Cool home: Open the door to find the eclectic inside

Mark and Sherry Thurston sit on the front porch of their Spanish colonial in the Cheery Lynn Historic District in Phoenix.

The front door of the Thurston house was is a holdover from the previous homeowner, who had it custom made in Tucson in the 1970s.

The family room at the Thurston home is well-lit with ample natural lighting and sits at the front of the house, with a view of the front porch and the palm-lined street.

The view from the Thurston’s front door take visitors straight back through two rounded walkways, through the dining room and out to the back patio accessed by French doors.

When entering the home from the back patio, visitors are greeted by natural light and vintage décor, with the kitchen to the left and the bedrooms to the right.

The Thurstons plan to remodel their kitchen, to do away with the Saltillo tile and oaky cabinets, but they plan to keep the exposed brick chimney left over from the home’s original wood-burning stove.

A touch of character can be found on the exposed brick pillar in the kitchen, which is adorned with wine labels adhered to the brick by the previous homeowner.

The Thurstons plan to update their very ‘70s kitchen, which still includes a harvest gold stove and sink and dark cabinets.

The second bedroom in the Thurston home is where the previous homeowner retrofitted a closet as an air-conditioned wine cooler, which has since been removed. The bedroom also leads to a home office for Mark Thurston at the front of the home, which has a separate entrance off the front patio.

A stained glass window hides, like a secret, inside the shower in the second bathroom.

The Thurstons white-washed all the wood throughout the home, including inside the second bathroom, which features a pedestal sink and a shower with a stained glass window.

Flowering plants warm the Thurston’s back patio, which can be accessed from the dining room and the master bedroom. The home’s casita is just on the other side of the patio’s left wall.

One step up from the master vanity area is a room dedicated to a unique, red bathtub supported by gold feet and accented with gold hardware.

The red Kohler Birthday Bath, as its known, is worth an estimated $8,000. The two windows overlook a custom-made atrium.

The master bedroom, which features three full-size closets, opens to the back patio by way of French doors.

The recently renovated, studio-style casita at the Thurston home opens to the back by way of a sliding glass door, and is accessed in front at the end of the owner’s driveway.

The sink area inside the casita’s kitchenette features a hand-painted Mexican tile backsplash.

The casita’s kitchenette features a dainty butcher block table and a bohemian, woven light fixture.

The petite bath tucked inside the Thurston casita features an accent wall covered in a fun, desert-inspired wallpaper.

The white-washed shower inside the casita’s bathroom is a simple stall, with no doors or a curtain, and flows into the rest of the bathroom.

The lighting in the casita’s bathroom is lit by similar fixtures as the main home where the dining fixture features vintage-inspired filament bulbs.

The Thurstons pulled a gate from the yard and hung it on the wall inside the casita to tie the whole property together.

The light fixture that hangs over the dining table in the main house is a Thurston original. They used copper pipe and and wrapped the wired lighting around it to create a one-of-a-kind fixture.

The Thurston’s address, nailed to a palm tree near the curb of the street.

Towering palms and mature trees line the streets outside of the Thurston home in the Cheery Lynn Historic District in Phoenix.

The Thurstons removed hedges that covered part of the front window and replaced them with flowering window boxes, low-profile lantana and hanging planters to add color and gain exposure.

The Thurston’s front yard features a well-manicured lawn, inlaid stepping stones and a mix of lantana and hibiscus for color.

An arched walkway leads from the front yard to the side of the Thurston home, where the plank enclosure closes off a custom atrium that sits outside the home’s room that is dedicated to the statement-making red bath tub.

The Thurston home, a Spanish colonial, represents a shift in architectural preference in the Cheery Lynn Historic District, which also features Tudors and Bungalows.

Cool Home

By Lisa Nicita| April 06th, 2017

Driving up to the Thurston home, a 1932 Spanish colonial set back from a Phoenix street lined with towering, mature palms, one would never expect to see what they will once inside. Its manicured lawn, its sweet front porch, its flower boxes and planters all preview what most would assume should be a predictable, tame interior.

But, tame isn’t the right adjective. Eclectic is quite fitting. And for one specific feature, “saucy” might be the best bet.

Located in the Cheery Lynn Historic District, the 1,900 square foot home and casita had everything Mark and Sherry Thurston were looking for in a new place. Sherry was smitten from the moment she walked in.

“Before we were married, I made the mistake of taking her to Encanto,” Mark Thurston said with a laugh. “She’s wanted a historic home forever.”

Renovations

The two-bedroom, two-bath home is accompanied by a studio-style casita next door, which the couple just finished renovating to showcase on Airbnb. The main house represents a shift in architectural preference in the district, as the Tudors and Bungalows of the early 1900s gave way to the Spanish Colonials of the 1930s.

The couple moved to the home about nine months ago after living in Mesa for some time and renting in Tempe, and when they did, they got to work.

“We white-washed the entire house,” Sherry Thurston said of the lath and plaster walls from the couch in the home’s front living room, which faces the charming palm-lined street. “We’re a little tired.”

Beyond paint, they ran into problems with the sewer lines. They removed massive hedges from the front lawn, replacing them with lower-profile, more colorful lantana and hibiscus. They deconstructed an air-conditioned wine closet and completely renovated the sweet casita they plan to rent.

And, just a few weeks ago, only days before the home was scheduled to be featured on a neighborhood home tour, they replaced a sizeable section of the ceiling in their master bedroom.

And, that wasn’t by choice.

“The ceiling fell on our bed in our master bedroom,” Sherry Thurston said, as Mark noted that the surprise repair job came after heavy rains. “We weren’t in the bed, though.”

So, it’s easy to see why they’re tired. Sherry has big plans for the kitchen, which is unabashedly anchored in the '70s, with its harvest gold stove, its gold hardware and its oaky cabinets. And, they plan to lay grass and build a game area in the backyard, which is simply covered in gravel at the moment.

But that tub ...

And they have to figure out what to do with that tub. The red, oversized soaking tub, propped up by golden feet and fed by a golden faucet, that sits in a room that could conceivably be used as a third bedroom.

“It’s an $8,000 tub,” Sherry said of the Kohler Birthday Bath. “This house is known for this tub.”

As it should be. It’s the sauciest part of the house, what with the petite, oh-so-disco chandelier that hangs above it, swagged gently toward two windows, which open to a view of a custom-built outdoor atrium.

“There are stories about this tub, which aren’t true,” Mark Thurston said of the talk around town that pegs the tub to a 1980s Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds film about the best little adult establishment in Texas.

The vampy, seductive tub owns the room, which is filled out by a chair, a wicker bench, and a portrait of Campbell’s Tomato Soup. The couple thinks that when it’s time to renovate this area, they may move the tub into the part of the bathroom that holds the shower and toilet. But, that’s still up for debate.

“I didn’t even know what to put in here,” Sherry Thurston said with a lighthearted laugh. “It’s not like we have audiences when we bathe, but it looks like we do.”

Regal feel

Adding to the room’s regal feel is the master vanity, set down one step from the tub’s elevated showcase. The lacquered wood vanity, which apparently used to be a dresser, holds a sunken white sink accented with golden hardware. And the dresser, a holdover from the home’s previous owner, has been retrofitted to allow for easy access to its inner plumbing.

The master bath leads to the home’s master bedroom, which the previous owner set up with three full-size closets, enclosed by brass-trimmed mirrored doors, per the decade. However, what could be incongruous for some owners, what with the home’s gold accents and quirky lighting leftover from a previous era, flows in a way that adds a curious, endearing flavor to the entire home.

A gold elephant sits on the fireplace mantle. Vintage artwork and mirrors hang throughout the house. A stained glass window shines from inside the shower. Patterned saltillo tile covers the kitchen floor. A gate from the yard adorns a wall inside the casita. And, an exposed brick pillar leftover from a wood-burning stove in the kitchen, is covered with wine labels.

Of course, the one thing the Thurstons have no plans to change is their laundry “room.” With just the two of them in the house, it makes perfect sense to keep their washer and dryer tucked inside their master bathroom.

“I love it,” Sherry Thurston said.