On a walk one day in her Clintonville neighborhood, Tisha Welday noticed a home for sale that she thought would be perfect for her and her husband, Chad. The couple, who have lived in Clintonville since moving back to Ohio in 2007, were looking for a property with more space and more land.
The (then) two bedroom, one bathroom home, built in 1922, wasn’t exactly turn-key. Kept as a rental property for the last 30 years, the house came with a lot of deferred maintenance and necessary upgrades.
But, it also included a large backyard and a lot of charm, and Tisha saw nothing but potential. The couple purchased the home in 2016 and have spent the last six years restoring it to its original glory, with Tisha taking much of the lead on the projects.
“We realized that the house needed a lot of work and that we would need to add on, but thought we were up for the challenge,” Tisha said. “I was drawn to the fact that it had many of the original features intact: pantry built-in, unpainted woodwork and doors, wood floors and windows.”
Original, in fact, both in its uniqueness and its hat tip to the past, might best describe Tisha’s aesthetic. As she’s thoughtfully made her way through styling and rehabilitating each room of the home – including the addition of one bedroom, two full bathrooms, and a large living space – Tisha has made sure to keep the 100-year integrity of the home intact.
“I’m a big believer in rehabilitation vs. renovation,” she said. “I have very strong feelings about removing original features from a historic home, throwing out quality pieces for something new that’s more “in style,” and painting over wood. Seeing original doors and windows on the curb that have been removed from a home make me want to cry.”
Tisha’s favorite part of the home? The original butler’s pantry cabinet. When the living room add-on meant the cabinet would have to be moved, Tisha, along with her father and father-in-law, painstakingly dismantled and reassembled the pantry in a new location off the kitchen. She added a new countertop using a piece of marble from an old fireplace hearth.
“Would it have been easier to buy new cabinetry? Absolutely. But this 100-year-old wood was irreplaceable in my mind,” she said.
Home rehabilitation has also included work on the original bathroom. With only two months between closing on the house and move-in day, Tisha, starting from the subfloor up, redid the walls and floor tile, and installed a new sink and toilet. Kept as is? The original clawfoot tub, built-ins and medicine cabinet, of course.
“My hope was to honor what the bathroom may have been like in the 1920’s while updating it in a timeless fashion,” Tisha said. “It’s small and not a grand space, but it fits the house perfectly.”
Although Tisha said the house will never be truly ‘done’ (“There are a million-and-one things that I’d like to do in the family room alone,” she joked), most of the big projects are finished.
“Now, I can get back to doing some things just for the pure joy of it,” Tisha said. “Right now, we are working on restoring our 100-year-old windows, one by one, with the help of a window restoration specialist.”
Tisha shares more of her home projects on her blog, thisoldclintonvillehouse.com, and on her Instagram: @thisoldclintonvillehouse.
At Home is a monthly column on Columbus Underground focused on urban home remodeling and style as well as older home renovations and unique homes in Columbus. If you would like to have your home featured in the At Home series, please send an email to [email protected].
Photos by Lindsey Thieken unless otherwise noted
