Dream Come True

Grandview family updates historic house to fit lifestyle

Although they have been in their Grandview home for roughly four years, Kristin and Andy Smock almost walked away from the historic house. While it was in the neighborhood they wanted, it wasn’t what they were looking for. Its outdated kitchen, lack of insulation and unfinished basement were not ideal. Andy was sure he wasn’t interested, but Kristin had an idea of how to change that.

“She thought, ‘You know, if we expand a little bit and remodel it just a little, we could potentially get the house that we’ve always wanted. Exactly what we want for the same process of a move-inready home,’” he says.

While it would take some time to get to that dream home – albeit with a fun demolition party along the way – they were willing to take that journey and were happy to have Susan and Bob Dyas at Epic Group guiding the way.

Blending past with present

Since the house was built in 1919, they needed to make some changes. But the Smocks wanted to keep as much of the original plan as possible.

Some unchanged elements include the built-in shelving and oak floor in the dining and living rooms, as well as the double French doors that lead out to the front porch.

Most of the original pine flooring on the second level was also preserved, with any updated rooms getting matching flooring. Because they added about 164 square feet to the kitchen, it needed new flooring. The before photos are almost unrecognizable from the space it is today. Epic Group and the Smocks completely transformed the home, from appliances being moved and replaced to repainting cabinets to update an unappealing color.

“Blue cabinets in the kitchen, and not good a blue,” Kristin says. “Blue is back in style, but this blue was not great.”

From the ground up (and up)

But the kitchen wasn’t the only space that needed attention to become the Smocks’ ideal home. Off the southwest side of the house they built a 750-squarefoot addition – stretching all three floors – to create a guest bedroom in the basement, a family room on the first floor and an owner’s suite on the second.

This addition didn’t come without its challenges, and there was one major roadblock that stopped everything in its tracks: they lifted the basement tile floor to unveil dirt. There was no foundation underneath.

“It was like it looked like an M&M to me,” Kristin says.

With concerns of how to proceed, the Dyases had the city engineer evaluate the situation and help find a solution. Andy says what helped turn it around was how well Epic Group handled everything and kept them involved so they didn’t feel blindsided.

“They came out and we talked. They were like, ‘Here’s the fix, here’s repairs (and) what it’s gonna cost,” he

Fun Fact!

On the second floor between the owner’s suite and the laundry room sits a secret office space hidden behind a bookcaseturned-door. The idea stuck with the Smocks after they saw it in a house in the Parade of Homes and wanted to include it as a getaway spot in their house.