The 704 House - Our Move to NoDa

Joey and I both grew up moving a lot. Not sure if that has an influence on our lives now, or if we just both like a change of scenery every once in a while, but we move around quite a bit. We've lived in 8 different places over the 22 years that we've been together. In actuality a good bit of this is that we both like a project, and once we've made a home perfect for us we've also run the course of projects...so on to the next.

Before & after building out the Canteen

It also makes financial sense to move every couple years, especially if you're in the business like I am, but that's truly less of a reason for us than the excitement of a new place to redesign & recreate. Taxes, equity, redeployment of funds....yaaawn. Tile shopping, 6-burner ovens, color swatches and marble samples?? YES! I'm down. Where do we start?

In 2013 we were in flux, in our lives and where we lived. We were in the Southend district just outside Uptown Charlotte, in a neighborhood called Wilmore. We'd been there for about 4 years, having first lived in a home we designed on Kingston Avenue, and then a pair of homes on Tryon Street. We were using one for our businesses and living in the other. A little urban compound on a double lot. We had a contract to lease-purchase them and the owner was getting a little waffly and difficult to work with.

The 1930's bungalow on Tryon Street in Southend, where we had my real estate office and Joey's salon J.Studio

At the same time a client of mine wanted to see a new listing in the NoDa neighborhood. At this time, 2013, we were still coming out of the big recession, and this was one of the foreclosure homes coming on the market from the glut the banks had taken back. It was zoned commercial, and he was looking as a place to live but also have a business. It was just a block off the main drag in the neighborhood, Davidson Street, which is lined with bars, restaurants, a music hall, shopping and a light-rail stop.

The 704 House - what it looked like the first day we went to see it

The home was built around 1910 and had been renovated about 10 years earlier. Plans at that time included use as an office, so half of the backyard was paved and set up as a parking area.

The backyard at the 704 house when we bought it - note the large paved areas at the back

My client didn't think the neighborhood was the right fit for him and let me know he wasn't interested in the home. I confirmed at least twice, excitement growing as I realized this place was perfect for Joey and I. If my client was interested it would be off limits, but if not? If not I needed to get Joey over to see it as soon as possible. And I did, calling him on the way home and heading right back over.

Below: 704 House when we bought it - really cool, but really dated

J Studio & Salon

It was a really great home in a great location in a neighborhood we loved. It had wonderful bones, lots of cool features, multiple fireplaces, a huge front porch. Plus it was zoned commercial, and it had two large rooms up front, separated by a 10' open foyer. It was perfect to have our businesses run out of those: Joey's salon, J.Studio, and my real estate business, Janus Real Estate.

The home was large enough that using these rooms for our work still left us a side den, back family room open to a formal dining area and the kitchen, plus a walk-in working butlers pantry, and 4 bedrooms upstairs. And it was priced right, way below value actually. At the time I'd rebuilt my business (which collapsed like many when the recession hit) helping clients purchase bank owned and foreclosure homes. I knew how the banks negotiated these, I knew how many parties would likely be interested and bidding, and I could figure out what likely price it would take to get it.

We agonized about the price, made our bid, and waited for 10 days while the bank sat on multiple offers. And then we got the house!! Our first project was painting the exterior. Without thinking about it or meaning it, looking back I realize we made quite an announcement that we were coming. We introduced ourselves with color, and with landscaping. We chose paint to intentionally be outstanding and fun, we said we "glitter-bombed" the house. Since it was on a main road in the neighborhood known as "the art's district" we felt it needed to be a statement.

One must add a touch of color

We made our move from Southend to NoDa. We thrived from the move, being transplanted to a new spot gave us a jolt of creative energy. We jumped into being a part of the community, both personal and in business. In 2015 we founded and opened the NoDa Farmers Market, a "farmers only" market that we ran for 4 years. In 2016 we opened the NoDa Company Store, a community gathering spot, beer & wine lounge, beertanical garden and retail space.

During this time we also built out our landscaping into an urban garden and permaculture space. The paved area in the back turned out to be perfect for raised beds; weed free and easy to maintain. We planted the rest of our lot with edible landscaping, opting for plants with a culinary use when able and available. Our gardens were part of the Mint Museums "Art in the Garden" tour in 2014, and were written up in local publications SouthPark Magazine and Charlotte Magazine as well as Better Homes & Gardens: Country Gardens magazine.

The back of the home from the formal raised bed gardens

In 2018 we decided to sell everything we had in Charlotte to move to the island of Roatán, Honduras. If that reads like it came out of nowhere, it did. We surprised it upon ourselves, deciding to head off on a grand, if short-lived, adventure.

The 704 House - prepped, painted, and ready to hit the market

Selling everything included the 704 home - a sale that actually allowed us to even be able to decide to do this. To make this leap. Since we'd bought low when it was a foreclosure, fixed it up and updated it, and the market had taken off, we had tons of equity. We finished all little projects we'd overlooked in the 5 years we'd lived there, toned down the exterior paint and sold her.

Selling the 704 House was bittersweet. We loved living there. It was an amazing place and some of our best memories are in that home and those gardens, especially with our three boys, our pups Bamboo, Wicky & Tiki, who were in their prime there. But selling opened so many doors for us and pushed us into a new chapter - and we like change apparantely.

Our time in Honduras was short. Joey got sick and we couldn't figure out why. Our pup of 14 years, Bamboo, passed from cancer just 4 weeks after we arrived, and family health and business issues pulled us back to Charlotte, to a mill home ready for our touches, and another round of life and a new chapter in our same neighborhood, NoDa.

Thinking about this now, it's hard to believe it was 7 years ago - and it seems after this summer we are moving into yet another new chapter. We've sold the Company Store, the Canteen, our home at Fort Linwell in Roatan. We've finished the looming projects at our place in the mountains, Linwell Falls. Our plate is relatively empty, our time somewhat free, and we are project people.

Here we gooooo....

Sky's the limit

The 704 House - Our Move to NoDa - Joey and Scott - Linwell Farms