Historic Charm

A young family embraces an older home’s past while planning their future

By Laura McAlister Photos by Miller Mobley

RESOURCES

Exterior lighting design: ACF Electric, Andy Flurry, (205) 482-7077.
Window treatments in the family room: Deanna Hollis (205) 612-5821.
Dining room: Interiors by Kathy Harris, (205) 241-5101.
Interior wall colors: Bleeker Beige by Benjamin Moore in the family room, kitchen, dining room, parlor and hallway; Pale Moon by Benjamin Moore in master bedroom and bath; Fernwood Green by Benjamin Moore, in guest bedroom; Dove Wing by Benajmin Moore, trim throughout

When Melanie Grant talks about her South Avondale home, she affectionately refers to it as “an old lady.” Known as the Avondale Farmhouse, the house is old, but thanks to the Grants, this old lady is also a well-kept one.

“My husband … had really been eyeing this house for years,” Melanie says. “He loved the front yard.” The couple also loved the large, wraparound porch and the location, near the city center.

When it became available in 2007, Melanie and her husband Jerry moved quickly to purchase the home. The old lady did need some TLC, though. “It was up for auction,” recalls Melanie, “which means it needed lots of work.”

With a toddler and another baby on the way, the Grants wanted a place where they could raise their family, but it was also important to them to preserve the history and personality of the home.

Melanie began by applying for a historical marker for the home. The Jefferson County Historic Commission requires buildings be at least 50 years old to receive a plaque. Paperwork left by the previous owner showed the home was much older than that. The land was purchased in 1886 and the fi rst-known deed was recorded in 1891. Back then, the house was on a dairy farm owned by the O’Dell family, and it was one of the fi rst in the South Avondale area.

According to the historical commission, the house must also “retain its original shape and roofl ine, and enough of its original exterior materials to refl ect its historic character and appearance” to receive a marker. The Grants took great care to make sure their updates to the house met those criteria.

The kitchen was one of the bigger challenges. “It has a big, open window, but the sink’s not in front of it,” says Melanie. “It also didn’t have any cabinets and still had the original farm sink.”

Melanie, a consultant for Southern Living at HOME and former director of design for the company, was able to make the space work by combining some older pieces, including the wooden island, with her new additions.

White cabinets and quartz countertops are paired with an organic, grass green subway tile backsplash. Three pendant lights illuminate the new sink. An old rectangular, wooden breakfast table faces the large window, which is dressed with café curtains made from old lace bedding Melanie found at a fl ea market in France. “I liked mixing in the wood that’s a little beaten and old,” she says.

The kitchen’s layers of linoleum, built up over the years, were replaced with hardwood fl oors to match existing fl oors elsewhere in the home. “That was a challenge,” Melanie recalls. “The fl oor in the dining room was 120 years old. We had to have it woven into the new wood, but it really turned out well.”

The single-story home’s bedrooms retain the size and storage problems common to older houses. “People didn’t live in their bedrooms back then,” Melanie explains. She added armoires to serve as closets in the bedrooms.

The family’s parlor, adjacent to the master bedroom and the Grant boys’ shared bedroom, invites visitors through French doors to one of the family’s favorite living spaces: the wrap-around porch that originally drew Melanie and Jerry to the house. “We live on this porch,” Melanie says.

At the front, the porch is adorned by solid wood columns with ornate capital made from horsehair and terracotta. “This is a really simple house, but it has elements of dressy,” she explains. “[The columns] really have amazing detail.” At night, the columns are illuminated by recessed lighting, drawing visitors in.

The updates to the old Avondale Farmhouse took the couple about eight months, and through it all Melanie, Jerry and sons Barrett, 4, and Benjamin, 2 this month, succeeded in preserving a bit of the area’s history. Mounted by the ornate front door is proof of their work: a historical marker naming the house after its fi rst owners, the O’Dells.

“It really is a precious house,” Melanie says. “She’s just an old lady.”