Brady Heights Brady Heights has been gaining a lot of Tulsans’ attention as one of the most up-and-coming neighborhoods in the city for at least the last decade. As Tulsa’s first neighborhood placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, it has seen a steady influx of invested property owners who love the location for its Craftsman Bungalows and historical significance. They’ve been rehabbing once shabby — even severely dilapidated — houses and turning them into the vibrant homes they once were in the early 1900s, when it became one of Tulsa’s first neighborhoods. People who grew up in the neighborhood are moving from other cities to come back to Brady Heights, and residents from Tulsa suburbs and south Tulsa are leaving their gated communities to move to the area just north of downtown. Dani Widell, a local home remodeler, and her husband Will lived in downtown Tulsa long before many of the newer apartments and condos sprung up. They lived in an apartment at the Tribune Lofts, so they both could walk to work downtown and enjoy the lifestyle. But they started to outgrow the space and struggled with guest parking, especially on a busy evening with a concert at the BOK Center or a game at ONEOK Field. “It got to the point where we couldn’t invite my mom down for dinner on a Tuesday,” Dani Widell says. “We wanted a driveway, and a garage and a guest bedroom.” They knew they wanted to buy in either Brady Heights or nearby Owen Park, and after a year of searching, they found a house that needed some hefty renovating in Brady Heights. They bought it the day it went on the market and Why is this house you? lived there a little over a year, until they heard about another home just down the street going up for sale, so they I spent hundreds of hours planning bought it and sold their first home for a good profit. and designing every aspect of the home. Not “But I did a lot of the work and labor myself,” Widell only materials, colors and finishes but, more says. importantly, salvaging every bit of the original Their current home is different — they don’t plan to craftsmanship of the house and, at the same sell it anytime soon. time, providing 21st century functionality “We bought it to flip, but my husband and I just fell in and still maintaining a budget. Old houses love with it. This is a forever house,” she says. are never finished; there is always more to be The couple has put a lot of labor into the home, which done. It becomes almost an obsessive hobby. had been converted into a duplex when they bought it. You spend so much of your time thinking about Once it was even a triplex after World War II, much like what has to be done and how to do it that the many homes in the area that were transformed out of the house can’t help but take on your personality. need for multi-family housing. The Widells adjusted the floor plans to make it a What’s your favorite detail of the four-bedroom home, removing and adding walls to make home? The original coffered ceilings. In a more modern space, while putting thought into keeping over 100 years, nobody ever decided to take a the home’s historical features alive. “We pulled out a wall to reveal the staircase — it had paintbrush to them. I can’t tell you how rare been covered to have a private entrance for the upstairs that is. unit,” she says. They reconfigured the upstairs to include a master, Of the neighborhood? a spare bedroom, an upstairs laundry, a large bathroom The Community Garden. It’s the social hub of and a private suite area for guests. They transformed the the neighborhood. Not only do we grow food basement into a workout area and storage space, and together, but in the summer, we have movie they even remodeled a guesthouse in the back. nights for the kids and cookouts. “You make a budget, pick a wish list and then think about what makes the most sense for a family; you have What made you fall in love with to be flexible,” she says. “You know in a 100-year-old the home? One look at this house tells house, the closets aren’t going to be huge.” you that the original owner loved the warmth But living in Brady Heights is much more than just and natural feel of wood. Craftsmen handhaving a quick commute — by car or by foot — to work. cut and laid the hardwood floors in intricate It’s about the community; one that has a reputation for patterns and the wood glows with age and diversity and community involvement. “Our neighborhood association is a nonprofit, so it life. The ceilings are coffered throughout exists not only to help the neighborhood but to help the the entirety of the ground floor and original community of Tulsa,” Widell says. “We support local Brady wood windows make the house feel warm and Heights residents and Tulsa businesses.” inviting. I bought this house because I saw the
Dani Widell moved from downtown to Brady Heights and began remodeling properties that bring modern amenities and style to historic homes.
wood and had to bring it back to life.
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