroom, and a laundry closet off the kitchen — no wasted space here! The eat-in kitchen and the bath have granite counters and cork floors. A fenced backyard with its own petite patio provides room to fire up the grill.

There are lots of cool downtown living spaces, but in terms of location and architectural detail, this shotgun has got to be at the top of the list. •

376 Mulberry

Approximately 800 square feet

1 bedroom, 1 bath

$175,000

Realtor: Garland Co., 527-7779

Agent: Chris Garland, 338-3226

The building of Rhodes College set off a mania for the Tudor Revival style, Construction on this one hundred acre campus began in 1924 in the Collegiate Gothic style. Soon after, Hallwood, to the north in Vollentine/Evergreen, and Hein Park to the east of the campus were laid out with meandering streets and no sidewalks, and the Tudor Revival style seemed to predominate in both areas.

Medieval cottages with their haphazard rusticity were the inspiration for the Tudor revival. Tall, multiple rooflines and a mixture of brick, stucco, and half-timbering were)common. Chimneys were even picturesquely changed from rough stone to brick as they went up, to suggest that had been rebuilt over time.

The Goldstein family built this well-planned house in 1931 as a present for their daughter. The house faces due south, which keeps the sunroom and the living room bright all day. The bedrooms to the west are dark in the morning, just as the kitchen to the east is cherry when you arise. And you thought architecture was all about making it pretty!

Outside is mostly brick, with some decorative wave-edged siding on the gable ends. The tallest forward-facing gable has vertical half-timbering with the nogging between laid-up in herringbone-patterned brick. The entrance is well defined by a heavy stone surround and a thick oak timber door with a small leaded glass window, and an ornamental iron lantern above it.

There is a beautiful front terrace, with steps and walks leading both to University Street and Hallwood Drive. This and the entry are mostly hidden by a low holly hedge and a large magnolia that make even this front terrace a private outdoor space. This planting and the deep front yard also insulate the house from street noises.

The foyer, living, and dining rooms all have random width, pegged and quarter-sawn oak floors. These floors are pretty much perfection, and to gild the lily, the plaster walls cove right up on to the ceiling in a deep, continuous. A custom marble mantel surrounds the living room fireplace, which is equipped with gas logs.

The sunroom adjoins the living room, expanding the seating options. The kitchen is well outfitted with highly desirable vintage metal Geneva cabinets and double Chambers ovens that are insulated with cast-iron. These ovens are like owning a Rolls — there’s no reason to ever trade them in. The breakfast room has one wall of custom china storage, two walls of bookcases, and one wall of glass — not so bad! And all of this is atop a two-car garage and workshop.

Three bedroom, three baths, and a laundry closet complete the ground floor. The master suite on this floor has a separate tub and shower with yet more storage cabinets. Upstairs is a guest apartment with its own private deck and entry. There’s another kitchen, a bedroom, and a bath upstairs. It’s hard to decide which floor would be the better master, but it’s nice to have multiple choices.

2014 Hallwood Drive, 38107

Approximately 3900 square feet

4 bedrooms, 4 baths; $378,000

Realtor: Hobson Company 761-1622

Owner/agent: Mary Frances Pitts 312-2942

The Pinch was the earliest settled area in Memphis. The city’s original land office was established there, followed by the first trading store and two locations of Paddy Meager’s Bell Tavern, where travelers could both sup and sleep. The area is adjacent to the old mouth of the Wolf River, which provided a harbor for flatboats and a ferry that crossed the river.

This harbor eventually proved too small for the riverboats, many of which were four or five stories high. The city center migrated south from the Pinch to a broad area where the riverfront could be paved with cobblestones. This remains the downtown we now know, where cotton-classing offices and grand hotels were built near the dockage for the floating palaces.

The Pinch survived as a dry-goods trading center with mill yards and breweries along the lower Wolf. Waves of immigrants washed through the area, most notably an Irish contingent after the potato famine of the late 1840s and early 1850s, and a large Jewish influx, which built a synagogue there. The surviving building stock is predominantly two- or three-story brick buildings, most having a commercial use on the ground floor and the lodgings above.

This building was constructed in 1900 by a Jewish tinsmith. It has been a pool hall, a restaurant, and an early home to a stained-glass studio. Four years ago, the then-uninhabited structure was bought, and a year of reconstruction followed.

The ground floor now houses an art gallery. Salvaged oak floors and one wall of exposed brick accent the 14-foot-tall space. Just behind the gallery is a spacious eat-in kitchen with three walls of pale birch cabinets and cast concrete counters. A new rear addition includes a dining/family room that opens to a brick-walled courtyard, a large workshop, and a two-car garage.

Upstairs has three bedrooms, three baths, and separate guest quarters that could be rented out as an apartment. Two of the bedrooms are suites that offer lots of options. The one on the front has cherry floors, and its diminutive fireplace has a metal mantel, possibly made by the original owner. A similar fireplace is featured in the suite’s bath, and a large skylight crowns the adjoining dressing room.

The second suite has a private balcony that overlooks the courtyard and is built atop the new dining/family room. This position insulates the area from the typical sounds of an urban environment. Along the stair hall between the two suites is a third bedroom, a bath, and a laundry room. The one-bedroom guest apartment is above the garage.

The Pinch has languished while downtown and South Main have experienced a residential renaissance. Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Mud Island, and the Pyramid surround the area and suggest that this now quiet corner of the old city has lots of room for growth. •

356 N. Main

4,500 square feet

3 bedrooms, 3 baths,

plus guest quarters

$695,000

The Garland Co., 527-7779

Agent: Tracie Gaia, 649-6232

It’s a common complaint that bungalows are dark inside. A deep roof overhang and interior trim that’s stained, not painted, are often to blame. So imagine my surprise when I encountered one of the brightest bungalows in Midtown, with its original stained trim.

Certainly having more windows per room than the average bungalow makes a huge difference. A pair of ten-light French doors flanked by double windows effectively makes the whole front wall of the living room glass. It also doesn’t hurt that the last two owners have done extremely sensitive renovations. The prior owner did a major second-floor enlargement, and the current owner did significant interior improvements, as well as adding a rear studio and two-car garage. Furthermore, the current owner added lots of recessed, low-voltage can lights while maintaining the smooth, nine-foot ceilings.

The rich, red-gum trim has never been despoiled with paint. The interior color scheme of sages, golds, and terra-cottas feels neither dark nor oppressive. Accents like an earth-toned charcoal fireplace breast and deep, multicolored slates at the hearth only add drama to this interior.

The breakfast room, typically rather small, is frequently incorporated into a kitchen renovation to add space. Here, these discrete spaces are big enough to be left alone. The breakfast room comfortably holds a four-top table and its original heart pine butler’s pantry. The kitchen was completely redone with top-of-the-line appliances and custom-depth cherry cabinets that fit snugly against all four walls, creating multiple work centers. Tops are black granite, and backsplashes are accented by handmade art-glass tiles. A light ceramic floor in these two rooms also brightens them, as do the multiple light sources from under cabinets, atop cabinets and overhead recessed. Finally, an antique door with ribbed, translucent glass transmits light through the pantry into the kitchen without adding a distracting note.

The remainder of the ground floor includes a screened porch, two bedrooms, a renovated bath, and a surprisingly large rear-entry hall that retains an original beadboard cabinet. The current owner built a garage with rear alley access and enough room for two small dump trucks and all the garden tools you’d ever need. A cathedral-ceilinged studio or workshop completes the rear structure.

Upstairs was originally a small, two-room rear “airplane” pop-up. The previous owners lifted more of the roof and expanded without any noticeable change from the street. The enlarged second floor now has two more bedrooms, two baths, a sitting room, and an office. The master here must have one of the largest walk-in closets inside the I-240 loop. The majority of the new rooms have oak flooring and wood trim and doors to match downstairs.

This is a seamlessly renovated house with no jarring breaks. It’s deceptively larger than it appears from the street, and way brighter inside than the average bungalow. •

1783 Autumn

2,120 square feet

4 bedrooms, 3 baths; $329,000

Realtor: Hobson Realtors, 761-1622

Agent: Charlotte Lyles, 312-2938

Queen Anne cottages were the last hurrah of Victorian architecture. Even at the cottage scale, they maintained a rather large entry, reminiscent of the grander Victorians and often encircled with a wrap-around porch. This house in Central Gardens has been completely redesigned in layout and makes particularly good use of its foyer.

The redesign opened the living, dining, and kitchen spaces in a modern, loft-like manner. The fireplace between the living and dining now has a single deep firebox with gas logs visible from both sides.

The living room looks across the entry foyer to the rear ell of the front porch. A new pair of French doors was installed between the foyer and the porch, and the rear section of the porch was screened. In good weather the living space now extends through the foyer out to the screened porch, making a sumptuous entertaining space.

The new open kitchen is wrapped with ceramic tile counters on three sides. The original brick flue in the kitchen was exposed, providing a nice textural contrast. A leaded glass pantry cabinet was installed, adding another decorative element.

The new master suite was carved out of two original bedrooms. The sleeping area was enlarged and two spacious closets created. The master bath has separate shower and a jet tub set in a granite deck. A linen closet, also with a panel of decorative leaded glass, abuts the granite-topped double vanity.

Off the hall opposite the main bath is a new laundry closet. A small second bedroom and a home office/workout room complete the inventory.

The front yard has an old brick walk from the street to the porch. A large dogwood is the major focus of the front landscaping, with nandina, azalea, and boxwood planted at the foundation. The rear yard has a single-car garage and a large new deck behind the house. A tall magnolia shades the deck and adds privacy.

This house on a quiet street in Central Gardens is completely reworked and offers a nice array of public spaces and a truly luxurious master suite. The original nine-foot ceilings and rich heart pine floors are complemented by a renovation fit for a queen. •

1845 York

2 bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths

$200,000

Realtor: Hobson Realtors, 761-1622

Agent: Deborah Mays,

312-2939

Well-chosen details enrich a good architectural composition. Here, the repetition of the arch on the front of this cottage makes it memorable.

The house is defined by some Colonial Revival hallmarks: a simple gable roofline with the ridge running parallel to the street and an accentuated front door with a small but elegant arched entrance canopy. Its Colonial Revival character is further emphasized by the white paint job, with only the shutters and the new garage door in dark, bronze green.

The arch of the entry, a detail you see infrequently, is echoed in an eyebrow dormer. These two unusually refined elements, more often found on high-end examples of the style, are simply striking.

The front yard has two large oaks west of the house that offer the shade a hot August afternoon warrants. The foundation plantings are not as elegantly composed. The shrubs are a mixture of evergreens, predominantly azaleas and hollies. A simple installation of boxwood at the extreme corners and around the porch would be the appropriate complement.

Inside, this cottage is revealed to be a bungalow in Colonial Revival garb. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are arrayed down one side, with two bedrooms and a central bath accessed by way of a short hall comprising the other side. A spacious family room was added across the rear at least 50 years ago, along with a large utility/laundry room near the kitchen.

The living room, with the house’s surprising 9-foot ceilings, has a handsome cut-stone fireplace with a corbelled, rusticated mantel. The firebox, built for coal, is not deep but could have a gas-fired coal grate installed to good effect. The stone has been painted, but they’ve invented paint stripper for a reason!

A new kitchen has just been installed. The room already had a good layout that was only enhanced by the pale, maple cabinets, golden granite counters, and tumbled marble at the backsplash. There’s even a gas cooktop and all new stainless appliances. The original walk-in pantry still performs perfectly.

The family room and kitchen both have new, cork floors. The windows in the family room are set high on the knotty pine walls. Installing longer windows or even a series of French doors would brighten this space and open it to the secluded backyard. A new roof and central heat and air are in place.

This is a centrally located and completely updated house in a good neighborhood. It’s not often that you find all that in such a finely detailed classic cottage. •

234 S. Holmes

1,350 square feet

2 bedrooms, 1 bath

$155,000

Realtor: Sowell and Company, 278-4380

Owner/agent: Linda Sowell, 278-4380