Photos courtesy of Sarah Sole
During the first night in their newly-purchased home, David and Joanie Johnson doubted their investment.
Awoken by rain, they discovered three inches of water in their carpeted basement. But once the water was drained and the problem identified, the recently married couple began in earnest to start making the 1898 home on Goodale Street their own.
Joanie had loved the house immediately.
“I just walked in the front door, and I had to have it,” she says.
As an interior designer, Joanie appreciated that the house was a clean slate. The previous owner, Bob Morrison, had undertaken a major renovation, but he hadn’t painted. The walls were left white.
Photos courtesy of Sarah Sole
Since purchasing the home in 1986, David and Joanie have tackled renovations and “freshenings” of various sizes, including a garage rebuild, a deck renovation and some serious landscaping. But much of the large-scale work had already been completed by Morrison, who embarked on a seven-year restoration project.
Though Morrison essentially took the home “down to the stone,” David says, he kept many of the home’s original pieces. The hardwood floors are original, and the first and second floors feature 10-foot high ceilings.
The Johnsons are only the fourth owners of the home in more than 100 years. The first owners were the Walcutts, who built the house to use as their summer residence, David says. The home sat on 2,000 acres of farmland that stretched to the river. A garage wasn’t added until the 1930s.
The Johnsons didn’t end up replacing that garage until around 2010. Instead, the first thing the newlyweds did in the late 1980s was landscape. They planted trees and shrubs and added fencing, paver blocks and a patio.
The couple worked with Nicholson Builders to update the back porch. Though Morrison had renovated it, the Johnsons disliked the side entrance. The stair entrance was changed, and the wood was replaced. Nicholson used Ipe, Honduran mahogany, which David says has the same hardness factor and fire retardant factor of poured concrete.
“It’s essentially indestructible,” he says.
Other outdoor improvements included updating the front porch and the garage. For the latter, David says he wanted the rebuild to be done in a way that matched the home’s old architecture.
Nicholson also completed the garage, replacing a lean-to garage with a coated fabric roof. The new garage is the same size as the old one, but they moved it away from the home, connecting it with a mudroom that goes into the raised basement.
On the inside, the Johnson home – which includes four bedrooms and three and a half baths – has gone through various changes over the years; Joanie has updated bedrooms, bathrooms and the kitchen. About 15 or 20 years ago they renovated their basement, where the laundry room and Joanie’s home office are located.
“When you buy an old house, you’re making a commitment,” David says.
NARI TOUR OF HOMES BOX
NARI of Central Ohio’s 2016 Spring Home Improvement Showcase will be held 10 a.m.-5 p.m. April 30 and noon-5p.m. May 1. Tickets are $10 for the full tour and $3 for a single site. To purchase tickets, visit www.trustnari.org.
Sarah Sole is an editor. Feedback welcome at ssole@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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