TIMELESS
Beauty
By Sue-Ella Mueller | Photography by Casey Fry
For most people looking to remodel their kitchens, little consideration is given to what the original owners of the home would’ve liked. It’s more about what the current trends are, the latest and greatest technology in appliances and their own tastes and style. But for Katie and Jeff Bullard, principals of Avenue B Development, LLC, renovating the kitchen in one historic Austin home required a trip back in time.
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nce a jewel in the affluent Judges Hill neighborhood, the Brady House had sat empty for 20 years before it was finally put up for sale. “We put an offer on it the day it was listed,” says Katie Bullard. “Austin has a limited historic inventory where houses are concerned. And this one was one of the most spectacular houses we’ve seen.” Bullard and her husband, the driving forces behind Avenue B Development, have been working together for more than 10 years. While Jeff’s background is in construction and remodeling, Bullard holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in architecture as well as 42
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a professional certification in historic preservation. Together, the duo has recreated livable masterpieces throughout Austin. The Brady House, a1910s Arts and Crafts style home, was yet another opportunity for the Avenue B team to tackle the challenges of paying homage to the past while employing the luxuries of today. And in no other room is it tougher to do than in the kitchen. While the rest of the house was stripped clean of most of its sheet rock and had remained in a state of reconstruction for two decades, the kitchen was the one room the previous urbanhomemagazine.com
owners had tackled and completed. Unfortunately, it may have been better left alone. “It was relatively small and didn’t maximize the space. It was also the one area that didn’t have the original hardwood floors or the original windows,” says Bullard. But Bullard didn’t perceive the situation as a problem. Instead, her experience and historical knowledge kicked in to create the perfect kitchen. “I wanted a modern take on a turn of the century kitchen,” Bullard explains. Her goal was to have hints of a traditional kitchen of the era, but she also wanted it to be modern for urbanhomemagazine.com
functional purposes. “We demolished the countertops and cabinets, then moved the peninsula to the opposite side and reoriented the cabinets,” she says. “By moving it, we gained 50% more in cabinet and counter space.” In addition, the Avenue B crew relocated the pantry into the breakfast room area. They also built a corner window seat in the breakfast room and introduced a wine refrigerator and wine cabinet on a previously unused wall. “We actually turned the whole backside of the house into the kitchen and breakfast room,” Bullard says. Urban Home Austin – San Antonio
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