Call it fate, destiny or kismet…but the stars were definitely aligned when Nick and Kristen first saw the house their family now calls home.
“We were helping my brother-in-law’s family move into the area and there was a for sale sign in the yard,” Kristen says. “One minute we were unloading boxes, the next minute we were at an open house.”
The couple fell in love with the New Albany location and was enticed by the idea of shorter commutes, so they purchased the home in 2016. The original part of their house was built in 1805 on a land grant from the Revolutionary War. One of the original owner’s sons lived in the house, while another son built a home across the creek, the home Nick’s brother eventually purchased.
“Brothers are living in the two houses again,” Kristen says. “There’s a creek between us, but we are close enough for our kids to play together.”
When Nick and Kristen purchased their home they painted and made some cosmetic changes, but they knew they would need professionals to help them turn the house into the home they wanted for their growing family, which now includes two daughters. Kristen explains that they wanted to live in the space for a bit to fully understand how they would like it to function. When they were ready, it was—once again—Kristen’s brother-in-law who steered them in the right direction; to Tyler Swartzmiller, principal designer with Haus Studio.
“My brother-in-law’s coworker had worked with Tyler and was very pleased,” Kristen explains. “We initially reached out just to understand what we could realistically accomplish in our space, and it took off very quickly. We were blown away, and loved him and Amy, our other designer, so much.”
A bit more history
Swartzmiller grew up on construction sites, helping his father in the family HVAC business. His love of building morphed into interior design over the years, and he opened Haus Studio six years ago as the company’s single employee. Today, Haus Studio employs 20 people, which includes senior designer, Amy Fix, who worked with Swartzmiller on Nick and Kristen’s renovation.
Let in the light
“Our kitchen had no windows, and it was so dark. The sink was looking at a corner wall. It was so depressing,” Kristen remembers. “No matter how big your house is, everyone wants to be in the kitchen, and they tried to cram into ours.”
“We had 4,400 square feet, but we had no storage,” she adds. “I would come home from Costco and literally have no place to put things.”
Swartzmiller’s first task was to open up their small kitchen, bring in natural light, and create a walk-in pantry for the family.
The pantry was placed in a second stairwell that, although the couple’s daughters enjoyed playing in, was not practical for everyday use. The original stairwell had a window, which is a design element you normally don’t see in a pantry, but by putting a frosted glass barn door on the pantry it actually helped add to the natural light now flooding into the bright and airy kitchen space. A matching door was also used to access the bar nook, the original laundry room, which also houses an exterior window for even more light.
Blending old and new
“This house had—if I remember correctly—four living rooms,” Swartzmiller says. “We knew these walls had to come down, but it was challenging because a main hallway runs the entire length of the house.”
An original wooden support beam also runs the entire length of the home. These original beams are also exposed in the kitchen. It was important to everyone that these stay intact. “They are the original peg and joint construction because they didn’t have nails,” Swartzmiller says. Kristen adds, “Contractors were wanting to come and look at the beams because they had never seen anything like it.”
But this posed some structural challenges. “Because the beams were so heavy, we had to make sure they were supporting the weight of the house while we removed a wall and installed a new steel beam,” Swartzmiller explains.
Another original feature of the home that was transformed into more of a focal point in the space is the fireplace. A mantel was removed, and the brick was left simple, showing some of its age and weathering which adds to the charm.
Kristen wanted to keep the renovation color choices and selections neutral, with a touch of modern, to keep with the historic architecture and design of the space.
Worth the wait
It’s been eight years since Nick and Kristen purchased their house, and it is now their dream home. The family is glad they waited to tackle their renovation until they truly knew what they wanted.
And while there was a lot of planning, once construction began in February of 2023 the project went quickly and was completed that summer. Much of the credit for the turn-around is due to the fact that Haus Studio orders everything for the project and stores it in a warehouse so it is ready when the time comes for installation.
“That’s all their appliances, their hardware…it is ready to go so we never run into a shipping delay,” Swartzmiller says.
“When you’re prepared, it goes smoothly,” Kristen says. “We could not have been happier with this entire process.”
Even living through the renovation was fun for their girls, who Kristen says have asked if they can do it again. “I don’t know if I want to go back to washing dishes in my bathtub,” Kristen says with a laugh. “But we did make some great memories living through the project.”
Swartzmiller is pleased with the end results as well. “Creating a beautiful kitchen is easy, creating a functional kitchen is the hard part. I think we accomplished both for this wonderful family.”
RESOURCES
Design, cabinetry, installation Haus Studio Kitchen appliances Thermador, Custom Distributors, Inc. Kitchen countertops Cambria Gladstone Matte, Midwest Quartz Bar countertops Black Uba Tuba Leather, Lang Stone Backsplash Soho Tile Urban Brick, Wythe White, Florida Tile Sinks Elkay Crosstown in bar, Kohler in powder room, Worly Plumbing Supply Hardware Top Knobs-Morris Ash Grey Mudroom tile Montauk Herringbone, MSI Tile
Article by Sarah J. Dills | Photos by Samantha Dettinger
Article originally appeared in September 2024