By Jessica Pack
1744 Millwood Drive…A home that took me back to my youth in many ways. Let me elaborate…through the eyes of a proud generation X-er who has experienced all things awesome and great in music and TV during my formative years.
I learned something new from working on this home! As trendy as split level homes are in the 2000s, I honestly didn’t know there was a difference between a split-level and a bi-level home. A split has at least 3 levels. 1744 Millwood is what would be considered a bi-level as there are just two levels…yet is somehow different from a 2-story home though. I am scratching my head a wee bit.
Either way, Millwood is a newly renovated home in a classic suburb of Columbus, OH. The outside remained the same but inside was rehabbed into something “now.” “Now” neutral color pallet. “Now” flooring material. “Now” lighting which was almost funky… the dining space fixture especially. There are times when homes need a complete overhaul just to be marketable. Millwood was a home rooted in the early 60s and I can almost guarantee it had design that mirrored its age. My kids remind me often that I am “old.” I like to reinvent myself with the occasional new hairstyle or outfit. Homes can do that too either out of necessity or to gain more mass appeal.
The kitchen island was one I had never seen. While I HAVE encountered different color cabinets used in the same space and even different materials used for countertops, I have not seen an island top made purposefully to look like a wooden table top with table legs. 1744 used stained hickory with and it was gorgeous! We made every effort to be minimalistic when staging the island as to not cover it all up. It is a thing of beauty! My gen X self saw this: The scene from the 80’s music video for Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” when Tawny Kitaen slithers all over David Coverdale’s Jaguar. Where my mind wanders sometimes makes me laugh. This island was as slick as the cars in the video and if realty had a sense of humor, there would be an image of this island with some hot model accentuating this kitchen feature as part of the listing material. Ha! …unlikely that will happen.
Millwood was also a prime example of open concept. It’s hard to say if the 1962 version of the living/dining/kitchen was as open as the home exists now, but everything a person needs is in one generous area and STILL has room to spare. We took care to make it feel like a welcoming and functional space…with the pizzazzle only Sanctuary can deliver.
We truly do aim to give buyers that visual aid when it comes to how spaces can be used. One of the ways we do this is with themed bedrooms. Families come in all shapes and sizes with a plethora of styles to boot. Sometimes that hint of inspiration lets a buyer see how their own tastes transfer to the home they’re touring. Our rooms have so much personality that the homes look like there really could be a little one roaming there.
Our master suites are typically a good balance of calming colors, soft textures, and a peaceful surround for a homeowner to lay their head at the end of the day…except that ours is for show…but for that one time when we started a stage in a VACANT home (not Millwood) and returned a few days later to discover the bed had been slept in. Ew! Adventures in staging!!!
The lower portion of this bi-level home was the balance of our stage. We visualized the area as recreation space with a little bit of something for everyone. A staging note: It took a few incarnations of this lower level before we landed on the ideal arrangement. Bottom line-if first you don’t succeed, try try again. It’s the nature of the beast and even we do it.
Overall, this home turned out simply adorable and we were thrilled to be part of the transformation. As I was writing about Millwood I actually looked up an image of the Brady Bunch house. Millwood looks surprisingly similar (minus the hills of Cali)! Totally random but,
Ahhhh, the good ole days! But one last thought… I had to Google the name of the generation that predated mine and it was a name I had never heard. Some of my online search showed that the Baby Boomers came before Generation X… other identify a subsection of the Baby Boomer era called ‘Generation Jones’ that encompassed the latter portion of the Baby Boomers. I had never heard of Generation Jones. If that’s the case, then Millwood is actually a Jones home. Knowing what they say about keeping up with the Joneses, Millwood will give its buyers many amenities that other home this age lack… and more…so the new owners will be ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ without even having to try.
