November 2003 - 750 Johnson Ave.

Built in 1925, our house is an Arts and Crafts bungalow with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths and a bonus room on the back which could be considered a third bedroom. We bought the house in 2000 because of the great location and unique style. As with many of these beautiful homes in the area, restoring our new home became our first order of business. Because we do most of the work ourselves, we expect our home to be a never ending evolution created in our spare time. For our first projects we decided to update the electrical and plumbing systems, update all of the old appliances to include modern conveniences, and restore the old hardware throughout the house. We then refurbished the heart of pine floors and repaired cracks and blemishes on the plaster walls before giving everything a fresh coat of paint. We have since totally renovated one of the bathrooms. Because of the lack of storage space we completely renovated the old stand alone garage in the back to include electricity and plumbing and converted it into an air conditioned laundry/weight room. We have restored the damaged wood along the outside of the house and have begun painting the exterior. In 2002, we received a restoration award and learned that the columns on the front of the house are old concrete drainage pipes, a typical feature found in homes of the era. Landscaping the yard seems to be an evolving project that continues yearly. We began by re-sodding and creating a plant bed and a small pond and fountain under the Camphor tree in the front yard. Next we built two small picket fence corners to accent the sidewalk entrance and planted small gardens in the front of each. Our favorite area is the front porch where we have numerous cookouts and enjoy our passing neighbors. To enhance this area we installed a ceiling fan and outdoor speakers. Our projects never seem to follow the logically outlined plans we have systematically laid out. Instead, they seem to follow a path of their own dependent upon necessity. When we set out to build a deck off the back of the house, out air conditioner and water heater had different ideas. Instead of our deck, we ended up refurbishing a rudimentary central ac system and installing a new gas water heater. Out current/future projects include a major remodeling of the master bath, the elusive deck, and further upgrading of the electrical system. Anybody know a good framer to give us a hand?