837 Mentelle dr

Our first big restoration of a 1920’s era bungalow began on a walk through the neighborhood with Yoshi. The Mesurac family was selling the family home after mom Sarah had passed away, and daughter Donna was unable to take care of herself. Charlie was excited that we were going to salvage the house and let him come take some of the plant material from the yard. Sarah was an avid gardener. Some of her plants are still there today, particularly a large camellia that has been pruned and pampered into a beautiful living sculpture in the backyard.

During the project, Home Banc went bankrupt (2007), stopped answering the phones, and we were on our own. Happily, we finished it, moved in, rented our house on Argonne, and had fun on Mentelle for a couple of years, making friends that we still have today (Tom, Debra, Steed, Steve, Buddy, Greg, and more).

Just before Thanksgiving of 2009, the Leach’s came and toured the house, made an offer, and we welcomed new owners on Dec 28th, 2009. This history is forever etched in our minds. What a hard time it was, and we were so grateful to have enjoyed the home, gotten a real estate license (Dawn), met neighbors, and welcomed new ones!

Jeff and his wife Jill are still in the house today. He and his previous wife raised their twins at 837 Mentelle and made some backyard improvements that included a fire pit and giving some landscape love to the vintage plant material. Recently, he remarried, so he and Jill refreshed the primary bath and asked us to do a lighting upgrade in the whole house. We were excited to have the opportunity to work on our first project again! The kitchen and the other 2 baths have withstood the test of time, as you’ll see in the photos below, and all still look amazing. If you’re around Midtown, stroll by and check out Mentelle Dr, one of our favorite streets in the neighborhood (even though we live on Argonne now!)

We are excited to share the Before/After pics with our friends on our holiday card.