Love of Old Houses Leads to Real Estate Agent's Ideal Renovation

By: Emily Mullin, Editorial Assistant with The AthensNEWS

Article is reprinted here with permission.

Liz Maule has always liked old houses. That’s why instead of building a new office a few years ago, she decided to renovate an old home on East State Street that would house her real-estate company.

“I think I’m trying to set an example for how people can be stewards of existing homes instead of tearing down buildings to make new ones,” said Maule, owner of Liz Maule Realty. “I think that’s the best kind of recycling.”

Construction on the house began in June 2006 and was finished by the end of the year. After six months of renovations, Maule was finally able to open her new office.

Now, the more than 100-year-old Victorian house at 122 E. State St. is one of Athens’ most striking buildings.

Though Maule isn’t sure of the building’s exact age, she said some fixtures in the house date as far back as 1892.

Originally, Maule said that Ohio University owned the land on which the house currently sits. The people who previously occupied the house rented it from the university up until the 1940s.

Maule said that the house was once occupied0 by employees of the Athens Messenger and may have actually been owned by the newspaper for a period of time.

She’s also heard stories about part of the house being a general store many years ago.

“We really need to find out more about it,” Maule said of the building’s history.

One piece of the building’s century-old history can be found at the Athens County Historical Society & Museum. Maule said a family that used to live in the house – the Nichols – left an old piano-forte in the house. The piano has since taken up residence at the Historical Society’s museum at 65 N. Court St.

Maule said the Nichols family visited the house after it had been renovated and couldn’t have been happier with the results.

“They were really thrilled to see that we had improved it and restored it,” she said.

More recent occupants of the house include two psychologists who used the building as an office for over 20 years. Maule said she then acquired the home when its previous owners retired and put the house up for sale.

The need to renovate the building came almost immediately after Maule purchased the house for her realty office.

“Not a lot had been done to it in a long time,” she said.

And so the long restoration process began. Maule said that almost everything – inside and out – was redone. The floors were restored and stained to match their original color. The main stairway was refinished. The inside and outside were given a fresh coat of paint. The front porch was refurbished. A new heating and cooling system was installed. Overgrown bushes were torn down and cut back from the entrance of the house and the yard was restored and landscaped.

Though the house was given a top-to-bottom makeover, the most unique thing about the building is that is has retained most of its original features.

“We kept everything; we didn’t take anything out,” she said.

Instead, Maule updated the house with 21st century amenities such as new electrical wiring and modern plumbing.

Maule said that certain things needed to be added so the building could function as a “modern office” but the restoration process was done in a way that kept most of the original qualities of the house while imitating certain period specific pieces.

For example, Maule explained that an Albany resident crafted custom desks for the reception area to match the time period of the house.

The inspiration to renovate the home came to Maule when she realized she missed her old home on  the east side of Athens.

“This is a chance for me to have my east-side house again,” she said.

There’s also a working kitchen in the building, and Maule said that many visitors describe the building as being very “homey.”

“People love to come in here. It sort of makes a statement because we know what a cozy home looks like,” Maule said.

And the Victorian house still functions in many ways like a home for Maule’s realty staff.

“My staff is very much a family and it’s like a home for us,” Maule said.

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