Good Options

think of Waynoka Circle and High Point Terrace as similar areas. They both have smaller, post-WWII homes sited on well-scaled lots in a great location. They both feature homes that were well-built, well-maintained, and -- only because they are smaller -- moderately priced, making them hot areas for first-time homebuyers. The well-scaled lots offer the possibility of adding an enlarged master suite and family room which would neither eat up every square inch of rear yard nor overbuild the neighborhood.

This house, built in 1950, has solid oak floors, plaster walls, and an intriguing floor plan which includes a spacious side-entry porch redone in an elegant gray flagstone. The generous scale of this porch was unusual by the 1920s, much less the 1950s, and it's laid out in a most usable manner, which is also unusual.

The front elevation as a whole struck me as a little out of the ordinary for this size house. The porch is tucked under the right wing of the roof with a staircase and kitchen behind. The left wing holds the two bedrooms and bath. The center of the house is pulled forward with a gable facing the street and tall (almost floor-to-ceiling) windows filling this space. The living room is the immediate beneficiary of these grand windows, as well as, but more distantly, the dining room behind. It's a most successful, free-thinking interpretation of the Neo-Colonial Revival style.

More typical layouts from this period would have the front door visibly on the front and the porch as the most prominent feature of the facade. But this layout dedicates the most prominent space to the living room and allows the main flow of traffic to cut across a corner of the room rather than down the middle of the conversational area. You rarely encounter such good planning at prices even three times this one!

The kitchen has a galley layout with a side door to the drive and another flagstone patio in the rear yard. There's a garage and a tall, wooden privacy fence out back, too. It would be nice to add more landscaping, but first I'd decide if there were going to be any additions and then begin planting in areas to be unaffected.

The two original bedrooms and bath are comfortable, but nothing you'd get lost in. Fortunately, the rear master bedroom is well-laid-out and had room for an extra wall of closets, which add a lot of storage. It would be easy to push this room out to the rear and even add another bath. Not only would this kind of addition make the house more livable, but a rear wing wrapping around the existing stone patio would give it a more intimate, courtyard feeling. When an addition can enhance both inside and outside, you gain double for your dollar.

Lastly, there's a finished attic room, which, like the rest of the house, benefits from the installation of a central heat and air system. This bonus room could be a home office, den, guest room, or, with good planning, all three. It's just another example of how this house plan and lot offers an unusually beguiling range of good options.

3188 North Waynoka Circle
Approximately 1,150 sq. ft.
2 bdrms, 1 bath; $72,500
Realtor: Sowell & Co., 278-4380
Agent: Sue Beyer King, 278-6436