The Stivers-Zachman home revisited

By MARLA TONCRAY, News Editor

Friday, June 6, 2008 10:30 PM EDT

One of the questions about installing such a sophisticated system was where to house the necessary equipment. The answer came in the form of a first floor powder room at the rear of the central hallway of the home.

"I tried to do the electronics so it wouldn't take away from the decor ... the trick was to hide it," Tom said.

The Zachmans explained the powder room, which has been upgraded with everything new except an original marble sink, wasn't original to the home. During the addition, it appears the ceiling was lowered, leaving a storage space between the ceiling of the staircase landing to the ceiling of the new powder room, which is accessible through a small wooden door, which matches the original woodwork. It is within this space the equipment needed to bring modern technology to the home is now housed.

Other projects included replacing the carpet in the first floor parlors, which is believed to have been in the home at least 100 years and to strip wallpapers from several rooms and refinishing the hardwood floors throughout the home. Unfortunately, the hardwood floors in the dining room and library couldn't be restored and had to be replaced.

Once the walls were ready, the next decision was to establish a central color scheme for the home. Jane said the decision finally came to what she terms the "keystone" color for the home: Graystone Green. The color is a blue/green shade, which blends with accent tones of rose, peach, gold, beige and navy. The dining room and library are painted in the shade and each room throughout the house has a touch of the color incorporated into its decor. The color is significant to the couple because it was used at the Russellville Branch Library, a project they were both involved with.

The kitchen was also a major project; new cherry cabinets were installed, the original ceiling was uncovered by removing the drop ceiling and hardwood floors were installed to coordinate with the rest of the home. Off the kitchen is a pantry, which was a screened porch and attached to this is the former wash house, which is now Tom's office.

In all, there are 16 rooms of the home including bedrooms, bathrooms, utility rooms, sitting areas, etc. But it is the basement that Jane and Tom were excited to show off after the tour of the upper stories, because it is here that the transformation of their work is most drastic and illustrates how an old space can take on new life.

After the home flooded in 1913 it was raised from street level to its current, elevated location. The house sits on a stacked stone foundation, with concrete floors. Once it was time to tackle the basement, Jane and Tom found old furnaces, water heaters, light fixtures, boxes of papers, an old bathtub and even a pile of coal. Mixed in with this was dirt, spiders, dead birds and a host of other things found in an old basement. The couple had everything removed, and then literally washed down the walls and floors with a water hose. Next they had florescent lighting installed, they painted the floor and to give the stone walls a clean and bright appearance, they had them painted off-white.

With the transformation, the space has become a workshop for Jane's interest in restoring furniture, extra storage space, an exercise room, a bedroom, a new bathroom was installed and there's a room for Tom's airplane/race car simulator, which is state of the art.

Jane admits that both she and Tom are perfectionist and the end result of their changes to the home are reflected in the attention to detail put into each project, paint color, carpet selection and other enhancements to the home.

And indeed, when you visit the Stivers-Zachman home, it has been done to perfection, with a warm and welcoming touch to enjoy the heritage the home represents and the pride taken by its owners to share it with family, friends and the community.

Contact Marla Toncray at marla.toncray@lee.net or 606-564-9091, ext. 275.