Beautiful renovation and expansion of older Victorian house. Amazing new family room / sun room addition will be showcased along with all 3 floors of home.

207 Wilber Avenue
Owner: Aaron Borchers

Aaron’s previous home was on the 2012 tour, but shortly thereafter he decided he was eager for another project and purchased this home in January 2013. The fact that the home needed to be converted from a split dwelling to a single-family home meant that, for Aaron, the project would be the equivalent of how a Real Housewife feels about her face: a complete renovation was needed.

The front door was relocated back to its original location. Walls and stairways were eliminated or moved and the kitchen and baths were gutted. Many new features including modern lighting, plumbing fixtures and gray cabinets juxtapose the historic features that remain. Aaron’s growing collection of local art is displayed throughout the home.

A fireplace in the second-floor master bedroom was built out to accommodate the headboard and create floor to ceiling niches. A master bath was added in the former nursery and includes period tile and Carrera marble floors to match three fireplace surrounds throughout the home. The entrance to the bedroom was moved to include the en suite bath. The brick in the backyard was found when digging the foundation for the garage and has been repurposed in the landscaping.

In 2014, Aaron turned his attention to finishing the third floor, utilizing iron turnbuckle collar ties to raise the attic ceiling to the original roofline. He added a closet within the existing master walk-in closet to relocate the washer / dryer into the on-suite, and added an archway to flank the new closet making it appear as an original architectural detail.

Two years later, he expanded the first floor with the addition of a family room, butler’s pantry and rear entry to greatly increase light and movement throughout the house and provide greater connection to the backyard.

An existing window was removed to provide access to the butler’s pantry / rear entry addition. The original rear door opening was expanded to create an archway into the new family room which mirrors the archway into the original dining room. Attention was paid to keep the original brick exterior wall intact when adding steel beams – which is now exposed in the addition. The family room provides modern amenities – open living space, wall of glass, and a gas fireplace, designed by urbanorder architecture to blend with the 1895 Victorian home. The addition turned out to be a great mixing of historic charm with modern comfort and is a great space for entertaining (if we were on “House Hunters.”)

Following the construction, the backyard hardscape and landscape was redesigned by balancing natural materials – Indiana limestone and Pennsylvania Bluestone – with more modern design aesthetics such as raised planters to address the elevation between the addition and garage.

Throughout the home, Aaron has continued to refine his aesthetic – introducing a series of haberdashery fabric wallpaper – men’s suiting patterns including pinstripes, windowpanes, and tweed chevrons.

Aaron plans to transform turning the third floor into a media room with the continued help of urbanorder architecture and JWAA Interiors.