As soon as someone tells you they set the alarm before five every morning to work out, you have a pretty good idea that this is someone who is driven to set goals and do what needs to be done to check them off her list.
So when Stacey Gaines—who works full time, teaches spin classes, works with a trainer and attends hot yoga classes on a regular basis—was shopping for a new home with her husband Josh, she took the task on with her usual level of energy and commitment.
After marrying in 2009 and living in Blendon Township with four kids in a 1970s ranch on three acres, Stacey was ready to move back to the Bexley community, where she had lived previously, and Josh wanted to keep her happy. He also wanted a large master bedroom and bath, an attached garage, and a lower level with ceilings high enough to be livable. That’s quite a tall order among the 100 year-old homes in Bexley, but Stacey was ready to take on that challenge because she wanted Bexley.
Not just Bexley. Stacey wanted to live on one of three streets—Bryden, Bexley Park or Brentwood and specific sections of each of those streets.
The couple looked for a long time for a house to meet those parameters and fit the needs of their blended family including sons Ethan, Austin and Nolan and daughter Romi. So the moment one particular home on one of those three particular streets went on the market, Stacey pounced.
“I think I called the realtor and was inside within about an hour of it going on the market,” she says.
As soon as she was inside she knew, “This was the house. It was rough but it was the house.”
Although the timing was less than perfect—Josh was away on a business trip—Stacey signed the papers, wrote a check for the deposit and asked her husband to trust her.
Shortly after that she joined him in Florida, Stacey showed Josh photos of the house, and the couple negotiated the final purchase documents via fax from their hotel.
As they were preparing to sell their existing home, the couple was meeting with contractors to update their “new” circa 1922 home. Early on, they enlisted the help of builder Howard Schottenstein of Markpoint Development who Stacey knew. Schottenstein admitted after the renovation was complete, that at first he didn’t see all that Stacey saw in the home. But he trusted her vision as the process unfolded.
For the most part, the “bones” of the house were in good shape. The rooms were all surprisingly large for a house that was nearly 100 years old. There had been a large addition to the house in 1990, which included a family room, mudroom, half bath and the attached garage.
The Markpoint team gutted the baths, replaced all the lighting fixtures, ripped up carpeting and replaced it with new hardwood and refinished existing oak floors in a dark Jacobean stain to match. Walls were moved and floor plans reconfigured to borrow a bit of closet space in order to add to a hall bath.
What was the living room became the dining room and an access doorway was cut out of a wall to allow for an easy flow from the kitchen. Walls of storage lining the front hallway were removed and replaced with a custom pantry that is now housed handsomely behind reclaimed wood sliding barn doors.
The kitchen saw the most dramatic makeover. Walls and columns were taken down to open the space up. During the 1990 remodel, the family room addition was two steps down from the kitchen. The way the island was placed necessitated that the bar stools actually sat lower than the kitchen, on the family room level. In order to make the new arrangement work, the contractors expanded the kitchen floor by moving the steps a few feet farther into the family room—and the barstools back into the kitchen around an enlarged island.
One section of wall was added between the kitchen and family room to house a built-in china hutch with Stacey’s grandmother’s china on display on one side, and a space for art to hang on the other.
The cabinetry, by Miller Custom Cabinets, is dove white on the perimeter and the working side of the island. A rich walnut color on the seating side picks up the finish of the hutch and a bar area built into the family room.
“The kitchen is not really big but it gives the illusion of being big,” says Stacey.
Throughout the home, bold colorful artwork commands attention. Most of it comes from local artists including some from The Columbus College of Art and Design’s (CCAD) annual open house which Stacey has attended for the past several years. Some are the work of current students and some are from the school’s alumni.
“To me the walls are just neutral spaces for art,” says Stacey. “Art is what makes a home your own.”
The charm of the community is also what makes Stacey, who was born and raised in Montreal, and her family feel like they are where they belong.
“I love everything about Bexley. The cobblestone, tree-lined streets. Every house looks different. Nothing is cookie cutter,” Stacey says. “When I walk the dog I see something interesting in the houses every time I pass by.”
Stacey says her family walks everywhere. The kids walk to school and the family occasionally walks to Giuseppe’s for dinner, Starbucks or Graeter’s for a treat. But chances are more likely that, perhaps while you are enjoying a bowl of pasta or a scoop of Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip, you’ll see Stacey walking by with a yoga mat in hand on her way to hot yoga at Blue Spot.
Resources: Builder: Howard Schottenstein of Markpoint Development; Interior designer: Homeowner and Shauna Lehman Interiors; Landscape designer: Terra Horticulture; Lighting: Capital Lighting, Shop Freely; Furniture: Arhaus; Flooring: Redone by Homestead Floors; Window treatments: New View Window Creations, Stepping Stone Interiors; Wallpaper: by David Foster; Front door: Custom by Gary Yutzy; Hardware: Premium Hardware; Fireplace tiles: Classico Tile and Hamilton Parker Company; Fireplace inserts: Hamilton Parker Company; Carpet: Tuftex Buena Vista from Caldwell Carpet; KITCHEN: Cabinetry: Miller Custom Cabinets; Countertops: Elegant White, Solazzo Marble and Granite; Backsplash: Classico Tile installed by Authentic Tile & Marble Co.; Outlet Covers and Range Hood Painting: Tom Jacobs; Sink: Blanco Silgranit undermount; Dishwasher and range: Kitchen Aid; Refrigerator: Sub-Zero; Pantry: The Reclaimed Barnwood Company; BATHROOM: Cabinetry: Miller Custom Cabinets; Countertop: Juparana Arandes granite from Distinctive Marble and Granite; Faucets: Kohler; Tiles: Hamilton Parker Company