East Broad Street mansion designed by Ohio's first female architect listed for $829,000

A mansion on East Broad Street in Columbus designed by Ohio's first female architect is on the market after an extensive renovation by its owners.

Built around 1907, the prairie-style home in the Olde Towne East neighborhood was designed by Florence Kenyon Hayden Rector, the state's first female licensed architect, who later designed Oxley Hall at Ohio State University.

More: Renovated Victorian Village home listed for $1.9 million

Liz Dutton, owner of Liz Dutton Interiors, and her husband, Greg Dutton, owner of Greg Dutton Studio architecture firm, bought the home in 2014 when they moved to Columbus from Pittsburgh. The three-story home and some of its neighbors had been saved from the wrecking ball several years earlier.

Previous owners "did the whole house, all the way from the third floor to the first floor — truly a complete gut," said Liz. "They planned to turn it into a bed and breakfast called the Old Broad, but ended up staying there themselves. They did all the dirty work, the electric, plumbing, making it airtight."

After several years in the house, the Duttons wanted to make the house more their own.

"We added a new roof and new gutters, but the thing I really cared about is the design stuff. So in 2019, we started making plans to redo the entire first floor, including new floors throughout of imported oak from France, giving ourselves a chance to really put our mark on the house," Liz said.

With Liz six months pregnant, the couple launched into the demolition on the first of March 2020.

"Our needs had shifted form the time we bought the house," she said. "We thought this was the time to reorient the home to become more family forward. The kitchen was an enclosed box, and with kids we needed the kitchen to be accessible to the entire house. We busted open a wall and expanded it into a family room, and had fun making it really the heartbeat of the home."

Two weeks later, COVID shut down the country.

"We had just finished demo," Liz recalled. "We were waiting for the floors to come in from the boat, and nothing was coming in. I was pregnant. The clock was ticking every day."

The floors did arrive, and the couple wrapped up the renovation right around the time Liz gave birth to the couple's second child, Joan. The first, Shepherd, was a year and a half.

The renovation involved some hammer and nails, but much of the change was cosmetic. The couple decorated the house in a zen-like, off-white palette, accenting the natural wood floors.

"We want something warm, earthy, calm, organic," Liz said of her design approach. "We don't want to create anything too harsh."

The 3,750-square-foot home features four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a finished third floor and a partially finished lower level.

Visitors enter into a bright foyer. To one side is the living room with a bay, while the other side houses the dining room. The enlarged kitchen is in the rear, with a table instead of an island.

"We're not really kitchen island people," she said. "We wanted to bring warmth to the space."

The third floor is devoted to the owner's suite, with a large sitting area and dual walk-in closets. A partially finished lower level adds a bar and den with fireplace.

Behind the house sits a pergola, patio and three-car garage.

"On the back side of the house, you lose Broad Street. You don't realize you're there," she said. "You can kind of escape back there."

The finished product was featured in House Beautiful in 2021.

With their son now 5, the Duttons decided to move to Bexley. Greg's brother, Christopher, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Legacy Group, is listing the home.

Even though the Duttons have moved on, the East Broad Street home played a critical role in their lives. Greg, 42, is launching his own architecture firm while Liz, 39, is focused on her interior design business.

"I wasn't doing interior design; we moved to Columbus for a job in technology," she said. "The house was a catalyst for the design firm. It seemed like serendipity — a sign."

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 1907 Old Towne East home listed for $829,000 after renovation