Bend Oregon Homes | A Drake Park Home Is Remodeled

TRADITION WITH A TOUCH OF PRACTICALITY

It was love at first sight when Claudia Hinz first saw the 75-year-old Colonial home on Drake Park. The stately structure reminded her of the classic homes in her native New England, and she loved the idea of raising her children near the park.

That was seven and a half years ago, and Claudia, her husband Tony, and their children Luke and Nicole (Anna hadn’t arrived quite yet) had just moved to Bend from Seattle, where Tony had completed his medical residency. The Hinz family bought the home and started their new life in Bend.

As the years passed, and with the birth of a third child, it became increasingly apparent that there were a few things that just weren’t quite right with the house of Claudia’s dreams. The narrow, walled-in stairway felt crammed against the front door and was one source of displeasure. “Most Colonials have these beautiful, grand stairwells,” she explains.

“This one was dark and crowded.” The kitchen, too, needed work. “It wasn’t really a cook’s kitchen, and it wasn’t efficient, especially for two people who like to cook side by side.”

By 2005, the couple was ready to make a few changes. Claudia remembers thinking that what their family needed more than anything else was a mudroom. Bend winters plus three children equaled a big mess—not to mention the fact that the family was considering adding a puppy to the mix. Claudia envisioned that the necessary new space would be at the back of the kitchen, with an exit to the backyard.

As these things go, that simple idea set wheels turning. If they were going to be renovating near the kitchen, perhaps they should renovate in the kitchen. And, then, maybe they should consider doing something about that small unusable powder room, which was in the same area. And what about the basement, wasn’t it just awful?

“Pretty soon, what began as a mudroom addition became a complete renovation,” recalls Claudia. “We ended up gutting the house down to the studs, affecting every wall in the house except for the enclosed patio.” The family moved out for several months, finally coming home to a gloriously refurbished home last April.

Rethinking the Home’s Traditional Spaces

Some of the most impressive—and ultimately most rewarding—changes that were made to the home came as suggestions from the staff at Norman Building and Design, the contracting and design company that the Hinzes hired for the home’s renovation. “The Norman team was really wonderful to work with and very instrumental in guiding the vision for the project,” says Claudia.

Other contractors, with whom they had consulted, had suggested to Tony and Claudia that they tear down and rebuild or build a major addition. “I never wanted to tear down completely,” says Claudia. “This is a historic home, and I always liked the original footprint.”

Norman’s designers suggested, instead, that the Hinz family re-imagine the spaces that already existed. The dining room, for example, faced the park and had a lovely view, but the family found it too formal and only used it once or twice a year. By tearing out the wall between that space and the kitchen, and replacing it with a chest-high, built-in cabinet, the dining room became a functional and integral part of the living space. “Now, we eat here every single night,” says Claudia, thumping a hand on the table decisively. Drake Park and the Deschutes River are visible through the large windows; ducks and geese cruise silently over the water.

The kitchen was updated into a practical nd elegant room. “I wanted something that felt Colonial, but also lived in, useable—not super fancy,” Claudia recalls. A floor-to-ceiling cabinet anchors one side of the room while separating the kitchen from the living room. The cabinet’s alder wood was stained mahogany brown and then airbrushed with a darker walnut hue. The piece has the weighty permanence of Colonial style.

In contrast, the kitchen’s remaining cabinets are painted antique white; two crystal lighting fixtures hang overhead and “add a bit of glamour,” says Claudia. A large island sits in the center; a counter comprises one side of the island, while the other side provides casual space  for a lineup of bar stools on which to sit while eating a quick meal, completing homework or creating art projects. As Claudia points out, the room also has plenty of “kid features.” A small desk tucked in the back corner holds a laptop computer, pens and paper and a corkboard covered with family photos. Around the corner, toward the children’s rooms, is a giant magnetic chalkboard holding school assignments, works of art and the family’s scheduling reminders.

While the children’s rooms were left intact (the oak hardwood floors and built-in closets were just as appropriate for the Hinz children today as they’d been for their predecessors), the small powder room off the kitchen was enlarged and transformed into a bath for the girls to share, leaving the other existing bathroom to Luke. And then there’s the space that led to all the other renovations—the mudroom. It has the features that one would expect—a utility sink, laundry facilities and cabinets—but the most brilliant feature was Claudia’s brainstorm. Three cubbies, one for each child, line one wall. In addition to a shoe nook and coat hook, each cubby incorporates a cabinet full of extra baskets in which to tuck off-season clothing. No need to haul stuff to the basement as the weather changes.

The basement, in fact, isn’t used to store much of anything anymore. The formerly dank and dark space was excavated and transformed to the exact specifications of Tony’s dream, says Claudia. A sofa, big-screen television, pool table and foosball table fill the area.

Adjacent to Tony’s space—but out of sight—is the kids’ play room, where Claudia and Tony retained a Prohibition-era built-in cabinet that was used to hide liquor. It now holds the children’s cassette tapes. “It’s one of the fun, historic things about this house,” explains Claudia.

Stepping Up the Sophistication

The renovations wouldn’t have been nearly as successful had Claudia not ended up with her “pretty New England stairway,” though creating it also required completely moving it. Now at the back of the house, the staircase, with a dark walnut handrail and bright white spindles, leads to the second fl oor with the Colonial openness and style that Claudia wanted. At the landing, an immense window looks over the backyard and a chandelier hangs above to illuminate the stairs. On the walls are family photos—“my favorite decoration,” says Claudia.

Upstairs, the space was reconfigured to fi t the home’s refocused design style and better suit the family’s needs. A guest suite is furnished with a tall bed and an armoire and pastoral paintings of flora and fauna hang on the walls. Next door, the office has double-crown molding, bead-board walls and a desk. On top of the desk lie two clues as to where Tony and Claudia met—Harvard diplomas from the late 1980s.

Exercise equipment including stationary bicycles, weights and a treadmill, outfit another upstairs room. Tony, who played football at Harvard (and was even scouted by the New England Patriots) before graduating and heading to the University of Washington medical school, works out regularly. Claudia, who was a television reporter in Dallas, is athletic, too.

The master bedroom was always a decent size, says Claudia, but the door opening to the outside was too small in proportion to the deck. Installing two sets of French doors added both light and a view to the room. “I just love the light,” says Claudia, who hasn’t even bothered to add window coverings. The deck and a tree provide adequate privacy. The master bath was redone with white marble, “like a typical, continental-style bath,” says Claudia.

Authentic Meets Personal

Claudia descends to the first floor, briefly showing off the living room. The space is fancy enough for entertaining while practical enough for family use.

The living room opens to one of the few untouched spaces in the house—the enclosed patio. Here, more family photos cover ample bookshelves, windows give another view of the park, and Claudia’s violin and her son’s clarinet sit on a table, awaiting the next musical interlude. The room, like the rest of the home, is elegant and informal at the same time.

The interior design decisions made during the renovation were driven by Claudia’s wishes and ideas for a classic Colonial home with the help of Kristin Froelke of Norman Building and Design.

“She was really good at listening and hearing what I said at the beginning about my concept, and then steering me as we went,” Claudia explains. “She really helped me stick with my vision and style.”

Claudia admits that while that vision drove every consideration from drawer pulls to area rugs, allowances were made. “For instance, the guest-suite bath has travertine,” she says. “Would you find travertine in a 1925 home? No. But does it fit visually? Is it comfortable and warm? Yes.”

It is those deviations and the mixture of traditional and modern, authentic and personal that make the Hinz home classic and inviting all at once. Look around: an antique map of London that belonged to Claudia’s grandfather is juxtaposed against a photo of the couple’s young daughters mugging it up for the camera; an old blue breadbox that Claudia found in Maine is set against the traditional lines and shades of her kitchen cabinetry; and Luke’s surfboard-shaped bath rug lies on the home’s original, narrow oak flooring.

The Hinzes’ redesigned space makes two final impressions: the remodel was thoughtfully done and the finished project is exactly what they wanted and needed ina home—a Colonial look with a well-developed mud room.