By Joy Kraft
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The 1920s Hyde Park Dutch Colonial, once owned by the late, eccentric antiques and oddities collector Walter Johnson, and sporting a 44-by-42-foot conservatory with a 24-foot-high ceiling, was "not for everybody," admitted remodeler Mark Schoeny, even after he finished a massive renovation a year ago.

"It'll be great for entertaining for someone who appreciates all this," he said of the glass room with rock wall, gurgling stream, waterfall and refurbished plantings.

That's exactly what made Jim Flehmer and Jim Swedenburg fall for the Grace Avenue home in June.

"I walked in, saw the conservatory, and I was sold," says Mr. Flehmer.

He and Mr. Swedenburg moved from East Price Hill and spent the summer getting used to their new quarters and plants but did very little to the house, due to Mr. Schoeny's attention to detail.

"We didn't have to do a thing except add some plantation shutters and a few rugs," says Mr. Flehmer.

Mr. Schoeny spent months on the makeover, ripping out rotted woodwork, wallpaper (some of which had been painted black), mirrored detailing and knotty pine paneling; installing windows and roofing; and converting spaces.

Some of the only original features that remained were the hardwood floors and the overgrown greenhouse with windows originally installed by Rough Bros., whose client list includes Krohn Conservatory.

Mr. Swedenburg and Mr. Flehmer plan to tackle the back of the 286-foot-deep lot when spring comes and may add a few more plants to the conservatory. But fish, like the carp named Bertha that Mr. Johnson kept in the stream, will have to wait.

"We tried some fish in the summer, but the water is pretty shallow, and it just got too warm," says Mr. Flehmer.

One thing left unchanged is the basement wall with entertainer Liberace's signature. He was a guest of Mr. Johnson's.

Now everyone who comes to the home signs the wall around the piano master's signature, which is protected with Plexiglas.

And the entertaining is just starting.

"We just had a Christmas party with about 55 people in the conservatory and someone said it was like going to a little Krohn," says Mr. Flehmer.

E-mail jkraft@enquirer.com