by John Griffin
As
I drove up I was very pleased to see nice landscaping beneath mature trees.
At least I'd have something to write about, since the outside of this house
didn't look promising. Actually, there is a nicely scaled front porch. The
house appears well kept and even has a fresh paint job -- white everything
on brick. I mean, it looks okay, but since when is that worth a column?
I thought I'd give it five minutes and politely suggest I'd work it in (ha!). Since I was in the Laurelwood area, I could get out of here fast and go spend the 30 minutes I allotted before a lunch date more productively shopping.
Once inside the door, I was not pleasantly surprised. It was really more like seriously shocked. Every surface has been recently redone. Moldings have been added where none existed: New ceiling and chair-rail with decorative panel mold below are accented in the trim color, setting them off as an architectural feature in a house that previously had few. Flat, slab doors have all been replaced with four panels with levered handles, and there's new lighting throughout. I could tell I was going to be late for lunch.
The foyer offers a choice between the large living and dining room and a door to the hall of the bedroom wing. It makes getting to the front door easy from anywhere and that's important because, though occupants can enter from the two-car garage, no other back door presents itself as an option for guests. I liked that immediately.
The living and dining rooms are divided by a beam and columns (like the one out front). There's a long, low fireplace in the living room and plantation shutters on all the windows. Just beyond the dining area is a glassed-in side porch with original brick floor and wood ceiling. It has sumptuous private views in three directions and makes the perfect overflow area adjoining both living/dining and the kitchen.
The kitchen has a gallery layout with pale, pickled oak cabinets. Kitchens are rarely overlighted, but this one tries, to its credit. There are under-cabinet fluorescents for the work surface, and recessed cans highlight the upper cabinets and a center ceiling fixture. You certainly will never have to fumble about in this space for lack of good planning and sufficient lights.
The separate breakfast room is large and even has a corner fireplace. It and the kitchen overlook a most inviting back patio. Beyond the breakfast room are three bedrooms (each with two closets), two baths, and a spacious family room. Even here, there are brick floors and a wood-burning fireplace with exposed brick floor to ceiling. There is also a home office area tucked away on a corner of the family room most unobtrusively.
Two outdoor features must be noted. The patio is nicely private, being enclosed on two sides by the house. It opens off a bricked gallery and is shaded by a beautiful Southern magnolia. The roots of the magnolia could well be a problem but the installers figured a clever way around them. The patio has a sensuously serpentine edge, with all the remaining surface curving to follow the edge. This must have been a monster to lay, but it's a true visual delight.
The other exterior feature of unusual note (besides those mature trees and hundreds of azaleas) is a small, widely canopied tree that shades the parking area. It's a spectacular natural piece of sculpture. I mistook it for an elm but upon consultation with my Peterson's Field Guide, I found it to be a hornbeam. It's a tree native to the eastern U.S. deciduous woodlands and not one I'd ever considered of ornamental value. Well, just like my initial impressions of this house before I stepped inside, I'd now have several misconceptions to reconsider while I was belatedly out to lunch.
236 St. Andrews Fairway
Approx. 2,730 square feet
3 bdrms, 2 baths; $299,000
Realtor: The Hobson Co., 761-1622
Agent: Laura Hobson, 761-4240