Cliff and Darlene Meacham`s Victorian home remains essentially the same as when it was new in 1896.
The etched transom windows and pocket doors are in working order, and the newel post lamp still casts a warm glow. A bookshelf is carved into the fireplace mantle.
No well-meaning handymen have painted the bull`s eye woodwork or installed halogen lighting.
”You have a special house with lots of Victorian goodies,” Jan Kerr of Gloor Realty Co. in Oak Park told them.
The Meachams have lived in their Oak Park home for nine years-on the same block where Ernest Hemingway is said to have lived. They are looking for a lot on which to build a Tudor-style home and are hoping to be settled there before their son, Adam, starts kindergarten in the fall.
Kerr advised the Meachams recently on how to ready their home for resale at the maximum price.
Cellar suite
The legal description of ”four bedrooms and one-and-a-quarter baths” is something of a misnomer. The home also has a finished two-room basement suite with half bath, now inhabited by their teenage daughter, Tamara, as well as a finished attic with immense open space. There is also an office (perhaps once a linen room) on the second floor and there`s a parlor in addition to the living and dining rooms.
The kitchen is the home`s most obvious drawback. Cabinet and counter space are limited and the sink is tucked into a small pantry. In one corner is a triangular-shaped, built-in cabinet, which Cliff detests. He has been thinking about replacing it, along with the sink, and maybe installing new upper and lower cabinets in the pantry as well.
Kerr agreed that it would be wise to update the sink pantry. Her suggestions were to put shelves, rather than cabinets, on the wall so as not to crowd the tiny room, and to add a dishwasher and disposal as well. For the opposite wall, she advised putting in a hinged shelf at counter height to increase the work space.
”That`s a good idea,” Cliff agreed.
As for the corner cabinet, Kerr advised keeping it but inserting glass into the paneled doors. ”I think this is neat use of the space,” she added. ”You won`t find anything that will fit better.”
Basket showcase
The kitchen walls are papered in a bright green and red mini-floral against a white background. Darlene`s elaborate basket collection covers most of the area above the wainscoting. Here, Kerr advised taking down the wallpaper and replacing it with a textured vinyl to cover irregularities in the plaster. This would visually expand the kitchen and offer a more neutral showcase for the baskets, she explained.
”I`d also consider having the kitchen floor refinished,” Kerr said.
”You would recommend that as opposed to quarry tile or something?”
Cliff asked.
Kerr said yes, she would prefer to see the wood theme carried through.
Elsewhere in the home, Kerr counseled the Meachams to paint the stairs leading to the basement, paint a green radiator white and pare down the unenclosed foyer coat rack to a mere couple of garments.
”You`ve re-emphasized and firmed up many of the ideas I`ve had, but I`m surprised at your suggestions respective to the corner cabinet in the kitchen,” Cliff said.
”It`s part of what gives the room character,” Kerr said.
