Category: Real Estate

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

All too often, a brand-new kitchen and a complete paint job are considered a “whole house” renovation. If you’re lucky, they’ll throw in resanded floors, too. But when you see a really thorough renovation with major additions, the difference is immediately apparent.

From the street, this classic brick bungalow doesn’t appear to have undergone an extensive reworking. You do notice fresh paint, with the half-timbering in the gables nicely accentuated. A closer observer might detect that the original Craftsman multi-light front door has been stripped of 80 years of paint, revealing the old pine beneath. That’s merely a hint of the marvelous attention to detail you’ll find within.

The living and dining rooms appear perfectly maintained, as if just built. The dining room has tall, paneled wainscoting, as does the area above the living-room fireplace. Period-appropriate sconces and chandeliers are all rewired and gleam anew. How often do you see that?

The three original first-floor bedrooms are now two. The original bath, now serving as the powder room off the hall, was gutted and rebuilt with small, sumptuous ceramic tiles on the floor and in the new shower. The rear two bedrooms have been converted into a master suite with a new, large bath and walk-in closet.

It’s when you leave the front, original rooms and enter the kitchen and new rear addition that you begin to realize the extent of this renovation. New windows are grouped, sized, and trimmed-out to match the old. Floors change from the oak of the front to the original pine in the kitchen and to a visually harmonious cork in the sunny den addition.

The kitchen has a brilliant counterintuitive layout. The custom cabinets are confined to only the exterior wall, under a pair of windows. There are no top cabinets, a popular contemporary treatment. A butcher-block-topped table adds an ell to the perimeter counters, and a freestanding, stainless-steel-topped island provides ample work space. The opposing interior wall was, surprisingly, moved forward into the space, creating a triple-doored, walk-in pantry with an appliance counter. It’s a very creative and functional solution.

A large second-floor addition was built over the rear half of the house. Upstairs are two new bedrooms and a laundry room — not a closet but a spacious room with two windows. The custom, latticed handrail around the stairwell is an elegant touch.

The rear bedroom is an upstairs master with a window seat flanked by bookcases, a well-outfitted walk-in closet, and a grand bath that would even pass muster in the suburbs. Absolute black-granite counters finish the double vanity. The soaking tub is six feet long, and the shower would easily accommodate a pack of beagles. A private room off the master could be a nursery, an office, or even a meditation retreat.

A new two-car garage has two overhead doors that allow access from the front drive and the rear alley. The garage and the new second-floor addition are both sided in cedar shakes, a fine period finish you seldom see in new work. But then, that’s true throughout this bungalow, where the whole renovation is nothing if not obsessed with detail. •

1689 Forrest

3,425 square feet

4 bedrooms, 3 baths; $449,333

Realtor: Crye-Leike, 854-5050

Agent: Jimmie Kay Finch, 687-2857

Memphis’ first suburb, Greenlaw, was laid out in 1856 and mostly built out by 1900. A last few lots saw development through the first two decades of the 20th century. Its next major building period will be remembered as the first decade of the 21st century, when Greenlaw was dubbed “Uptown” and new housing that was a smaller, more suburban adaptation of the Harbor Town model was built.

This bungalow, however, was built in 1912, on a nice rise looking south toward downtown. The full-width front porch with exposed rafter tails and a wide overhang with triangular knee braces are defining elements of a Craftsman bungalow.

Most of the current housing available in Uptown is neotraditional new construction. This bungalow is a surprising find: an older house that has been renovated with great care and is recently on the market. Whereas the new houses are all concrete slab on grade with floors covered in carpet and vinyl, this house is conventionally framed with a large, dry basement and beautiful hardwood floors throughout.

The front porch faces south, so it blocks summer solar gain, and this helps passively cool the house. The porch also has a new beadboard ceiling of yellow pine with a clear finish to accentuate the grain. All of the windows have been replaced with screened, double glazed units in the original openings.

The interior has nine-foot ceilings with smooth finished plaster. The original red oak floors are newly sanded and sealed. The renovated kitchen has exotic Brazilian cherry flooring that is richly grained and deeply colored.

As is typical of bungalow plans, the living and dining rooms are open to each other through a wide cased opening. The kitchen is behind the dining room. A former pantry and back porch are incorporated into the new kitchen floor plan, providing ample space for a breakfast room and a spacious rear entry. The kitchen cabinets are all custom hardwood construction, and the counter is a stone-like plastic laminate.

The lot is deep, and the backyard is open, flat, and fenced. Three large trees add welcoming shade. An alley and drive gate allow access in addition to the off-street parking up front. Area zoning allows construction of a detached garage and workshop, even with a rental unit above.

The two bedrooms down the other side of the house book-end a central bath that was gutted and rebuilt. A new pedestal sink is set off by tumbled travertine marble floors. The same sumptuous material was used in the tub/shower. There is an open linen storage area, and the toilet is discreetly placed.

Permanent stairs lead to a floored attic with lots of storage space and the new central heat and air unit. There’s a new security system, too.

This is an above-average renovation with lots of unique detailing, none of which looks like it came from a big-box home-improvement store. Even the light fixtures are all vintage.

If you’re not a fan of new construction, you might well overlook housing in Uptown, but this custom renovation offers the charm of a 100-year-old house at an unbelievable price. •

634 Looney

Approximately 1,200 square feet

2 bedrooms, 1 bath

$115,000

Realtor: Crye-Leike, 754-0800

Agent: Rick Travers, 218-3961

A few new housing styles showed up between the 1950s and the 1970s. The ranch was the predominant form, followed by the split-level. Both were common in suburbs across America.

In rural settings and resort areas during the same period, the shed-roof house was wildly popular. It looked like someone sliced up a chalet house (another vacation-house classic) and reassembled the steeply pitched halves in a free-form manner.

The new shed-roof style was popularized in the 1960s at Sea Ranch, an artists’ enclave in Northern California. Frequently clad in wood left to weather to an elegant silvery gray, the asymmetrical forms allowed windows to be positioned to frame views and to be omitted altogether where privacy was needed.

This local shed-roof variant was built in 1975 on an inner-city lot where an earlier house had been destroyed in a fire. Fortunately, the older trees remain, and they add the wooded ambience that seems natural for this style of house.

The drive was laid out diagonally through the property and wanders between the oaks, as you’d expect if this house were sited on the larger acreage a lake or mountainside lot would offer.

The interior features a sunken living room with a vaulted ceiling. The focus is on a broad, brick fireplace with raised hearth and a heavy timber mantel. A floating staircase rises through this space to an open balcony and the two upstairs bedrooms.

A third bedroom downstairs shares access to the public bath, which has been recently renovated. The main-level floors are covered in a mottled, creamy ceramic tile.

A similar, but more limestone-like, ceramic was used in the bath renovation for the vanity top and in the spacious shower. A vessel sink was installed atop the original low vanity, effectively raising it to a more comfortable level.

A laundry room/pantry connects the kitchen to an original carport, now enclosed as a family/media room that also benefits from a vaulted ceiling. It wouldn’t be hard to relocate the refrigerator and cut a doorway directly from the kitchen to the family room. That would aid communication and make space in the utility room for a new wall of cabinets.

The two bedrooms upstairs share a large bath. The front bedroom would be perfect as a home office/guest room.

The master, on the rear, has a private balcony enveloped in the branches of a dogwood, with sheltered views into the backyard. It wouldn’t be hard to settle in there any evening and believe all it took was a two-minute walk to get out of town. •

170 S. Humes

Approximately 1,900 square feet

3 bedrooms, 2 baths

$214,500

Realtor: Crye-Leike, 766-9004

Agent: Nan Lee, 458-6819