From nearly condemned to jaw-dropping, this makeover in Covington’s MainStrasse Village neighborhood is a stunner. It is the focus of this week’s episode of Beyond the Curb: River City Living.
When developer Joe Stevie bought the building, it was in terrible shape. It had gotten so bad that the former owner, an elderly woman, had been living only in the kitchen.
Stevie, who owns several houses on the street, saw the building’s potential and agreed to buy it.
His wife Andrea tells the story, “When I first walked through the house, I said, ‘I’m not living here.’ Then I saw the design for the closet, so I said, ‘OK!’”
Her dream closet/dressing room is part of the addition built onto the back of the house. The decrepit kitchen, which was a previous addition to the original building, was torn down and replaced with two stories that include a large garage (unusual in the neighborhood), a first-floor powder room, the completely customized dressing room, a fitness room and a rooftop deck.
One of Joe Stevie’s favorite features of the renovation is the flooring on the ground level. Because the original wood floor was not salvageable, they replaced it with quartersawn white oak, laid in a herringbone pattern. This detail lends an upscale look that is continued with elements like the backsplash made from bronzed mirror, lighting fixtures in the kitchen and dining room, and the elegant fireplace in the living room.
The dream closet
This renovation may have started with the closet design, but it ended up being a beautiful, top-to-bottom success.
Watch new episodes of Beyond the Curb: River City Living every Friday. The entire series can be seen at www.BeyondtheCurb.org/video-tours.
The Catalytic Fund is the private sector, not-for-profit organization that provides financing assistance and related services for developers of quality residential and commercial real estate projects in Northern Kentucky’s urban cities of Ludlow, Covington, Newport, Bellevue and Dayton. Its mission is to accelerate Northern Kentucky’s urban renaissance through targeted investments in catalytic real estate development projects in urban neighborhoods.
