First-time home buyer finds East Memphis house in quiet area with good-sized yard
Hillary Fawcett had many reasons for her latest move. She was renting an apartment and her rent went up significantly. Plus, she was ready to buy a house and have a place that she could make her own. Other things that contributed to her move were: she wanted more room, she wanted to live closer to her work at an area hospital, and her daughter wanted to have a larger yard.
“It came down to wanting a single-story house with a good-sized yard,” said Fawcett. “Ideally the house would have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. I was connected to Jennifer Williams, a real estate agent with Hobson Realtors, through Dr. Allen Berry, with whom I work. Jennifer was an outstanding agent, I can’t sing her praises loud enough. We looked at 10 properties or so. We found exactly the home I had hoped for in the Hilldale Gardens subdivision of East Memphis.” Fawcett paid $257,000 for 1,338 square feet of living space.
Fawcett recalled, “The traditional, painted brick home, c. 1952, offered three bedrooms and two bathrooms, all on one floor. Also, it had a large area for the combo living room/dining room. With the house being older, it had a lot of charm, initially. However, my pipes burst 20 days after closing, before I had moved in. A lot of the things I loved, such as the original hardwoods, were destroyed. Almost everything in the house had to be torn out and replaced because the water got under the floors. All of the floors were replaced with new hardwoods and stained. The kitchen was completely demolished and renovated. I did not change the layout, but simply replaced the flooring and cabinetry. For the floors, I chose to install hardwoods. For the cabinets, I had painted wooden ones custom-designed that went all the way to the ceiling. Also, I replaced the countertops with a different granite. This one was a white granite with shades of gray.
“The bathrooms were also completely renovated,” continued Fawcett. “I chose to line the master shower walls with a subway tile laid in a herringbone pattern and added an accent wall with a light blue floral pattern. And I selected old-fashioned penny tiles for the floor. The hall bath was also redone with subway tiles in a herringbone pattern in the shower. I chose a gray and white patterned tile for that bathroom floor.”
After completing the renovation following the water pipe incident, Fawcett said that she doesn’t plan to change much else.
“A lot of thought was put into the new features,” explained Fawcett. “My builder really helped me get exactly what I wanted out of the renovation. My realtor even helped me select the tile for the bathrooms because I was completely overwhelmed with all of the decisions. However, a lot of the charming characteristics, such as the hallway phone niche, were able to be salvaged.” “I also like my deck in the backyard,” added Fawcett. “And, both the front and the backyard were already nicely landscaped.
As for my neighborhood, it’s really quiet. My neighbors are very nice and everyone that I’ve had the chance to meet has been very welcoming. I’m located within walking distance to The Greenline, and just minutes away by car to many of the amenities and attractions in both East Memphis and Midtown.”
Emily Adams Keplinger is a freelance reporter who produced this feature for the Advertising Department.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: “It came down to wanting a single-story house with a good-sized yard.”
