ADVERTISEMENT

    At Home: Clintonville Craftsman

    Erin and Ben Johnson fell in love with old homes while they were living in Grandview. When they decided to look for a house to own, they knew they wanted an older home with lots of character that was also close to the city. Their house hunt mainly included Grandview and Clintonville but they were not finding anything quite right. When they decided to expand their search to include the area east of Indianola Avenue, they found many beautiful old homes. The one they decided to buy was a 1,365 square foot Craftsman built in 1925. It has three bedrooms and one and a half baths, a nice sized backyard and a garage. For over two years, they have been working to restore the natural feel of the home by using wood, slate and stone with earthy paint colors and botanical accents. They had always thought that they would live here until they had kids and then look for another home, but now with a baby on the way, and having their house almost exactly how they want it, they can’t imagine leaving. The neighborhood has many young families as well as people that have lived there a long time and they love living there.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    When you first walk up to the house, you are greeted by the large friendly porch that has plenty of seating for relaxing and enjoying nice weather. The doorway opens into the family room where Erin and Ben have restored the fireplace into a beautiful stone focal point. It had been covered in drywall and the built in shelves on the sides were looking awful. They learned how to do the rock-work and wood-work for the shelves themselves and are very pleased with the result.

    The family room leads into the dining room that is open to the kitchen and a breakfast nook. A large bay window in the dining room provides plenty of light for their indoor plants. Some of their favorite places to shop for furniture include Crate & Barrel, Pier 1 and West Elm; they splurged on most of their lighting fixtures at Restoration Hardware. Lighting is really a good place to spend your money, great lighting fixtures really finish a room and in their house, they accentuate the natural theme.

    Upstairs, the rooms take on a relaxing tone with cool blues and grays. The home was built with plenty of storage and large closets which are a really nice feature. Some of the nursery furniture came from IKEA. The rocking chair was Ben’s grandfather’s and Erin reupholstered it herself. She also made some of the other linens for the room.

    In the backyard, they built a patio from reclaimed bricks that were once the chimney in the kitchen. They grow a few vegetables, fruits and flowers themselves and also belong to a CSA through Sippel Family Farm. They love that they are able to walk to the Clintonville Farmer’s Market or to High Street for the bus to easily get around town. They have become good friends with many people in their neighborhood and see themselves living there for quite some time.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Subscribe

    More to Explore:

    A Guide to Clintonville’s Brewery Scene

    With three brewery taprooms in Clintonville, all opened within...

    At Home: Reframing the Home Build Model with PANL

    When Erin and Carlin Guthrie started their panelized home...

    Long-Running Grocery Store Transferring Ownership

    A popular grocery store in Clintonville is coming under...

    At Home: History Preserved at Columbus’ Kelton House

    The 10,000-square-foot Kelton House at 586 E. Town St....

    Tigertree and Cub Shrub Set to Fill Former Rag-O-Rama Space

    Tigertree and Cub Shrub are joining forces and moving...
    Anne Evans
    Anne Evanshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-evans/
    Anne Evans is the Co-Founder and Director of Operations for The Metropreneur and Columbus Underground. She regularly contributes feature stories on both sites, as well as Mega Weekend each week. She has started and grown businesses, created experiences, forged community partnerships, and worked to create opportunities for others. She loves meeting new neighbors and those making an impact in our community. Want to connect?
    ADVERTISEMENT