While John was still teaching, he redesigned his Victorian farm house into a jewel box that garnered media and local attention. Soon, neighbors hired him to work on every home on the block and beyond. Long days became years and John was able to buy the house next door with an empty lot where we built our proud design up Greek Revival.
The house looks like it was designed by Jefferson. Though John drew and built the house himself, it so shines with old world beauty, that one visiting preservationist thought it a rare old beauty and earnestly lectured John to take care when working on the apparently historic home!
The home marries three desirables – old fashioned elegance, modern luxury and layout and the latest in green tech.
Classic lines: Our timeless layout features two fireplaces, high ceilings, windows everywhere, covered porches with columns, a dining room that seats twenty, three sets of French doors, herringbone oak floors, period moldings and romantic lighting. The graceful Greek lines have been stylish for 4,000 years.
New home: The home has the modern amenities – big closets, mudroom, kitchen, family and breakfast rooms combined, primary suite, heated marble floor, soaking tubs, three car garage, mother-in-law quarters, sound-proofed outer walls, maximum light.
Green technology: From the triple insulated basement, the super insulated shell of the house, the reclaimed and sustainably harvested woods, engineered I-beam construction that used recycled wood, two high efficiency furnaces, no fly-ash concrete, and recycling materials throughout the building process we thought of our environmental impact from the demolition to the last coat of paint.
The buyers, Geri and Mimi, selected art and furnishings to perfectly compliment the house, including a commissioned painting by John’s artist mother. In the process they have become dear friends and share a passion for history with John which has kept them sharing dinners and events at the charming house together. On visits to Gerry and Mimi’s Greek, John is swept away by how years of planning are actualized by the lively couple who imbue the house with modern vitality and complement the house’s glamorous aura of old time grandeur.
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