Past, Present, Future

Family puts down roots in historic Fayetteville neighborhood

Ashley Bernstein thinks visitors will love her Highland Avenue home -- or maybe not.

"It's got a lot of color," the Fayetteville resident said. "With two little boys, I like that. It might not be everybody's cup of tea."

Fast Facts

Washington Elementary

Tour of Homes Participants

• 503 E. Prospect St. — Daniel Keeley of DK Designs: Built in 1948. The front door is made of teak, and the accent wall in the den is 100-year-old barn wood. The floor in the bathroom is made of actual pebbles. As an exterior designer, Keeley set out to decorate his home exclusively with outdoor furnishings to illustrate how luxurious and stylish outdoor pieces can be.

• 531 N. Sequoyah Dr. — The Lefler-Noll House: An excellent example of mid-century post-modern, the home was designed by internationally acclaimed architect Edward Durell Stone, whose works include the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Museum of Modern Art and Radio City Music Hall. The Noll residence, built for Willis Noll, a local wholesale grocer, is Stone’s only residential design to be built in Fayetteville, his birthplace.

• 426 N. Highland Ave. — Aaron and Ashley Bernstein: Built in 1936, it underwent a “guts-to-the-studs” renovation in 2011 by Mark Zweig. All the original wood flooring that was hiding under layers of different flooring materials was refinished during the renovation.

• 507 N. Park Ave. — Suzannah M. Garrison: Built in 2002 in a style reminiscent of the Craftsman era, the 2,788-square-foot home features three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Originally designed as a duplex, but masked as a single family home in order to fit into the historic neighborhood, it was converted to a single family home in 2003 by the homeowner. The home features handmade bronze door knobs and hardware from Indonesia, oak low-gloss wood flooring throughout, marble countertops in the upstairs master bath and kitchen area and limestone from Eureka Springs in the custom design of the fireplace mantel.

• 609 W. Dickson St. No. 901 — Todd and Kristie Ross: With more than 4,000 square feet of modern urban living, Todd and Kristie Ross’ ninth-floor condo at The Dickson offers a sense of industrial design while also paying homage to the Razorbacks.

• 609 W. Dickson Street No. 905 — Dr. and Mrs. Michael Liggett make this ninth-floor condo at The Dickson their home away from home, with their primary residence in Fort Smith. With one bedroom and one bathroom, this 709-square-foot home brings the outside in and makes the small space feel large and unconfined with floor to ceiling windows.

French Metro Antiques at 200 W. Dickson St. will be hosting a reception and serving refreshments during the tour.

— Source: Melissa Werner

Go & Do

Washington Elementary

11th Annual Tour of Homes

When: Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday

Where: Six homes around Fayetteville

Cost: $20 in advance at Washington Elementary School office, French Metro Antiques, The Gift House or the downtown Bank of Fayetteville

Benefits: Washington Elementary School

Information: Melissa Werner at 466-1641

Thus, Bernstein admitted she's a little bit nervous about Saturday's 11th annual Washington Elementary Tour of Homes. But she had a handful of compelling personal reasons to open her house to the public: She's enjoyed the home tour herself since moving to Fayetteville. Her home is right across the street from the school. And she expects her sons will go to school there. But that doesn't mean she's calm about it.

"I'm most terrified someone will start opening closets," she said. "There's going to be a lot of stuff hiding in there!"

Bernstein and her husband bought the 1936 bungalow at 426 N. Highland Ave. a couple of years after Walmart transferred him to the home office in Bentonville. Building a new house was never something they considered, she said.

"We wanted something that already had character, that had had its own life."

Moving from Washington, D.C., the Bernsteins found that Fayetteville, with its "walkable" downtown, access to the arts and the University of Arkansas, drew them south, even though Aaron Bernstein drives to Bentonville every day.

"Fayetteville has its own charm," Ashley Bernstein said, plus the house had the historic feel of the two-story Colonial where she grew up outside of Baltimore. "And the neighborhood and the people felt the same," she added.

That connection to the neighborhood is important to Ashley McLarty, principal of Washington Elementary School.

"At Washington Elementary, we don't send children out to 'sell.' Instead, we focus on those events that connect our school with our community," she said. "Proceeds from this event serve to help the school with items not on the current budget," projects which in the past have included a climbing wall for the gym, updates to the music room and nutritious snacks for the various after-school programs.

The Washington Elementary Parent Teacher Organization is still waiting on final proposals from school administrators to decide how this year's profits will be allocated, tour chairwoman Melissa Werner said, but a portion of the money will be used to purchase furniture and computer accessories to better equip the computer lab and library.

"This fundraiser ... links the community and the school together while providing area residents with a glimpse in to some of the most beautiful and often historic homes in our school district," Werner added.

The Bernsteins were living in a rental on Rollston when they happened to see a listing for the historic Highland Avenue home. It appealed to them because it was big enough for a family -- by that time, Everett, now 4, had been born -- and had a yard for their dog. The 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom house was in the middle of a transformation by Mark Zweig, who has renovated properties all over Fayetteville.

"The house had a lot of character," remembered Zweig, an entrepreneur who moved to Fayetteville to be executive-in-residence at the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. "It's unusual for a house like that to have such a large, open living space. That appealed to me."

Like most of his renovations, he said, the home on Highland was sold before it was even finished.

Since buying the house, the Bernsteins have added a second child, Ellery, who is 1, along with a deck and wainscoting, landscaping and sewer work that Ashley Bernstein jokes was completely without glamour. The result, she said, "is homey," with several outdoor living areas, a playroom/family room, a hidden deck off the upstairs landing, a wraparound back deck and a separate trellised pavilion. The family's favorite parts of the home are the children's rooms, the kitchen and the front porch, she said.

"We are not pretentious people, not crystal-and-china people. I don't want the kids to feel like they can't make a mess."

She just doesn't want Saturday's visitors to see it.

NAN Life on 05/07/2014

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