LOOKING OUT Denise Heitz loves landscaping. The pond out front is what drew her to this home, and it's where her granddaughter was married.
THE CHARACTER BORN FROM DESIGN
The Heitz home features gorgeous landscaping and a lawn that slopes perfectly down to the water.
ou can tell which homes Denise Heitz has updated in Southern Hills by looking at the landscaping. If there are pink flowers or blooms spilling out into the front yard, chances are, that’s a home Heitz has remodeled. She remodeled her very first home in the neighborhood in 2007 and is now on her sixth home here. “I just love this neighborhood,” she says. “When I finished my fourth home, I thought I wouldn’t move unless I can get on a lake.” Then she found home No. 6, which sits at the end of
a cul-de-sac and faces the neighborhood's upper pond. The Cape Cod-style home was built in the ’60s, and Heitz has the original blueprints framed and hanging in her home office, which used to be the formal dining room. The original plan called for six bedrooms, two dens, one maid’s room, but no garage. Each room has been given ample space, which is part of why Heitz didn’t remove any walls when she remodeled three years ago. “The new trend is HGTV, gut the home and open them up,” she says. “But I try to respect the architecture.” As a partner in O’Reilly
Development, Heitz spent eight years working in historic preservation, so she wasn’t tempted to change this home’s layout. Instead, she updated the kitchen, remodeled a few bathrooms, brought the three-season sun porch fully into the home and gave the landscaping some major love. Now, she’s seeing more homes undergo their own remodels. “This was an address of distinction back in the day,” she says. “Then it got tired, but now it’s coming back to life. That’s a testament to the builders’ original vision. This neighborhood has stood the test of time.” 417homemag.com
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