Bathroom after
Bathroom before
Staircase after
Kitchen before
historic thin-plank hard- wood floors, which are truly irreplaceable. “I could write a book about wood-strip- ping products at this point,” Hatley laughed, “but those floors were not coming out on my watch. They are beautiful. You will never be able to replace them with anything like them because no one makes that flooring anymore.” The floors are featured throughout the house, including in the bed- rooms (opposite page) and kitchen (opposite page).
Bedroom before
Bedroom after
Staircase before
Kitchen after
Floor before
Of all the surprises the house held for the Hatleys, however, the kitchen probably was the most exciting adventure of all. “We knew going in that gold popcorn was coming down. What we didn’t know, however, was that in the kitchen, above that false ceiling, there was a second layer of cabinets, original to the house, that went all the way up to the ceiling,” Hatley recalled. She noted this is not an uncommon find in historic houses. “With 12 feet to work with, a lot of people will just slap up a new ceiling instead of repairing plaster or signs of water damage.” Ultimately, Hatley opted to keep all of the cabinets, “even though you need a ladder to get to the top ones,” and replaced all the doors, drawers, and fixtures. The investors also commissioned a custom island standing on repurposed porch columns (pictured right), which Hatley opted to leave unpainted. “I wanted to keep some of the character from the old kitchen,” she explained. The bedrooms, like the rest of the living areas on the main level, feature the thin-plank hardwood floors Hatley's flooring team worked so hard to restore. The bathrooms are fully updated, and the investors added one more bath during the renovation. “The
Kitchen details: Farmhouse sink and new fixtures
Basement after
Staircase after
bathrooms have new tile,” Hatley admitted. “We scavenged their hardwood for the rest of the house!” They pulled the planks from closets as well. Wondering where the pictures of the “mob” tunnel are hidden? Turns out, there aren’t any. “In all honesty, I think they had plumbing problems or needed to replace a sewer line and jackhammered the floor. Then, they hid it under shag carpet,” Hatley said ruefully. During the renovation, she had not yet learned about that tidbit of the house’s “legend,” so the crew simply replaced the entire
concrete floor and turned the area into a game room. “I wish I had known,” she said. “If I’d dug the whole thing up, I could have found Jimmy Hoffa!” Instead, she’ll have to content herself with the satisfaction of a challenging restoration project completed and producing in her property portfolio. •
dents in the area would prefer a "little green" instead. “We put down sod, watered it forever, and now it has a little yard,” Hatley said. One of the home’s unique attributes that ultimately convinced Hatley to keep the property as a single-family residence, the his- toric staircase, was certainly a well-hidden gem at the start. “It was covered layers of paint and disgusting, red, soiled carpet, but you could tell even then that underneath, there was a beautiful stair- case. Under the trash, there was something really lovely,” she said. Above, the finished staircase graces the entryway along with the
Malia and Jason Hatley are co-owners of Hatley RE Investments. Learn more about this and other projects by emailing HatleyREInvestments@gmail.com.
16 | think realty magazine :: november 2018
thinkrealty . com | 17
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