A nest refilled in Collingswood
Though it was time to downsize, a couple found a duplex perfect for a homecoming.
Elaine and Mike Tracy planned to be sensible about downsizing. They would leave their home in Washington Township and find a small place in Collingswood, which is establishing itself as a mecca for shopping and dining. Their two adult children were ready to be on their own, and life would be simple.
But in 2009, the Tracys somehow found themselves falling in love with a duplex carved out of a 100-year-old former boardinghouse for the actors scattered through South Jersey at the turn of the 20th century, when vaudeville was all the rage.
So their Collingswood nest was refilled by son Steven, now 22 and a newly minted civil engineer, and daughter Amanda, 25, a pharmacist who has only just moved to her own home in nearby Haddonfield.
Independence and togetherness have been the delicate generational balance.
"We love having the kids with us - and apart from us," said Elaine, a paralegal and law-office manager who is delighted that their home has two complete kitchens. Translation: She's no longer the chief family cook, although her son and daughter are frequent dinner guests.
The former owners did all the major restructuring, sparing the Tracys the challenge of actually creating the duplex.
"We ended up doing the things that don't show: the basement stuff that nobody sees, even though it can be expensive," said Mike, a mortgage-financing executive.
Instead of mom and dad occupying the first floor, they have turned the second and third floors into their private space. Elaine, 51, and Mike, 52, have defined their interior-design style: lots of art in a sophisticated, but never stuffy, traditional environment, with unexpected decorative touches.
On the first floor, their offspring chose a decidedly contemporary mood. Kitchen, dining area, and living area are one sweep of open space, which suits breezy living and entertaining. Individual bedrooms and baths are at opposite ends of the lower story.
Shared are a front porch, where everybody can watch parades go by along Haddon Avenue, and a handsome foyer featuring the home's original crystal chandelier and an elegant wine armoire. A sunroom, technically part of the first floor, offers a place for more private kick-back time.
Walk up the newly restored hardwood front stairs to Mike and Elaine's rooms, and light splashes in from double stained-glass windows at the landing.
"We love some of the home's original details," says Mike, whose art decorates several walls. Though he is modest about his pieces, Mike has impressively recreated the Mona Lisa in a painting that hangs in the foyer, and his second-floor portrait of John Wayne is so accurate it causes jaws to drop.
The multiple-tenant nature of the dwelling's boarding-house era has virtually disappeared, with a more open flow of larger rooms on the second floor instead of a warren of tiny ones.
The original floors here could not be rehabilitated, so Elaine and Mike installed a striking expanse of tiger wood central to the sleek look of the living area, which incorporates a formal parlor/living room, a den with a tiny European balcony and an Americana theme, a dining room that leans toward the contemporary, and a kitchen with maple cabinetry and ample counters.
Decorative highlights include an astronaut collage they created and a pillow holding the Tracys' collection of guitar-logo pins from Hard Rock Cafes worldwide.
A classic leather sofa is juxtaposed with whimsical fringed lampshades and a table that seems carved from stone but is actually burled maple. The cozy dining room's dramatic wall hanging is by Philadelphia's Denise Fike, who integrates vintage wallpaper into her work.
In the end, it's the couple's collection of art and crafts that sets their home apart. The Tracys have pieces by Peter Max, Norman Rockwell, and Howard Behrens, as well as a breathtaking painting of a tiger, titled Beautiful Tomorrow, by well-known Chinese artist Tie-Feng Jiang.
The art-conscious Tracys even managed to have a coppersmith prepare an unusual glass bowl they found in a New Hope as a wall hanging.
"He wasn't at all sure it could be done without compromising the integrity of the piece, nor were we, so there was a lot of hoping going on all sides," says Elaine. "And it worked!"
Their private sanctuary is tucked into the third-floor dormers, a bedroom straight out of a fairy tale, with wonderful angles and elevations. The angled placement of a queen-sized bed cleverly utilizes the space. A sybaritic master bath with modern conveniences, including a state-of-the-art shower, adjoins the bedchamber.
The duplex may not represent the Tracys' original downsizing ideal, but it does have the potential to be their home for the long haul.
"The duplex arrangement may work for other family members in the future, or can just be closed off," says Elaine. "Meanwhile, we have the best of both worlds: space with our kids, but at the same time away from them. And for us, that's as good as it gets."
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