Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 24, 1993 TAG: 9309280107
SECTION: HOME & LANDSCAPE PAGE: HL-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Many month's worth of renovations later, she has it, along with a new carport, a family room, a multipurpose room, two new bathrooms, one relocated bathroom and a new laundry room.
Coordinating the project and working with Charlie Coulter of Coulter Construction Inc. has been almost a full-time job, Lewis said, but the results have been worth it.
"It's had some real tense moments," Lewis said, thinking especially of the time they came back from vacation and found a gaping hole where the back of the house used to be.
It also was hard living without a kitchen for a while, Van Lewis said. "The kids know all the restaurants now."
The house was built in 1892 by a young man and his mother, who thought he should have a place to entertain his friends. It was known as "The Bachelor's Club."
The house was designed by an architect from Philadelphia, Lewis said. The house also was once home to Lady Anne Fairfax, who lived in Roanoke from the mid-1950s until 1965.
It had a large entrance foyer, front and back parlors, a dining room and an extra room downstairs. The mantel over the fireplace in the entrance foyer is said to have been carved from a single stone from Mill Mountain, Lewis said.
Upstairs were two bedrooms,each with its own sitting room,two more extra rooms and a laundry room. On the third floor were two bedrooms featuring palladium dormer windows. When the Lewises bought the house, it had 2 1/2 baths.
At the back of the house was a two-story structure containing a kitchen, a back stairway and servants' quarters.
The house has changed hands many times throughout the years, said Lewis, who knows some of its history; and the floor plan has probably changed several times, as well.
The house sits on a corner and the main entrance is at the side of the house, rather than at the front. Evidently, Lewis said, one of the previous owners changed the address from one street to the other because it was in the school zone they wanted to be in.
To the right of the side entrance is an old carriage house which is now unused. A gravel drive leads up to the new carport, which Lewis refers to as "The Parthenon." It has been designed in a classic Greek style with tall white columns supporting the curved beams that are the framework of the roof. The roof itself is made of clear plastic material, which allows more light to enter the adjoining kitchen addition.
The carport was necessary, Lewis said, because during the fall, acorns from the big old oaks surrounding the house were damaging the cars.
Nothing is left of the old addition except for a few window sashes which Lewis insisted that Coulter save. In fact, the old addition had pulled away from the main house, and after it was torn down, Coulter and his crew discovered that it had been built entirely on a bed of brick, and had no foundation at all. Besides the kitchen, it contained a mud room and a small back porch.
The new kitchen runs the width of the house, and half of the space is a comfortable living area. A half bath was moved so that an unusual window that opened off it is now in the kitchen.
The back and side walls of the room are almost all window,with small-paned transoms above. As a result, the room is flooded with light, even at midday when the sun is overhead.
The kitchen itself is magnificent,with green granite countertops, brass fixtures, two ovens, a stove recessed into a brick grotto and a large side-by-side refrigerator and freezer. Cabinets line the walls all the way up the 10-foot ceilings. Lewis said she will use a library ladder on a rolling track to get to them.
In the center of the kitchen is a work island bigger than a dining room table. It has its own sink, and hangers for pots and pans are suspended above.
Lewis was a pastry chef before her marriage. She still loves to cook on a large scale and hopes to open her own catering business when the two children, Jayne, 6, and Kathryn, 3, are older.
The heart-of-pine floors have been treated with a commercial sealant that Coulter says is harder than polyurethane. The room is lit by recessed lights, hanging lamps and ceiling fans with light fixtures. The ceiling is of beaded board,newly milled, but similar to the original.
The kitchen remodeling was begun in September 1992 and finished in May of this year. The rest of the renovations are still going on.
Upstairs in the addition is a sunny skylit playroom for the girls, with a new adjoining bath. Also in the upstairs part of the addition is a laundry room, which hasn't been finished yet, and a large marble-floored bathroom, which is just being completed.
When it is finished,the bathroom will feature a Jacuzzi tub, a shower, a double vanity with brass fixtures and hidden cubbyholes for toothbrushes and other articles, and a separate shower stall.
In the year the renovations have been going on, the Lewises and Coulter have become good friends, Lewis said.
"She's been wonderful to work with," Coulter said.
Despite this camaraderie,"In a way, I'll be glad to see them go," Lewis said. "It's been disruptive."
Lewis plans to take a year off from remodeling projects, but doesn't guarantee there won't be more. "It's a habit," she said.
Although the Lewises have done exactly what the experts recommend to make the house more salable by remodelling the kitchen and adding bathrooms, the family has no plans to part with the house.
"My next mover will be Oakey's," Lewis laughed, referring to the local funeral home.
by CNB