March 2014 -N2 | Page 48

48 NeighborhoodNews Meridian & Butler March REAL ESTATE CORNER Renovation Reality (Part 2) By Brad Litz , Real Estate Broker, Appraiser & Investor Meridian-Kessler Resident When I last left you we had just moved back into our home after a major renovation and addition. I’m glad to say we are getting settled back in quite nicely and enjoying our ‘new’ old house. I want to thank our designer, Janice Pattee, as she always has a keen eye for modernizing while keeping the charm and character of the home firmly intact, as well as my business partner, John Eaton, who knocked it out of the park with quality construction and finishes throughout. We are happy with the new floor plan and functionality of the house. Our house is definitely one-of-a-kind and has undergone some transformations throughout its 88 year history, although the main floor has stayed very close to the original design. Our second floor was a bit more functionally obsolete for a growing family, you see. We had an unusually large living room for an upper level, 2 massive bedrooms, and 1 tiny bathroom with a storage challenged pedestal sink. The layout worked well for a long time, but I was in need of some more firepower with the Litz household now having a 3-to-1 advantage of girls over boys. Closet space, bathrooms and privacy had quickly become a necessity. Looking back on it, I think the best ‘take aways’ were first, allow an adequate amount of time to work with the intricacies of the older