For Keith and Dierdre Baker, renovating their West Broadway home was more than your average fixer-upper labor of love. The two lifelong neighborhood residents had always viewed the condition of the large frame house, which sits prominently on a corner a few blocks from ShawneePark, as a barometer of the health of the neighborhood. Dierdre, who works in the radiology department at Jewish Hospital, grew up across the street from the house and watched it grow increasingly dilapidated over the years. “We saw a for-sale sign lying in the grass and we said, ‘Let’s get that one and make it what we want,’” says Keith, who owns an electrical contracting company. Two years after buying, gutting and renovating the 4,500-square-foot house, the transformation from eyesore to neighborhood point of pride is complete. “It was a good foundation for us to build on,” he says.
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The dining room’s two sets of bay windows provide plenty of natural light. |
From the wraparound front porch, visitors enter the foyer through a front door with a gorgeous contemporary leaded-glass window. Inside there is an open staircase and a baby grand piano in the corner. “I told Keith, with a foyer like this, we’ve got to get a baby grand!” Dierdre says. A mural of a long-stemmed lily that snakes around a doorway at the foot of the stairs is painted with the words “When you’ve been blessed.” Also in the foyer, visitors will notice something that might at first seem curious: The decorative wood trim around the doors, windows and up the stairs is stained two different colors. This intentional mismatch distinguishes the original pieces (stained dark) from replacement pieces (left natural but coated in polyurethane), and adds visual texture to the space.
To the left through a wide pair of pocket doors, the living room has a pair of Victorian-style sofas facing each other (one is an antique, the second a reproduction), with a small glass-and-brass coffee table between them. Dierdre stripped and refinished the original mantelpiece, along with almost all of the wood trim in the house. A pair of antique rectangular mirrors with built-in brass sconces flank the fireplace. A marble-topped washstand in a corner holds a pair of hurricane lamps that had been in Dierdre’s family.
| Intentionally mismatched wood trim (right) distinguishes original woodwork (stained dark) from replacement trim. |  |
Through a second pair of pocket doors you enter the capacious dining room, which by day is flooded with light from bay windows on the west and north sides of the house, all of them dressed in sheer white swagged curtains. The couple added a built-in window seat for the triptych of windows that define the north bay. A half bath takes up one corner of the room. Though the bathroom had always been there, the couple reversed the door so that you enter from the dining room rather than the kitchen. The room has a handsome contemporary dining table and chairs, designed in an updated arts and crafts style, and a contemporary chandelier.
Continuing clockwise through the house, you pass through a small hallway with access to a back staircase and enter the kitchen. Three nicely designed metal stools with arms and backs surround a tall island with a polished-stone top and glass-block base, which is illuminated from within, thanks to Keith’s skills as an electrician. Oak raised panel cabinets make for a cozy, traditional kitchen. Overhead Dierdre’s vast collection of ceramic cookie jars — enough to cover the top of every wall cabinet — adds cheeriness to the room. “I just saw one that I liked, and then people start giving them to you,” she says.
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Subdued lighting and a baby grand piano in the foyer reflect the mood set by the Deco-inspired leaded glass in the home’s double front doors; a plaster bust flanked by two wood book/files/storyimages/busts adds crafty interest to the upstairs master suite. | |
Upstairs, the couple turned four bedrooms into a master suite. Taking down a wall, they combined two rooms into a large rectangular bedroom with a sitting area. Another bedroom was turned into a massive bathroom with his and hers sinks, a spa tub, separate water closet and a glass-block shower. The fourth room became a large walk-in closet/dressing room where Dierdre keeps a large collection of vintage purses. On the third floor, the couple finished two small guest rooms and a full bath while retaining a significant amount of storage space under the eaves of the roof.
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| Keith Baker used his electrician’s expertise to create a lit-from-within glass-block central island with polished-stone top for the kitchen; a floral theme (opposite page, above and below) is evident through much of the house. | |
The century-old age of the house is most apparent in the basement, where the original foundation’s huge, rectangular, rough-cut stones have been left exposed, along with thick wooden joists, to give the room a “nightclub feel.” A pool table, seating area with a big-screen TV, and a new bathroom make it a comfortable space to unwind.
For the Bakers, the renovation served the dual purpose of creating their dream home and contributing to a part of the city that they love. “Our neighbors appreciate it,” Dierdre says, “and they appreciate that we’re neighborhood people who are fixing things up.” She sees the rebirth of their house as part of a larger renaissance for the area. “I think the revitalization of downtown is already paying off for the neighborhood,” she says. “People are sprucing things up and making things better all the time.”
They don’t lay foundations like this anymore: the Bakers in their basement billiard room.
