Category Archives: Wrought Iron Gates

Fisherville home and dogs

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Fisherville home is a fit for the whole family

by Allison Jones

In decorating their home, Steve and Patty Jo wanted it to be a welcoming space for family and friends, but also to be extremely dog-friendly. This decorating task inspired Patty Jo to put her own creativity to work, and it resulted in the perfect place to call home.

“This is where we spend most of our time,” Patty Jo said as she stood in the great room. A leather sectional and recliner provide plenty of seating around a stone-top coffee table. High ceilings give a spacious feel. Cold winter’s nights are warmed by the stone fireplace that showcases a wall-mounted deer head sculpture.

The newly remodeled open kitchen is the ideal spot for family and friends to gather when entertaining. Chocolate walls are decorated with floating shelves displaying family photographs and collectibles. Granite counters have a stone backsplash. Patty Jo created a custom-built, raised eating bar for Great Danes Dottie and Shadow that incorporates pictures of the couple’s previous Great Danes. Four leather chairs surround a round table in front of a window that provides a spectacular view of the surrounding acreage.

Decorative gates act as a boundary for the dogs at the opening to the living room. White carpet is topped with a darker shag area rug. Metal artwork and pictures from Patty Jo’s extensive travels hang on the walls. Two leather sofas and a wrought-iron bench with cushion are grouped into a seating area. A vibrant floral arrangement is displayed on a marble pedestal.

Patty Jo says she loves home-improvement shows, and her guest bathroom was inspired by watching several of them and putting her ideas to the test. A glass vessel sink sits atop a black vanity. Black-and-white photographs adorn the walls. A mirror and tile backsplash form a contemporary design that makes this the focal point of the room.

The lower level is entertainment central. Since both Steve and Patty Jo graduated from the University of Kentucky, they wanted to use that concept as the central theme, but didn’t want to overdo it. A University of Kentucky billiard light hangs above the pool table. Two leather pub chairs flank a pub table. A bar area with mahogany cabinetry and tile backsplash is ideal for serving guests their favorite beverage. The granite counter has space for three bar chairs. A curved leather sofa and an accent chair are comfortable spots to catch the latest UK game on the wall-mounted flat-screen television. The walls are decorated with photographs of Steve in several fishing tournaments.

Patty Jo had an extensive basketball career — from Western High School through UK to playing professionally in Italy and Germany. In the early ’80s, she was the starting point guard for UK’s only SEC championship women’s basketball team, an All-SEC player, and a gold medalist and member of the 1983 Pan American Games basketball team. Her parents made sure that all of her memorabilia was saved, so she and Steve created a space for it. French doors open to a spacious room with dark bamboo floors. The area showcases PJ’s awards, shadow boxes displaying her jerseys, and notice of her 2009 induction into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.

from courier-journal.com

House at 209 Hilton Terrace, Newport, for sale

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This house at 209 Hilton Terrace, Newport , is on the market for $849,000.

This inviting brick traditional with slate roof sits on a high, .6-acre lot overlooking the James River. The home has approximately 3,600 square feet, with an additional 1,585 square feet on the basement level, now used for casual entertaining and workshop area. The remodeled kitchen with 9-foot ceiling adjoins the dining area and opens to the sunroom, providing an expansive space for entertaining overlooking the river. There are four bedrooms and a possible fifth bedroom on the first floor, 41/2 baths, an office, gardener’s work room, pier and dock with a boatlift.

The large entrance foyer leads to an open stairway. The 24-foot living room with fireplace has fine architectural details, chair railing and crown molding. The window-lined sunroom connects to the updated kitchen featuring cherry cabinets, granite countertops, wall oven and built-in microwave, warming drawer, large country sink, and a sleek downdraft island cooktop. The lower level offers a 38-foot family room with a fireplace flanked by windows, wet bar, and pool table.

There is an additional 40-foot storage area, full bath and finished workshop. The second-floor master suite features sitting area, ceramic tile bath with separate shower and tub. The waterfront terrace has a copper roof, overlooks a wrought-iron fenced yard and tiered landscaping, with wide concrete steps leading to the pier. A waterside “fisherman’s shack” provides an additional area for entertaining.

Extras: Security system, gas heat, walk-in cedar closet, newly-refinished hardwood floors, irrigation system, a 10,000-pound boatlift and garage.

from articles.dailypress.com

Monaco’s two-bedroom apartment for sale

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House Hunting in … Monaco

By ALISON GREGOR

Set in Monaco’s quiet garden district, this two-bedroom apartment on the fourth and top floor of an elevator building is on the market for $2.2 million. The building, dating to the early 1900s, has corbeled balconies and elaborate wrought iron accents.

With 750 square feet of space, the unit has been renovated in a traditional style incorporating modern elements like automated lighting and stereo systems.

The large foyer doubles as a kitchen/dining area, with appliances hidden behind elegant wardrobe-style doors. The kitchen island, which accommodates stools for dining, is adorned with mosaic tiles. Beyond is a wainscoted salon with an ornate coffered ceiling and a floor in a large red-and-white checkered pattern. The walls are plastered in Venetian stucco. French doors open to a decorative Juliet balcony.

On either side of the salon are the bedrooms, which have similarly elaborate ceiling moldings and Venetian stucco walls. The bath has old-style brass fixtures by the English company Heritage Bathrooms and a glass-enclosed shower with a rain showerhead. LED lighting in the shower can be reset in different colors. A clamshell sink of ceramic on a stone base was handmade in Naples.

The building is on the main avenue in the district, the Boulevard du Jardin Exotique, but the apartment faces a quiet street at the rear, said Bernard Koning, the principal owner of ABK Real Estate, which has the listing. The unit comes with an on-street parking space and a 22-square-foot lower-level storage space.

The Jardin Exotique district, which is on the border with France, has small shops for necessities, but the apartment is a 15- to 20-minute walk from the Carré d’Or, Monaco’s center in Monte Carlo, where casinos, luxury shops, hotels, restaurants and the priciest real estate are found, Mr. Koning said. The Jardin Exotique district is the site of Monaco’s new train station, and buses run frequently along the boulevard, taking about eight minutes to arrive in the Carré d’Or. The closest airport is Nice International in France, which is about a 25-minute drive with no traffic, Mr. Koning said.

Until the real estate bubble burst in 2008 there was a steep increase in real estate values in Monaco; some homes doubled in price, Mr. Koning said. The global financial crisis cut the number of transactions by more than half, and prices fell 15 to 35 percent.

Values appear to have stabilized, but homes are taking time to sell. “Business is slow at the moment,” said Julie Alejo, the owner of EIP Agency. “Potential clients are showing interest only in high- or low-end products.”

Yet the market did get a lift as of last June, when a new law reduced closing costs by about 40 percent, said Émilie Mazza, a co-owner of Mazza Immobilier. In the long run, said Tim Swannie, a director of Home Hunts Luxury Property Specialists, the lack of a personal income tax in Monaco will help maintain a climate favorable to real estate. “Monaco’s tax-haven status ensures the market remains buoyant and prices stable,” he said, “so investment in Monaco real estate continues to be attractive.”

This apartment, priced at about 23,500 euros per square meter, would cost at least 60 percent more if it were in the Carré d’Or, Mr. Koning said. The apartment has been listed for three months and is priced lower than the average apartment in the Jardin Exotique, which is about 25,000 euros per square meter. “It’s an older building, which some people like due to the character, but other people don’t care for,” Mr. Koning said.

Only 20 percent of Monaco’s 35,000 residents are Monégasque, so the market sees many foreign buyers, most typically seeking modern apartments close to the Carré d’Or, the beach area of Larvotto, and in Fontvieille, a district reclaimed from the Mediterranean in 1981. Many older residents are French, as the French government did not collect income tax from its citizens residing in Monaco before 1963, Mr. Koning said. A stricter policy since then has discouraged French buyers, and today there are more from elsewhere in Europe, particularly Britain and the northern countries, he said.

Mr. Swannie says Monaco also has buyers from Italy, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and the Middle East. Russians have been major buyers over the past five years, Ms. Alejo said.

There are no restrictions on foreign buyers, though background checks are required, Mr. Koning said. Most buyers hire agents, who typically charge about 3 percent of the purchase price, agents said. The listing agent gets 5 percent, which is paid by the seller. The transaction itself is handled by a notary, who typically charges about 1 percent.

The June 2011 law reduced to 4.5 percent the registration tax charged on a typical property sale, according to Rosemont International, a financial consulting company with a branch in Monaco.

Most buyers pay in cash, but it is possible to cover as much as 70 percent of the purchase price with a mortgage, Mr. Swannie said.

from nytimes.com

A Lake Travis 2004-built house

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A Lake Travis home ready for a permanent family

By Nicole Villalpando

Jill Taus Hackett and Chris Hackett’s 2004-built house on Lake Travis is an ideal vacation getaway, but they planned for it to be more. The couple, who live in Las Vegas, intended to make it their permanent home when they bought it about five years ago, but plans quickly changed.

Chris Hackett, who is a business and financial consultant for startup companies, was pulled to California, where both his grandparents and mother were ailing and later died. It was never the right time to move to Austin.

The couple say they love the friendly nature of Austin and being on the lake. They loved the home’s location down the road from the Oasis and by a park. And they enjoyed going to Longhorn football games. They also liked that it was closer to her parents in San Antonio.

They now rent the home for $600 a night to vacationers, many of whom have family reunions there, but are hoping to see it sell to a new family.

They have put 7086 Comanche Trail on the market for $1.275 million with Lynn Robin of Capital City Sotheby’s International Realty.

Though great for a vacation home, this 3,799-square-foot house would also make an ideal setting for a full-time family because of its location in the Leander school district. It’s a gated home that provides a full backyard with a pool as well as the waterfront outside the gates.

From the front door, guests spot the xeriscaped front yard behind the gates. This space feels more like an intimate courtyard. The home opens to a grand two-story foyer with inlaid tile in the shape of a star and a wrought-iron chandelier.

The foyer forms a line of niche archways on either side. The office is at the front of the foyer. A half-bathroom is nearby. A wine room is ready to be finished by the stairs to the second floor.

The master suite is tucked off a small hallway and feels like a private, hidden retreat. It offers a fireplace and access to the back patio. The massive master bathroom provides two large closets with multiple built-ins, a triangular-shaped aerated tub in a corner with two windows, a large walk-in shower, double vanities and a dressing area. It’s a favorite spot for the Hacketts.

All the bathrooms in the house offer interesting decorative touches, especially in unique sinks.

A second master suite rests upstairs. This bedroom offers a balcony with views of the lake. The bathroom is sizable, with a large closet as well as attic space for storage.

Across the foyer from the office sits a bedroom with a full bathroom. This bathroom is done with a ranch theme with a rope design in the sink.

The bathroom flows to the hallway by the large laundry room and the two-car garage. This hallway naturally leads to the large kitchen. A large island with granite counter and stone below provides plenty of prep space as well as the sink. The oven/convection oven, microwave and gas range are built into a wall of stone. The range sits under a stone arch. The kitchen also offers a built-in office area as well as room for a coffee bar.

The kitchen naturally flows to the breakfast nook, with windows overlooking the backyard and the large living room with 20-foot ceilings. A stone fireplace sits in the corner of the living room. In another corner, a full wet bar is efficient in space.

Doors lead to the stone-covered patio and pool. The backyard offers mature trees as well as grass. The wrought-iron fence that surrounds the back of the property features a gate for access to the lake. The Hacketts had a path built to make for an easy walk even in lower lake levels.

It’s not hard to see the vision of a relaxing space for raising a family or inviting friends over for a weekend.

“The best thing about the house is how peaceful and private and quiet it is,” Chris Hackett says. The couple and her family have loved sitting on the back porch with a beer and looking out over the lake. “You’re seeing the sailboats go by . . . how tranquil,” he says.

from statesman.com

Guitar Mansion

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New owner turns historic Guitar Mansion into graceful home again

by Caitlin Sole, Heather Riske

David Guitar purchased the Guitar Mansion in 1859. An earlier version of this story listed an incorrect date.

Almost everyone who visits Guitar Mansion has a story to share about the historic antebellum home.

Elena Vega, who spontaneously purchased the home at 2815 N. Oakland Gravel Road in 2010, said a man stopped by earlier last year and insisted there was a tunnel inside the house.

Another visitor mentioned a second stairwell with private access to the bedrooms, though neither the tunnel nor stairwell remain today.

Ghosts are common topics at the mansion, which was built more than 150 years ago. Members of the Missouri Ghost Hunters Society reported encountering several during a visit in December 2002, including a young boy and several slaves.

The house got its name from the Guitar family, who moved in during the 1860s, just as the Civil War was rupturing the country. The house changed hands several times over the years until Vega and Pat Westhoff bought it, restored the building’s utilities and moved in last January.

Before their purchase, it had been vacant for three years. Previous owners included Ward Dorrance, an MU French professor who lived in the home from the 1940s to the 1950s, and historian Miriam McCaleb, who helped secure a place for the mansion on the National Register of Historic Places.

It was most recently used as a wedding reception site and for bed-and-breakfast lodging.

At a public auction on Oct. 18, 2010, Vega surprised herself by buying the house for $155,500. When bidding began lower than she expected — at $75,000 — she was moved to jump in. The contest was largely between Vega and one other bidder.

“It’s my dream to live in an historic home,” she told a Missourian reporter at the time. “I just don’t know if I can afford it.”

Vega lightly taps the antique door knocker against Guitar Mansion’s emerald green front door. The sound, she said, can be heard throughout the two-story, four-bedroom, three-bathroom home.

The door opens into a room with a black-and-white linoleum floor and a curved walnut stairwell, Vega’s favorite part of the house.

The staircase, believed to be original, features a small, carved acorn on the handrail. A music room with a piano and antique red couch is to the left, and a small pink library is to the right.

The family keeps modern appliances, such as TV sets and other electronics, out of these front rooms to preserve the historic feeling of the house.

Signs of the mansion’s historical roots in the Civil War lie both inside and on the surrounding property.

Within the perimeter of a wrought iron fence in the yard sits a vine-covered brick dovecote. Nearby is a wooden gazebo, built within the last decade when the home was used for wedding receptions.

Behind the house, a worn wooden smokehouse and cookhouse, both now used for storage, contain an oversize, rusted tub that remains intact from the original farmhouse.

Neighbors, Vega said, discovered a cannonball in their yard while digging the foundation for their home.

Much of the original architecture and furnishings in the Guitar Mansion hark back to its time when a big Victorian house accommodated growing families and provided a backdrop for gracious living.

Brothers Odon and David Guitar moved to Boone County as children between 1859 and 1862, according to a 1908 edition of a Columbia newspaper. David Guitar purchased the home on Oakland Gravel Road in 1859* and lived there with his 10 children — who shared two bedrooms — for about 40 years.

During the Civil War, the brothers supported opposing sides. Odon served for the Union Army in the 9th Missouri Cavalry, later known as the “Bloody Ninth.” He was recommended as brigadier general by President Abraham Lincoln.

David Guitar’s home was named Confederate Hill, which refers to his service as a captain for Confederate forces during the Civil War, according to a document from the National Register of Historic Places.

“It’s one of the last Civil War-era houses that’s standing in town,” said Liz Kennedy of the Boone County Historical Society.

The Guitar family originally had about 862 acres, according to the National Register of Historic Places, but the house now sits on 6.3 acres.

Much of the land was sold after 1997 by the McCaleb family, after Miriam McCaleb, who lived in the home from 1956 until 1997, was killed in an automobile accident.

Although this is the first historic home for Vega and her husband, Pat Westhoff, she said they have always been interested in older houses.

Since moving into the Guitar Mansion, the couple has made several changes while trying to preserve its historical elements.

“You can’t really see what we’ve done so far, but it’s been a lot of work,” Vega said. “It’s always a work in progress.”

The first thing they did after moving to the Guitar Mansion was yard work. This included cutting grass that had grown 2 feet tall and removing a huge, broken tree limb dubbed “the widow maker.”

Vega also plans to replace the black locust trees on the property with maple, oak and walnut trees — vegetation more typical of the home’s history.

She said the Guitar family used to call the home “The Maples” because the driveway was lined with maple trees.

The couple intends to keep the original glass on the windows, as well as the “cello-shaped” wood carvings on the shutters. The eight fireplaces and abundant chandeliers also will be preserved.

Over the holidays, Vega’s three children stayed in the original bedrooms of the house. The names bear witness to the contentious history of the Guitar Mansion.

One room is called “The Confederate Room” and the other “The Union Room.”

from columbiamissourian.com