Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 24, 1993 TAG: 9309280128
SECTION: HOME & LANDSCAPE PAGE: HL-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In this, they are similar to many residents of the small city to Roanoke's west, where finding a house to buy can be difficult because no one wants to leave.
"Everybody seems to want to live in Salem," Ann Brooks said.
In fact, Cameron Brooks sort of inherited the house prior to his marriage. For years, Ann said, his father had mowed the lawn for the previous owner, an elderly widow, and when she died, Cameron bought the house.
The house was built in 1928, and has plenty of "character," meaning, in this case, that it has features such as an enclosed entry porch with no less than five doors leading outside.
When Cameron bought the house, Ann said, it was "dark and gloomy," with heavy drapes and a cramped kitchen with a breakfast nook that was barely big enough for two.
During the first years of their marriage, she said, they concentrated on refinishing the hardwood floors and upgrading the two bathrooms, one just off the master bedroom downstairs, and one near the two upstairs bedrooms. A spacious third bedroom upstairs was used as a den.
"It was kind of awkward," having the main living area upstairs, Ann Brooks said.
The eldest child, Allison, is now 4; her sister, Caroline, is 15 months; and the new baby is due in November. Because of their growing family, the Brookses needed more space.
Although they did not remodel their home with the idea of selling it, the Brookses' did all the things experts recommend to increase the value: they re-did the kitchen, added bathrooms, expanded the master suite and built a family room.
They chose Building Specialists Inc. of Roanoke to design and build the project, which cost about $70,000.
"We did think that was a lot of money," Ann Brooks said, but they also were given bids that were higher.
They chose the company because Cameron's father knew Bob Fetzer, the owner, and because they had seen a lot of his work and liked it. The job was started in 1991 and finished in March 1992.
To expand the kitchen, the breakfast nook was removed and the central hallway was shortened to create a large rectangular space with enough room left over to allow the family to walk through to the addition in back.
New appliances, cabinets and counters were put in, and a window was relocated to center it over the sink, which has brass faucets. The hardwood floor was given a light "pickled" finish to set it off from the other rooms.
The countertops feature appliance "garages," cubbyholes with overhead doors for storing equipment. Brooks uses one to keep cleaning supplies away from the children.
At one end of the counter is a built-in desk, from which Brooks pays the bills and does other household chores.
The downstairs portion of the addition houses a family room and a small half-bath, which is enclosed by a pocket door.
The wall of this bathroom is mirrored to create the illusion of space, an idea Brooks got from her mother.
Originally, Brooks said, the addition was going to be bigger, and a deck was going to be built outside, but because of the cost, the project had to be scaled down.
A screened porch adjoins the family room and also opens into the downstairs bedroom, which now is being used as a guest room.
The former family room upstairs is now the master bedroom, and the addition here has almost doubled the room's size. The new room is a sunny sitting area with a view of the mountains in the distance and of a huge dogwood tree right outside the window. Next to the room is a brand-new master bath and laundry room.
Working with Building Specialists was a good experience, Brooks said. "They showed such good attention to detail," she said. "They really listened to us."
by CNB