Find ideas for space solutions at Elk Grove Village housewalk
Jim and Maureen Lenski knew others would think they were crazy for spending nearly $280,000 gutting and rehabbing a tract home they bought for $185,000.
But for the Elk Grove Village couple whose children had flown the coop, it was the home they were going to spend their retirement years in and they wanted it to be just perfect.
“I wanted to stay in the neighborhood,” Jim Lenski said joking that it was full of “either newlyweds or newly deads.”
The Lenskis' home is one of eight redesigned tract homes in Elk Grove Village featured in the third annual Kenneth Young Center house walk from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 17. The tour benefits the center, which provides mental health and senior citizens' services in Elk Grove Village.
For homeowners considering their own remodeling projects, the homes on display should offer ideas on finding solutions to space and functionality problems, said Lois Colaprete, house walk coordinator.
“I live in a tract house in Elk Grove Village, and I realized years ago when I put a fireplace in, people are dying to know what (their neighbors) are doing,” Colaprete said. “Most of the house walks are either very expensive homes or homes with historic value.”
The Lenskis bought their 1959 tract home in June 2001 from a couple with three children, all boys.
“It was pretty well rundown,” Jim Lenski said. “It wasn't the ugliest house on the block but it was in the bottom three. It needed work. I decided to do my own work. Basically, I didn't want to move.”
The roughly 1,300-square-foot home originally had three bedrooms, one bath, a family room that had been added on and a single-car garage. It needed new siding, windows, a roof and flooring.
After getting estimates from individual contractors, the Lenskis found that it would cost them anywhere from $300,000 to $400,000 to rebuild their home. They ultimately went with Tony Slade with DESIGNfirst Builders Inc., whom they found on Craigslist, a free online classified listing.
The Lenskis' vision for their home was simple: they could live with only two bedrooms, but definitely needed a second bathroom, a larger kitchen, a two-car garage and more storage space since the home didn't have a basement.
With all the work involved, the couple moved out for about four months while a construction crew ripped apart the interior.
“The only thing that remained was outside walls,” Jim Lenski said.
The remodeling work included widening the garage by 10 feet and raising the roof a foot to increase the storage capacity, and putting trusses in and raising the roof of the home another foot above the average 8-foot ceiling. One bedroom was converted into office space with a pullout bed that fits into a cabinet, and a second bedroom adjacent to the master suite became Maureen's new walk-in closet and allowed for a larger bathroom to accommodate a whirlpool tub and stand-up shower.
The larger kitchen was an add-on that was “Maureen's dream concept,” Jim Lenski said, showing off the granite counters, pine cabinets and center island in their now spacious kitchen expanded over the former concrete patio.
“I wanted the large kitchen and open floor plan to accommodate family gatherings,” Maureen Lenski said.
The redesign allowed the creation of a separate room for a butler's pantry, slop sink and washer and dryer.
Wherever possible, the Lenskis did their own work, including laying all the stonework for the front and rear patios of the home. Jim used his carpentry skills to finish doors he bought from Menards, and Maureen did all the landscaping.
Slade said the Lenskis went for the more economical options and still came out with a more energy-efficient home using less water, heating and cooling.
“What a lot of people don't think about is it's not just improving the way it looks, but (also) the way it performs,” Slade said. “A house like this, although you invest a lot, it can be a new annuity. It's a true testament to the community when someone says ‘I know I'm spending more but I like where I live.' ”
Tickets for the house walk are $20 in advance and $25 on Sept. 17. The event, sponsored by Prudential American Heritage Real Estate, Elk Grove Village Bank & Trust and Gullo International, will include a free expo of services, merchandise and decor from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
For more information, call (847) 524-8800, ext. 141, or (708) 702-1267.