Sarah and Drew
Tudor Bungalow- 2400 Sq Feet
3 bedroom/2 bath
Interviewed on August 13th, 2017
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After my last blog post, I asked our neighborhood Facebook group if anyone wanted to have their house featured. I received this response from a couple:
Hi!
If you ever want to feature our home, we would be honored to sit down and talk with you. We live at 1436 s Florence Place and bought and renovated our home in the last 8 months. We want this house to be our forever home, we love it so much. Our house is around 2400 square feet, with an entirely finished upstairs, and I am sure it has to have a unique and interesting history as one of the bigger homes in our neighborhood. It would be incredible to find out who built this big ol' house in 1929.
We bought it in October 2016 and have tried to bring back its former glory and really showcase the original floors, doors, knobs, and every special little architectural detail...We adore this house and would love to show it to you if you ever want to take a peek! 
-Sarah & Drew
I could not turn down this offer! We met up on a Sunday afternoon; Sarah, Drew and two pups greeted me warmly and ushered me into their home. I was immediately enveloped in a light, bright, bohemian decor. I tried to focus on the house itself, but the decor and art were impossible to ignore.
Sarah and Drew explained that when they got married, they hoped for a "dream home" one day, but also weren't sure they would be able to afford it given the maintenance and repairs that come with older homes. Nonetheless, they decided to buckle down and live in Sarah's childhood home in order to save money for a nice down payment. They began looking at houses before they were ready to buy, but then stopped, finding it too emotional. When the one was listed on-line, they drove by, watched the listing and noticed when the price dropped. The first time they walked in, even though it was "kind of scary", they both knew it was their home.
To learn more about the house, Sarah and Drew generously gave me permission to check out their abstract. An abstract is a collection of documents that chronicles any transaction related to a parcel of land. The compilation of documents is protected and stored by an abstract company and is nearly impossible to recreate. If lost or damaged, the abstract can cost upwards of $700 to replace. After I checked out their abstract, I guarded it with my life!
The abstract showed the property was part of a 120 acre Creek allotment assigned to Mary Perryman. (Later she went by her married name, Harkness.) The allotment deed was dated July 27th, 1903. I found it difficult to understand what all the documents meant, but it seems that although it was her allotment, she didn't control much of it. "Trustees" leased out oil, gas, and parts of the land, sold off the timber, and so forth. The property was eventually subdivided and called East Lawn Addition. Trustees sold the lot that the home was eventually built on to Mae Steiner Neal for $500 on December 31st, 1921. The sale specified the following:
It is understood and agreed that this lot shall be used for residence purposes only and the minimum cost of said dwelling shall be thirty-five hundred Dollars when completed and no part of said dwelling to be nearer the front line of the lot than 35 feet. It is further agreed that this lot shall never be occupied by or sold to one of negro race.
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| 1921 Stipulation for future sale |
In March 1929, the property changed hands again. Mae Steiner Neal and J. W. Neal sold the lot to J. R. and Lola Schwyhart. A mortgage in the amount of $5200 was taken out to build the home. The Home Building and Loan Association of Tulsa provided the loan to be paid at the rate of $56.63 per month on or before the 15th day of each month.
There is a good chance the Schwyharts never lived in the home because, in July 1929, they sold to Ms. Olive M. Gardner- a widow. She put down $800 and had a monthly payment of about $80 with an annual interest rate of eight percent. Olive lived in the home with two of her adult daughters, Mary Marguerite and Evalyn Gerlienda. There was some sort of second mortgage or loan taken out on the property in 1935 for $3,542. Then, in March of 1939, Olive sold the property to her daughters for one dollar. One of the legal documents states it was sold "with love and affection and other valuable consideration."
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| A mothers gift to her two daughters |
Mary and Evalyn were both single and never married. From the 1940 census, we can see that they both worked as bookkeepers at an oil and gas company. Documents in the abstract indicate that by January of 1940 they owned the home free and clear without any further debt. I’m not sure when Olive died, but the Gardner sisters lived in the home for nearly 45 years. Mary passed away in November of 1970. Evalyn continued to lived in the home until her death in 1975. At that time an executor handled the sale of the house which sold for $41,250. There were about three other owners before Sarah and Drew bought the house, but the abstract didn't reveal anything further that was interesting enough to write about here. I will say that the late 1980's were difficult; the property went into foreclosure several times and finally to auction.
Sarah and Drew bought the property in October of 2016. As I noted above, they had their eye on it and when the price dropped, it became a real contender. When they learned that they could get a construction loan built into the mortgage, in which the renovations for the house would be wrapped up into the total price, they decided to take the plunge.
They must have had quite the vision. All of the renovations, which included the kitchen, bathroom and attic, took about five months. New light fixtures were installed (none of the originals remained) and everything was painted. They did all the demolishing and painting themselves. They shared some of the before pictures with me.
Living Room-
The living room has nine foot ceilings, a fireplace and original textured plaster work.
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| Before |
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| After- Original front door with special arch shape |
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| After- New fireplace surround |
Sarah kept her design choices classic and clean. They may install gas logs in the future.
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| Sarah's eclectic bohemian style and art work |
Kitchen-
Sarah and Drew took the kitchen down to the studs and removed several walls/arches in order to keep an open flow and make the most of the space. White cabinets with gold hardware are clean and modern looking. The old brick chimney was exposed and brick was also used for the floor.
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| Kitchen - Before |
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| After- White kitchen, gold hardware and brick floor |
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| After-Exposed brick chimney |
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| After-View into kitchen from dining room |
Downstairs bath-
The downstairs bathroom got fresh new subway and hex tiles. The original five foot long tub was preserved.
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| During demolition |
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| After with clean white subway and hex tile. |
Sarah’s studio-
I have always loved interior design...I'm definitely eclectic! And I have a sweet husband that lets me run wild with ideas. That is why, in our home, you will find my grandpa's bronzed baby shoes sitting next to a succulent I bought at the Retro Den, potted in a bowl from the flea market, all on top of an antique sewing cabinet I grabbed off someone's curb for free. I truly believe old is better than new and we try to buy used or secondhand whenever possible.
As Sarah and Drew showed me around, I saw the love and pride they have for their special home. They especially appreciate that the square footage of the home allows them to have space for their individual interests- Drew has the second floor man cave/music room and Sarah has her art studio. They have also found themselves entertaining more often than they did previously thanks to the open kitchen.
Sarah and Drew are new owners, and with regards to the relationship between home and homeowner, one might say they are in the honeymoon stage. But with all their careful choices, hard work and commitment, this relationship is sure to mature into a deep, true, lasting love.
Finally, I couldn't help but wonder...what would Olive, Mary and Evalyn think if they could peek inside their old home now? Surely, they would love the beautiful preservation and wish Sarah and Drew... a happily ever after.
As always- Thank you to my editors: Walter Foddis and P. Casey Morgan.
And to Sarah and Drew- Thank you for sharing your home with all of us!
Photographs by this writer and from the home owners.
Attic space/Drew's man cave
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