By JULIA @ HOOKEDONHOUSES.NET
I hope you enjoyed last week’s Fantasy Open House series as much as I did! So far House #4 is winning in the poll and House #2 is coming in second. Click here to cast your vote for the house you’d most like to live in if you haven’t already.
A few days before the Terrace Park Home Tour, that nasty wind storm swept through the Cincinnati area, courtesy Hurricane Ike. Lots of houses were damaged by falling trees, including one that was supposed to be on the tour. At the last minute they added a new home to the tour that is empty and on the market.
It had been so thoroughly remodeled from top to bottom that it was a little disorienting to walk around in rooms like this kitchen. It didn’t seem to belong to the same house we had seen from the curb. Just for fun, I thought I’d see if you can guess which house it belongs to.
Does this kitchen belong to House #1:
House #2:
House #3:
Or House #4:
This isn’t as bad as the house I showed you in the post When Bad Remodels Happen to Good Houses, but it still just didn’t feel right.
After you think you know which house it is, check the comments. I’ll put the answer there. And let me know if you think I’m being too harsh about this remodel. It just sort of rubbed me the wrong way when we walked in and found no traces of the original house left beyond the front door.
P.S. Over the weekend I went on another house tour–this time in the historic neighborhood of Columbia Tusculum (remember the drive by and the charming yellow house I showed you before?). The area is famous for its rows of beautiful Victorian painted ladies. I had a great time and took lots of photos that I’ll be showing you in the weeks to come!
{ 33 comments }
ANSWER: The kitchen belongs to House #3, which was built in the mid-1800s. The exterior didn’t look much different than it did originally, based on an old photo I saw, but the interior looked brand new. They clearly did a lot of work on it. I just wish the rooms matched the style of the house a little more.
That is sad…I wanted a open floor plan so we moved into a 3 year old house…now I wish I had a cute little 4 square
I agree, old houses should be remodeled with their style intact!
I agree with Melanie…
Smiles ~ Ramona
Julia,
I’m amazed at that kitchen. Totally in appropriate to that house. Weird, even.
Now, I’ll tell you, since there was nothing to save in our brick Victorian, we changed the floor plan pretty dramatically (or as dramatically as one can with a 16′ wide house. Of course, every 40 years or so, that’s what folks have done with that house. In any case, I’m all for changing old brick home in urban environments when there’s little historical detail remaining and even when there is.
But this one…YIKES! I thought #1. It’s criminal to take a house like #3 and so thoroughly obviate it’s soul. There’s a rhyme and reason to every house, I think. A natural flow. Obsolescence is a real factor and changes can often be made for the better, but almost always, there’s a historical character that needs to be maintained.
This one showed ZERO respect to the original design and history.
It’s jarring.
M
I LOVE the Kitchen…and see nothing wrong with it in House #3. Well, except those lights…which look like they belong on a dock somewhere.
The kitchen uses bead board and older looking faucets…and some beautiful cabinets. The windows still reflect the old house look. And unless they went with the Heartland Metro (if they still make it) appliances, in stainless…this is GREAT!!!
Just a note…they no longer make the Heartland Metro
~ but they have a new “old-fashioned” line…the Legend and I love it!!! Here’s the LINK…
http://www.heartlandapp.com/Legend/
Wow, number three was the last one I would have guessed. I love the kitchen but not so much in that house. I could see it in houses one and four, maybe!
I agree. To me, that kitchen is too overpowering for a house of that style.
I love the house from the outside, but wouldnt buy it once I’d seen the kitchen.
It is a beautiful kitchen, but I thought the kitchen to number 3 would be more primitive then modern.
4?
I think the kitchen might’ve worked if they’d incorporated a few more vintage-look elements. For instance, the shiny granite is definitely not something one would see in an 1800′s home. Honed granite, however, would’ve been completely appropriate.
My favorite “full” tour is #2. My second fave is #1, though, just because of that backyard shed. I. Want. A. Shed.
I would never have guessed #3 to be the one with that kitchen. I was thinking #2. I agree that the room doesn’t look like the exterior style of the house.
Kathy
Please don’t say #1…I’m guessing #4…couldn’t be 2 or 3…could it?
Going back to read comments now but wanted to get my guess in first
.
4. windows and for sale sign, and yes this is startling to walk into a house that has had its heart ripped out and replaced with some overly cost conscious contractors interpretation of the period. Now where is my coffee.
Wow. It’s a beautiful kitchen but I can see where, in the context of the other homes you viewed, this one stuck out like a sore thumb.
It belongs to House #4???
ANSWER: The kitchen belongs to House #3, which was built in the mid-1800s. The exterior didn’t look much different than it did originally, based on an old photo I saw, but the interior looked brand new. They clearly did a lot of work on it. I just wish the rooms matched the style of the house a little more.
Hmmm. I’m torn. As far as kitchens go it was infused with *some* older looking details( the stainless steel and shiny granite kind of ruin it). Maybe if it was furnished with more simple primitive items it might blend better. Not lovin’ the outside gingerbreading…doesn’t look like it fits with me. But you say it WAS there originally?
just wait, i’m going to show you my 100 year old house, and then the kitchen.
Black quartz counters, cherry cabinets, and black appliances. uuggh!
The couple we bought the house from, did fantastic work with all the details, but the kitchen is right out of “the great indoors”. Perfect if the house was a 2008 model home.
Linda, I only glanced at the old photo briefly, so I can’t say for sure about whether the gingerbread was original or added later. My overall impression was that the exterior looked basically like the original, but with the addition off to the side (the part that juts off to the right is new).
I have no problem with updating kitchens in old houses. I just didn’t expect everything to be so massive, slick, and black inside this one. Maybe I’m being too picky? That’s why I did the post, to get your opinions. -Julia
I think it’s a beautiful home, too. I really like the floors and cabinets – they add so much warmth. If it were me, though, I wouldn’t have included the modern stuff.
I’m guessing that kitchen is in house #3, based on absolutely nothing.
The kitchen belongs in a high-rise or loft.
Oh Please that kitchen doe not belong in any of those homes!
It is a shame…. a real shame!
Please PEOPLE if you want a new house BUY a new house….leave the older ones to those of us who love and appreciate the character and imperfectness of the older homes!
It makes me sick to see the older homes stripped of their character and history and made into something they are not!
Thanks for listening to my 2 cents worth!
XO,
Dolly
Clearly I’m an idiot. I was on here in a blink of an eye…obviously not paying attention to the finer details. Forgive me?
I’m on vacay if that is a good excuse?
#3? You are kidding me!
I was going to guess #3 just because of the 4 that is where that kitchen would be most inappropriate. Odd. Beautiful home outside, beautiful kitchen inside, but they definitely don’t go together.
Exactly the point I was making when I posted the Cape Cod cum Tuscan Villa on my blog. No, you are not being harsh; this kitchen is dreadfully out of place in any of those charming homes.
Janet
How disapointing! #4 would fit the best…it looks mission-ish, and being a bungalow, #4 has that mission feel to it….sigh….people just don’t understand!!
My vote is #3 – based on colors.
I am soooo totally with you Julia …. there are so many ways to keep timeless facades and put modern stuff behind them … same with bathrooms – I hate the mega corner spa bath in old homes – please !!
just another example of money not being spent well … cheers le
I agree with you Julia. That kitchen does NOT belong in that house.
rue
I thought it was 1 or 4 maybe…
2 & 3 seemed way out of place with that crisp updated look of a kitchen. by the way…. as long as someone “rescues” an older home isn’t it better than letting it sit & rot. Im sorry I understand the die hard “restorers(?)” but I LOVE OLD homes & the history & details etc.. but I also LOVE some of the things new homes have too. I want it all ; )
i love the kitchen in a 1990′s home. that being said i couldnt figure it out. i really had to look and see by your comment what home it came from. i just wish they didnt do the open floor plan. in that house or any of the houses above. if you buy an older home try to respect the age of it when you remodel. not that you cant do a modern type of kitchen, perhaps going with an open window to the living room or something. the kitchen perhaps was ok. just wish they didnt do the open floor plan. oh, and thanks for the email. it made my day
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