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Five years ago when Richard Cissell was looking to buy a house, the houses in Olde Towne East were hard to get. One would go on the market and be off in a day or less. He was looking for a house that would be a challenging project. The one he found and eventually bought turned out to be a pretty big one. The home was originally a single family, then made into five apartments, then three. Now he was buying it to turn it back into a single family and restore some of the original floor plan, while having modern updates. The house is what is known as a ‘spec home.’ There are two others on his block, one that was also converted into different apartments like his, and one that has been left alone. He had a fun time imagining what the floor plans used to look like and then visiting his neighbor’s original house to see how everything really did look. Most often, he was spot on. The house is now four bedrooms, two and a half baths for a total of 2850 square feet. We take you on a tour of some before and afters of this beautiful remodel.
The most ambitious project in the remodel was redoing the kitchen. He did the entire room and did all of the work himself. Being handy in the DIY department really allows you to save money. The stunner in the kitchen is the exposed brick fireplace. It had been bricked in and plastered over. He knocked off all of the plaster, reopened the firebox, chiseled out all of the mortar by hand and then re-tuckpointed it himself. Very time consuming, but what an amazing focal point for his favorite room in the house. He admits that it was difficult living without a kitchen for awhile; besides all of the time consuming work, that is one of the harder parts of a remodel. Other sources for his kitchen include: the cabinets, faucet and pendant light are from Ikea, the granite countertop was Incas Gold from Konkus Marble and Granite, the floor tile is Atlas Concorde Cementi from Hamilton Parker and all of the appliances came from Appliance Smart. If you are able to wait for sales on different items like appliances and cabinetry, that will help you save you money on your remodel.
kitchen’s brick fireplace before:
kitchen after:
dining room before:
kitchen leading into dining room after:
Every room in the house has had something done to it. Even if it was just painting. P&W Millworks, a company out of Plain City, OH did some of the glass and transom work in his house. They do an outstanding job of matching what was originally there. He was also able to find period details at Columbus Architectural Salvage. Craigslist can be a good resource, but you really need to be on there all of the time scouring the site and acting fast. You can also find good deals on ebay. The Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a good resource for doors. The German Village Antique Mall is also a good place to find some period items.
stairway before:
stairway after:
living room:
guest bath:
details:
One of the things he did to modernize the home was to expand the master bathroom into a master suite. He added a master bath with two walk in closets, a separate shower and a large jacuzzi tub. The tiled floor was a project he did himself. Having a large sitting area in the bedroom really makes it feel like a peaceful place to retreat to after a long day.
exterior before:
after:
All ‘after’ photos were taken by Kevin Foster. ‘Befores’ were provided by Richard. Richard did the outstanding kitchen remodel on a budget of only $14k. The master bathroom budget was $5k. Like what you see? This home is currently for sale through Delicious Real Estate. Click here and enter MLS #2929923 for more information.
Great to see the write up of this! Still can’t get over that old mauve/flowers painted in the stairway.
Now someone buy this gorgeous house ASAP.
wow, nice place. I have the same IKEA kitchen cabinets.
the bathroom looks amazing! much better than the last time i saw it.
Amazing remodel! The stairwell and paint colors are so attractive and that kitchen just screams for friends to fill it with laughter and food.
Yeah yeah yeah… the house looks great… but Richard looks even BETTER.
Richard way, way cool – congrats on an incredible renovation, style, quality, obviously you are talented – I’m sure in more ways then one! The good news is that there are many other great houses in Olde Towne to keep you busy and worthy of your talents and skills – kudos!! Folks just need to have some vision and be willing to do the work. Love that Ikea kitchen too
Think it will be hard to sell for $250K in that location?
That house is amazing. Love the kitchen fireplace and the details on the hardwood floors.
Great work Richard! Love the fireplace in the kitchen…what a unique and cool feature. And, the colors are great.
Yeah, this is an amazing house. We were fortunate enough to go through it a few times during various stages of development and watch it progress. Amazing to see the final product!
johnwirtz Says: Think it will be hard to sell for $250K in that location?
I’m sure it will just take the right buyer to come along, but I consider it a hell of a deal for a nearly 3000sqft home. Works out to $88/sqft.
On the price, I’ve been through it many times too. +1 to what Walker said -and he didn’t buy it to flip it, like many other places I’ve seen near downtown. Everything was done with exacting quality; plus Richard is a architect and it really shows. John, I challenge you to find anything else with comparable sq/ft in that price range and quality within a mile of downtown. Franklin Park actually turns into Fair and it is mostly all redeveloped stately homes from there to the park too.
First, that was supposed to be more of a curious question than a doubtful/pessimism question. So it sounds like the answer is no. Thanks for the feedback.
Second, Mercurius, I think you kind of made my point. This house is an anomaly. There aren’t many people who would put finishes that nice in a house in that location (I have the impression that this is kind of a rough neighborhood). The places where that quality does exist are the more expensive neighborhoods like VV and GV. I can only assume the reason it’s hard to find houses in that neighborhood with that kind of quality is because most buyers with $250K don’t want to live in that neighborhood. Maybe it’s changing though. It has to start somewhere and I hope it does. Columbus could use more VVs and GVs.
As far as other properties go, this one looks cool, but I bet it needs work:
http://www.realestatebook.com/homes/listing/101-3000195992/refer=treb-gbase
The kitchen on this one looks good, but it’s the only pic shown, so I’m skeptical about the overall quality:
http://byownernation.com/default.asp?f=listing_details&syndicationpartnerid=1&listingid=128507&listingtype=3
Nicely done and good pics. I live in a smaller 4 Square just north of Vic Village that has only been partially renovated and its interesting to see how this came out.
hahaha I have those exact same appliances, thats funny
Thanks for the compliments, guys!
John, I didn’t think you were being doubtful or pessimistic. I feel like it’s a little more of a hard sell right now because of the general state of the economy and the real estate market and not as much the neighborhood. There are places in the area that go for more and there are places that go for less. One of the nice things about OTE, and the Near East Side in general, is that there is something for every budget. Like Walker said, it just needs the right buyer.
love it!
The last time I saw your place it was definitely at the “before” stage, so it is just AWESOME to see the finished product. I know how much time and energy you put into working on this place– weekends you stayed home to work on the porch :). It shows in the finished product.
Richard,
Absolute kudos to you! The house looks phemonenal! We are in OTE as well- in a four square, with a recently renovated beautiful Ikea kitchen! Nice work! My husband is really handy, thankfully- which saved us a ton. These houses are such a labor of love. Once the master bathroom is done by this Summer- the house (which is over 3700 sq feet) will be completely redone on all three floors. I will certainly be watching and hoping that you get everything out of it that you put in!
Just had the opportunity to see this home this weekend, the craftsmanship is amazing. You can tell he cared about the quality and integrity of the work, it really shows. The kitchen is beautiful, clean lines yet still warm and inviting. The master bath is a wonderful addition, intelligently designed.
Wow great job