After living in Brooklyn for several years, Emily and Frank Glinski returned to their hometown in Westerville to be closer to family in May 2016.
While living with one of their parents, Emily found the perfect house. Built in the 1920s, the house comes from the catalog of mail-order homes Sears offered in the early 20th century, Emily says.
Frank, who was on a business trip at the time of this discovery, never saw the house before they put in an offer. But the house checked a lot of the couple’s boxes, so he had faith. The foursquare style house was already an upgrade from the couple’s prior 800-square-foot apartment with shared laundry services and two flights of stairs to reach it, Emily says. The home not only came with a backyard but was within walking distance of Uptown Westerville and its restaurant scene.
“I love an established neighborhood,” Emily says. “Uptown Westerville is an amazing neighborhood.”
Photos courtesy of Emily Glinski
The first floor, including the kitchen and several walls, was gutted. Pink carpet was scrapped to fully display the beautiful original hardwood floors hidden underneath, Emily says. The couple also opted to open the back of the house with French doors.
“I wanted an old home,” she says. “I like the feel of them, I like the energy of them, I like the look of them. And it was important to keep the integrity of when the home was built.”
The couple decided the basement wasn’t worth finishing. Instead, the house’s huge attic was retrofitted with drywall and insulation to become a playroom for their 7-year-old twin daughters, Harlow and Finn.
The Glinskis plan to add a second full bathroom on the second floor that will be useful as their daughters grow older. There’s a hallway closet that might’ve been used as a bedroom and that’s big enough to become that bathroom, Emily says.
“They’re going to want their own space,” she says.
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Brandon Klein is the senior editor. Feedback welcome at bklein@cityscenemediagroup.com.
