Home sweet home
HOMEY SWEET HOME
Kenwick bungalow owner thinks he 'hit the jackpot'
By Sharon Thompson found at Kentucky.com
June2, 2007
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Kenwick Neighborhood Bungalow Tour
When: 1-5 p.m. June 3. Rain or shine.
Where: Kenwick neighborhood. Off
Richmond Road, one mile from downtown
Lexington. Tour includes: 119 Lincoln Ave.,
128 Lincoln Ave., 156 Lincoln Ave., 168
Lincoln Ave., 169 Lincoln Ave., 176 Lincoln
Ave., 21 Richmond Ave., 134 Victory Ave.,
and a garden at 107 Victory Ave. Homes are
within walking distance of one another.
Cost: $5; tickets sold at Victory
Christian Church parking lot, Owsley and
Cramer avenues.
Call: (859) 227-9832.
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photo DAVID PERRY
The fireplace wall has built-in bookcases, typical of many Craftsman
bungalows. Photo by David Perry | Staff
During the first 10 years that Danville native Matt Evans lived in Lexington,
he moved 10 times. When he started searching for a home to buy, he decided he
wanted to live in Kenwick.
He drove daily through the east Lexington neighborhood near downtown, hoping
to see a "for sale" sign in front of one of the Craftsman bungalows.
When he saw it at 119 Lincoln, he said, "I'm out of the moving business.
"I think I hit the jackpot on this house," Evans said. Its
location, the style and age were exactly what he wanted.
The 11/2-story house will be one of the stops Sunday on the Kenwick
Neighborhood Bungalow Tour.
Evans, president and CEO of Bankers Service Corp., bought the house in 2001,
and it needed very little work. He and Bobby Au painted, choosing colors from
the Eddie Bauer bungalow collection, and installed a second bathroom.
The new bathroom was added to a section of the back bedroom.
"This was a very large bedroom, and we decided to build within the
confines of the house. It would have been a much bigger project if we'd decided
to go out," he said.
The new bathroom has a slate floor and shower.
"It was really a project for our contractor who was so careful as he
laid it out so that you can see each layer of natural color in the stone,"
Evans said.
The house's original bathroom is unusual as it has doors opening into the
bedroom and hallway. The dining room is the largest room in the house and gets
the least amount of use, he said.
"One of the interesting features of the house is the breakfast nook. The
table is quite a treasure."
Kenwick, just off of Richmond Road, has a wide variety of housing styles
within its 900-household boundaries, and many are bungalows. This economical,
practical type of house invaded North America in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, according to American Bungalow magazine.
The small houses, some costing as little as $900 to build, helped fulfill
many Americans' wishes for their own home, equipped with all the latest
conveniences.
Central to the bungalow's popularity was the idea that simplicity and
artistry could harmonize in an affordable house, the publication said.
The Kenwick neighborhood is bounded by Richmond Road, and Sherman, Richmond
and Robertson avenues.
"It's a mix of people who have been around for 30 or 40 years, to
younger people moving in," Evans said. "My neighbor next door grew up
in that house, and before they moved two or three years ago, I learned a lot
about the folklore of the neighborhood."
Evans said the bungalow was built for a working class family, unlike a lot of
the larger homes in Ashland Park.
"This is where the working people lived, and the design of the house was
meant to be very functional, very comfortable. There's no pretense, no walking
into a foyer or entryway. You walk directly into the home.
"It was meant to be very unassuming. It's a very interesting concept,
and I certainly appreciate living in the concept of that. It's very comfortable.
"I don't want to live in a huge house that looks too big. I'd rather
live in a comfortable homey space that feels lived in."
Kenwick Neighborhood Bungalow Tour
When: 1-5 p.m. June 3. Rain or shine.
Where: Kenwick neighborhood. Off Richmond Road, one mile
from downtown Lexington. Tour includes: 119 Lincoln Ave., 128 Lincoln Ave.,
156 Lincoln Ave., 168 Lincoln Ave., 169 Lincoln Ave., 176 Lincoln Ave., 21
Richmond Ave., 134 Victory Ave., and a garden at 107 Victory Ave. Homes are
within walking distance of one another.
Cost: $5; tickets sold at Victory Christian Church parking
lot, Owsley and Cramer avenues.
Call: (859) 227-9832.
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“There’s so much inventory out there that the buyer can pick and choose,” said Susan Sirles Fidler, a Realtor at Re/Max 10, Oak Lawn. But she cautioned, “The stuff that’s almost free is almost free because it’s going to cost you an arm and a leg to put it back together. It’s not buyer beware as much as buyer be smart.”
