S unday , M arch 26, 2023
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Journal-World
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Local homes edition
HOMES ABOUT THIS SPECIAL SECTION
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ver the past year, the Journal-World has looked inside all kinds of homes belonging to all kinds of people. Empty-nesters making their forever-coop. A college student who finally feels like she has a place to call her own. Collectors who use vintage stock in modern ways, and families making the most out of their homes. Peruse this section or visit ljworld.com to find out more about the people who live here.
PLANNING AHEAD. 2C
Beauty & Magic
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
WITH WINDOWS ON THREE SIDES, THE DINING AREA AT 4405 W. 12TH ST. offers many views of the large backyard and is a favorite place of the Parr children. —
Childhood joy made family’s return to Kansas even sweeter
THE ‘DREAM’ SPOT. 3C
WORK AND PLAY. 4C
THE RIGHT DESIGN. 5C The Journal-World Homes features presented in this section take readers inside interesting Lawrence homes. If you have a suggestion for a future feature story, please email news@ ljworld.com.
Lauren and Zach Parr loved their home in California, but in 2018 they began to consider trading it in for one in Kansas. One reason for that was that Zach’s mother, of Topeka, was sick, and he wanted to move closer to her. Another reason was that the Parrs had young children, then ages 3 and 1, and the couple were starting to imagine what their childhoods would be like. In California the skies were often smoggy, and the Parrs’ house was next to a busy road. “It wasn’t really safe for (the kids) to go out without me, but projecting forward I wondered when I would feel safe about them going out. Probably never,” Lauren says. “There was all this traffic. Tobin was still a baby — a year and a half — and when you have a baby you’re so worried about things like is the baby going to get asthma because of all this pollution? Kansas doesn’t really have air-quality issues.” Amid these considerations was the reality that Zach’s mother had been newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and he felt helpless to assist her from so far away. Still, the Parrs were not actively looking for a home in Lawrence on the night someone shared a listing with them on Facebook. That didn’t stop them from becoming instantly enamored with the house. Living more than 1,500 miles away, the Parrs were unable to look at the house in person, so they sent a relative to scope it out. “We had Zach’s dad come over and look at the house that night,” Lauren says. “He FaceTimed us around, and it looked like a good house. … it had
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
THE PARR FAMILY INCLUDES parents Zach and Lauren and their children, from left, Lulu, Wendy and Tobin. all of these lush things, and it solved all of those things that had been on my mind, that I had been worried about.” The Parrs bought the two-story four bedroom home at 4405 W. 12th St. before they were even able to step inside, certain they would love it based on video tours and photos. They purchased the house in the summer of 2018 but couldn’t move until fall; they were waiting until Zach had secured a job as the senior aviation software engineer at Garmin. Zach has since switched jobs and now works as a senior game play engineer for Activision, which he
does from his home basement office. The house sits on a half acre lot, and a creek runs down its property line. “That was such a big motivator for me to have a huge yard,” Lauren says. “All this overgrowth makes it feel very natural. The neighbors cut all that down, but we like it. It makes it feel so private. I guess I was looking for that magic of childhood — the ability to explore and feel free without really having to go far. The kids are down there (at the creek); they’re in yelling distance, but they feel like they’re alone.” > MAGIC, 7C
A Colorful Makeover —
Owner transformed house that had fallen into disrepair Brindy Fitzpatrick prides herself on finding a house few would want and making it desirable. Before she bought her house at 2040 Ohio St., it was a heap of rotted wood, malformed gutters, trash and scurrying rodents. Despite the mess, Fitzpatrick made an offer immediately on the 1957 house in
central Lawrence. “The porch was rotten, and a bunch of mice were living under it,” says Fitzpatrick, who works as a nurse. “I had to get the basement put on beams, and redo the plumbing out to the street. Everything was very expensive. … But the house had potential.” Capitalizing on that
potential took a lot of work: From February to May 2021, Fitzpatrick ripped up the porch, poured a cement foundation in its place and finished the drywall in the basement. Next she hauled abandoned junk and other trash from the premises.
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
ABOVE: A CLASSIC 1950S OTTOMAN AND CHAIRS FILL A COZY, SECONDFLOOR LANDING AT 2040 OHIO ST. that features built-in bookshelves and > MAKEOVER, 7C drawers and homeowner Brindy Fitzpatrick’s own flamingo painting.