Surface Treatment
The Rotenstreichs used brick, wood–and lots of paint–to make their home uniquely their own.
By Laura McAlister Photos by Jason Wallis
RESOURCES:
- Cary Hollingsworth: architect for the façade renovation
- Tommy Coggin of Harris Coggin Building Company, Inc.: Builder for the façade renovation, leveling of the backyard, fencing and hardwood fl ooring on the stairs and upstairs hallways
“Voila.” It’s a word Jen Rotenstreich uses frequently as she describes transforming an average Southern-style house to the updated, modern house her family calls home.
It’s easy to understand why if you saw the house in 2001, before the Rotenstreichs bought it.
Built in 1980, the Mountain Brook house had light brick with four white columns in front. The inside was dark, with lots of wood paneling and red and pink carpeting. It’s not a house Jen, a photo stylist from Atlanta, could picture herself living in.
“We came to look at the house, and I was thinking no way,” she says. “It was just a very Southern looking house. It just wasn’t my style at all.”
However, Jen and her husband Andy loved the layout and thought with a few changes, they could make the house into a home they and their children could grow in.
The Rotenstreichs began renovations in common areas and worked their way through the house. The couple sanded the ceilings smooth, then painted and wallpapered walls with vibrant colors to match Jen’s personality.
She chose eggplant for the formal dining room, and a silver and gold diamond print wallpaper for the downstairs bath. Jen chose a neutral white to brighten up paneled walls in other rooms.
Jen and Andy spend most their time in the den. They again covered the wood paneled walls with white, but in this room stained exposed wood beams to give the room a more rustic feel. “Then there was this awful cedar mantel,” Jen recalls. “We took that down and added the sconces. We also kept the original parquet fl oors. It just worked.”
The kitchen fl ooring was a different story. There, they removed about fi ve layers of linoleum and replaced it with tile. A thin crown molding fi nished off the sophisticated look in the downstairs of the home.
As the Rotenstreichs shifted their energies upstairs, fl ooring remained a challenge. The stairs themselves were covered in scarlet red carpet, which Jen replaced with hardwood fl oors.
Jen again used bright colors to update the second level. In the playroom, she opted for lime green and covered the back wall with a chalkboard paint. Both Annie, 10, and Sam, 13, now dwell in aqua blue bedrooms.
“Annie really scored with her room,” Jen says. “We just did some revamping of this one. She’s got a great little dressing area with a vanity, and then a huge walk-in closet.”
That abundance of storage space and the Mountain Brook location drew the Rotenstreichs to the house. Andy grew up nearby, and actually remembers playing with the neighborhood children there. Both Andy and Jen wanted a place where their children form similar memories, so leveling the previously uneven backyard was their next priority.
Jen’s attention then circled to the home’s façade. She wanted a French country look. Jen photographed area homes she liked, then worked with architect Cary Hollingsworth to design a façade that blends classic and modern styles. “We mixed and matched a lot of stuff,” she says.
The Rotenstreichs still have to finish the basement, and eventually she plans on updating the master suite. “So far, we’ve really been focusing on the kids,” Jen says. “We wanted the backyard done for them while they’re still young, but soon we’re going to work on my bathroom.”
