The back of a house is not usually the selling point that clinches the sale.

        But one look at the rear of the Grace Avenue 1920s' Dutch Colonial and renovator Mark Schoeny of Madeira was sold on the Hyde Park home's possibilities.

A succulent garden was added to the center of the conservatory. | ZOOM |

        The dingy greenhouse windows revealed a two-story, 44-by-42-foot conservatory with a 24-foot-high ceiling, 12-foot waterfall, meandering lighted stream, walls covered with ferns and hundreds of exotic plants.

        “I thought "This is something. This one's for me.' ” says Mr. Schoeny, owner of Schoeny Residential Services.

        “Old houses are my specialty. I've been doing this about 20 years. And when I saw this, I new it would be a day at the office for sure,” he says four months after the work began.

        Inside, the possibilities were less apparent.

        The woodwork and much of the wallpaper had been painted black. The tiny kitchen was a closed-in mishmash of knotty pine and stainless steel. The original screened-in side porch had been enclosed, then covered with knotty pine paneling, installed horizontally. The dusty chandeliers can most kindly be described as rococo. And the tiny first-floor bathroom was dominated by a hand-painted black Chinese fireplace mantel with mirrored detailing and a crystal chandelier.

        “I thought that at one time, it must have been a fabulous joint,” Mr. Schoeny says.

        He was right.

The house has new siding and windows. | ZOOM |

        Walter Johnson, owner of Trivet's Antiques, a longtime downtown shop on Vine Street with several resident cats and a treasure trove of 1960s and '70s memorabilia, owned the home until he died in 1999.

        In addition to his passion for collecting antiques — the more elaborate the better — he loved flowers, orchids specifically, and other exotics.

        Mr. Johnson devoted 1964 to 1965 to adding a horticultural shrine to the back of his home. When finished, it boasted its own hot water heating system, birds, trout, catfish, more than 100 orchids, 45 night-blooming exotics and a carp named Bertha.

        The windows were installed by Rough Bros., greenhouse contractors whose client list includes Krohn Conservatory and the Botanical Gardens in Washington, according to Mr. Schoeny.

        “They don't do residential work any more, but we managed to get the original drawings from the job from Rough. And a guy who worked on the installation remembered the job,” he says.

        Surprisingly, only six to eight panels of glass needed replacing after 36 years.

Mark Macomber (right) handled landscaping for Mark Schoeny | ZOOM |

        The fountain and waterfall were drained, pressure-washed and rewired, and a new pump was installed. The stream bed was drained and pressure-washed. The stone wall was tuck-pointed and new retaining walls and wider pathways were created.

        Then Mark Macomber of Shamrock Lawn and Landscape stepped in to salvage the plants and create a basic plan using about 60-70 new plantings.

        “We wanted to keep a simple look and create a clean palette so the new homeowner can have something to build on,” Mr. Macomber says.

        Mr. Macomber's crew tore out what existed and redid elevations and put in compacted crushed limestone to give the planting areas a solid base. Chattanooga decorative gravel was added on top. Indiana steppers mark a curved walkway.

        “We culled about 30 to 40 of the older plants, the large ones, and relocated them, though there are about five we worked around,” Mr. Macomber says.

        In the center of the conservatory, they tore out a smaller fountain and created a succulent garden with sand for drainage and an antique urn as the centerpiece.

Cherry cabinets and granite countertops changed the kitchen. (Tony Jones photos) | ZOOM |

        The inside of the house was more familiar work territory for Mr. Schoeny — stripping wallpaper, tearing out walls, updating plumbing and electricity, installing new roofing, siding, gutters and completing plenty of painting.

        “We tore out a smaller greenhouse off the master bedroom (on the second floor) to make room for a walk-in closet and bath,” he says.

        “And we managed to save the hardwood floors by sanding and restaining, picking up the cherry tones of the new kitchen cabinetry.”

        Most of the floors are a square-within-a-square inlay pattern.

FAMOUS GUEST

Liberace, the piano virtuoso known for his flourish and sequins, was a guest at Walter Johnson's Hyde Park home on several occasions. In the now-remodeled basement he once drew a piano on the wall and signed his name. Mark Schoeny covered the area with protective Plexiglass.

        The windows, appliances and bathrooms were a different matter. Everything had to go.

        Walls were bumped out, crown molding and recessed lighting were added and a subtle dusty taupe color was chosen for the walls. The paint, along with the California berber carpeting upstairs, help tie the rooms together.

        Bathrooms received Monticello-style fixtures and Italian marble, and the kitchen was pulled together by installing granite counter tops.

        “I ended up spending a little more on the finishing touches — the granite, the marble — than I originally planned” Mr. Schoeny says.

        “Anybody else would have spent $250,000 to do the work. Because I did it myself, the total was less, even with the extra touches.

        “We talked with two architects who told us you couldn't build anything like the greenhouse alone today for less than $250,000.

        “It's not a house for everybody,” Mr. Schoeny says.

        “It'll be great for entertaining, for someone who appreciates all this,” he says, gesturing to the towering plants and the waterfall.

        Someone who appreciates a one-of-a-kind “back yard.”
       Mr. Schoeny is asking $419,000 for the remodeled home. Information: 260-2189.
       Have you completed a home renovation in the past two years? Send suggestions to Joy Kraft, Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; fax: 768-8330.

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