JUAN (42) & LENA (30)

Home: 1927 Tudor Revival

Layout: 5 Bedrooms 4.5 Bath

Square Footage: 5,000 SQFT

Budget: 60k-80k

RESTORATION NEEDS                   

1. Kitchen

2. Bedrooms (Refresh & Remodel)

3. Bathrooms

4. Wood Floors

Juan and Lena Gonzalez are incredibly hard-working professional trying to make the most of their life with their 18-month old baby boy, JR. With family being such an important part of their lives they decided to buy a beautiful 1927 Tudor Revival home in the Palmer Woods neighborhood of Detroit. They instantly fell in love with the historic charm of the local community and the abundance of young families in the neighborhood. In every way, Palmer Woods was the perfect neighborhood to raise their growing family. Juan and Lena purchased their home back in December of 2016 with the expectation they would have the home ready for the arrival of their first child, while also becoming “handy fixer-uppers” in the process. However, as reality quickly set in, they realized they wouldn’t be able to execute their vision in a timely manner and with the arrival of their son, the priorities with the house fell to the wayside.

In early 2020, the Gonzalez’s decided it was time once again to begin the process of restoring their historic home now that JR was no longer an infant.  They started by making small changes with the plumbing and electric as well as upgrades to some of the bathrooms.  However, as soon as the real work began, the world would be overcome by the Coronavirus Pandemic and finding competent help was nearly impossible. To make matters worse, both Juan and Lena caught the COVID-19 virus, and their restoration plans would be immediately put on hold again as they recovered and the rest of the world shut down. It was during isolation, Juan and Lena realized more than ever they were “sick of repairing the home”, even contemplating just packing up and leaving for good. The stress of being overwhelmed by the amount of work that was required and being unable to get the help they desperately needed made them feel more isolated than ever.

Juan and Lena have since realized they have “bitten off more than they can chew” but also know this is the home they want to live in forever. On top of demanding careers, and being parents to an active 18-month old son, it is exhausting for them to try and get everything done themselves when they simply don’t have the expertise. Juan says they would “hate to give up on the idea of making this house come back to what it was in the 1920’s” and wants to exhaust all options before making a drastic decision like leaving. They’ve built a family in this home and feel with the help of an expert, there is hope to restore their home the way it deserves. Lena would love to have another child soon but neither of them can imagine that scenario with such a long laundry list of repairs that need to be done. They need help right now, more than ever. 

Kitchen: The kitchen is top priority for Juan and Lena. The kitchen “feels small and dated” and they would love to make it feel like there is more usable space.  It’s currently very cramped even though there is seemingly a lot of square footage. The layout is simply not fit for a modern family’s needs and requires a total redesign. The kitchen also needs repairs including a leaking sink, plumbing issues, rotting windows and peeling wood finishes.

Bedrooms: They have a very large main bedroom that was built with a lot of “unusable space.”  With odd alcoves and walls that seem to break up the space for no reason the current configuration is making it nearly impossible for them to feel that the bedroom is their “sanctuary.” They are constantly trying to figure out how to configure their furniture to maximize the space but Lena has given up. She would love for someone to provide a new layout that will give her the peace and relaxation she desperately needs at the end of the day.

Bathrooms: All of the five bathrooms in the house are dated and are in need of repair, especially the main bathroom and the powder room on the first floor which they say “makes an airplane bathroom seem spacious.” The main bathroom has three doors leading to all different rooms and a shower that doesn’t function. Both Juan and Lena have no idea how to make it functional and would love to close off two of the doors to ensure each person has their privacy.

Wood Floors: The wood floors throughout the home are in desperate need of re-sanding and staining. They want to make sure their son will be safe from any splinters or any nails now that he’s becoming more and more active around the house.