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2002 Home Tour

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The H. P. Barnhart/C. F. Wright House
1828 NE Knott St.

Frederic Bowman was one of Irvington's most prolific and creative architects and builders despite his lack of formal architectural training.  His work in the neighborhood runs to scores of houses and apartments, nearly all of which display one of the Arts & Crafts-related styles: Craftsman, Prairie, and even Mission Revival.  

This home was a speculative construction that Bowman undertook in 1913-1914, and was the largest and grandest of Bowman's Arts & Crafts homes in Irvington.  He sold it for $20,000 to a wealthy investor Harvey P. Barnhart.  Just 3 years later, Charles E. Wright, a bicycle, motorcycle and auto parts manufacturer took ownership.  Click here for more historic details. 

The current owners have lavished exquisite attention to detail on this National Register-listed home, and filled it with their stunning collection of Art Deco furniture and art objects.  They are avid preservationists, and their devotion to architectural and historic integrity is exemplified throughout their home.  For example, their recent upgrades and improvements to the home include all new windows, custom crafted to match the look of the originals, new bathrooms tiled with tiles glazed like their antique predecessors, and repairs and extensions of the gleaming mahogany moldings - made to be indistinguishable from the originals.

Perhaps the most extensive change to the home undertaken by the current owners was the complete "studs up" reconstruction of the kitchen.  Creating a kitchen with modern conveniences while retaining the historic integrity was a challenge, but the result is a brilliant success.  Appliances, which could not have been present in the original kitchen, have been cleverly hidden throughout the space.  Attention was even paid to the countertop materials.  Granite, the choice for top quality renovations today, was not used in the first years of the 20th century.  The solution was to use a rare form of granite, imported from Iran, which has the look of marble, which was often used in fine homes of the period, but has the durability and practicality of granite.

This home represents the end of a several-year, national search for an ideal home, neighborhood and city.  They found all that and more in this home and their Irvington neighborhood.