Before and After: dog damage be gone
How much damage can a rampant German shepherd inflict on a home? Plenty, starting with gnawed baseboards, doors, walls and banisters.
“I remember being scared,” said real estate agent Jacqueline Gunn. “He was big.”
But it wasn’t just dog damage that left the 1903 Exposition Park home in dire need of a redo by the time buyer Michael Krepack purchased it for $450,000 in May.
“It was just so beat up,” said Gunn, who repped Krepack in the probate purchase and was tasked with heading the subsequent renovations of the 1,842-square-foot home.
Krepack’s only directive, Gunn said, was to “keep things as authentic as possible.”
Three months of work later, the former frat house-ready home has transformed into a dashing standout on 35th Place, with its white picket fence border. It’s back on the market for $750,000.
The improvements to the boxy four-bedroom, three-bathroom Craftsman-style house were considerable.
A portion of the roof, beset by dry rot and termites, needed to be replaced; new eaves were also added. The remaining $120,000 in upgrades was largely cosmetic, such as a new paint job that replaced the previous dirty white exterior with a chic hue: a Ralph Lauren charcoal piped white around the roofline and windows.
“We left the window bars on intentionally,” said Gunn, explaining that “lots of young girls” moving to the area “want to have an added sense of security.” She cites gentrification bleed from the adjacent tonier Jefferson Park as proof that the neighborhood — flush with friendly multigenerational families — is up-and-coming.
Generous window molding and 4-inch baseboards were restored, along with original Douglas fir floors beneath 10-foot-high curved ceilings.
The view from the front entry sweeps to the home’s central showcase: the refurbished staircase and landing.
“The staircase was a labor of love,” Gunn said of the structure that had tilted and sagged after a century of pounding.
The staircase was leveled, and each step — now stained a rich walnut — was reinforced. Thick with paint and dented with dings, the banister and posts were beyond a wood-finish repair. They were instead sanded, puttied and painted to closely match the stairs. Railings and risers were painted a contrasting white.
The result? This is a staircase that Shirley Temple and Bill Robinson would have gladly tap-danced up and down.
Moving to the updated kitchen: A gray and white encaustic floor is paired with gray-blue cabinets with ivory Caesarstone tops. The flooring is whimsically matched to the apron of the dining room’s corner-set fireplace.
Kitchen walls are covered with white offset tiles fronted by KitchenAid appliances. There’s also a new banquette with seated storage.
Mindful of the budget, Gunn sourced discounted items requiring minor repair: lighting and the master bath’s Restoration Hardware double vanity. She paired them with higher-end statement pieces: the dining room’s Rejuvenation lamp and the kitchen’s geometric Schoolhouse Electric Vega 3 chandelier, among others.
The master bath’s closets were expanded, and a seamless glass shower with a bench was added.
Other improvements throughout the home: new concrete and tile entry stairs; subway tile and hexagon flooring in all bathrooms; and a niche Zen garden that flanks the detached two-car garage.
The 5,847-square-foot-lot home is zoned R2 for two family dwellings: A second residence can replace the rear garage.
