Bungalow a vision of color YOUR BEAUTIFUL HOME

When Kristen Lobdell and her sister, Darci Hastings, purchased a 1903 bungalow five years ago, the lawn was dying and the landscaping nonexistent. Now, thanks to Lobdell’s passion for gardening, visitors to the home on the lower South Hill are greeted by a dazzling display of color.

Lobdell and her sister both married shortly after purchasing the home, so Hastings moved out and Lobdell’s husband, Nick Lobdell, moved in.

The young couple is putting a lot of work into the house, installing a sprinkler system and planting roses, cannas, zinnias and lots of dahlias, Lobdell’s favorite flower. The white picket fence is lined with blossoms all the way into September.

“When I bought this house there wasn’t a lot to love,” Lobdell said. The first interior project was to rip up the 1970s era brown carpet, and reveal hardwood floors.

Next the couple discovered that what appeared to be a front room closet was actually a small room that had been converted to storage space. They tore out the plywood walls and created a cozy den nestled under the stairs instead.

Behind homemade curtains they found lovely leaded-glass windows flanking the fireplace.

“It’s been fun finding the hidden characteristics,” Lobdell says.

Her mother is an avid antique collector, and she contributes many unique items to the home, which is furnished with a mix of old and new.

Lobdell grandmother’s Victrola has a place of honor in the home, as does her grandfather’s leather chair.

Now, her favorite room is the kitchen.

“We took out two ceilings,” Nick said. That messy job was necessary to get rid of a ceiling that had been added after a fire.

The whole kitchen got a coat of pistachio-colored paint, giving new life to the drab walls. White bead board trim and elegant French doors add to the open feel of the room.

A picture from a Pottery Barn catalog inspired Lobdell to create a contemporary purple bathroom, finished with white molding and an antique claw foot tub.

With five bedrooms and two baths in the house there are more projects awaiting this creative couple, but the home already holds precious memories for Lobdell.

Her father installed and painted the beautiful banister around the stairs. Although he was ill with cancer, he insisted on painting the trim on the kitchen window before he died in November 2004.

“I always think of my dad when I look out that window,” she says.