Opening up this 1890’s home created stunning spaces, perfect for entertaining in style. Take a look at all the gorgeous details.

That closet! Those floors!

“There’s no way we’re living here.” That’s what Andrea Stevie told her husband, Joe, when she first saw this house. Then Joe showed her his designs that included Andrea’s dream closet and the rest is history.

Located in Covington’s charming MainStrasse Village neighborhood, the house need help–a lot of help. The Stevies gave it a new 2-story addition, white oak floors, gorgeous finishes and fixtures and a whole new life.

Joe enjoyed reimagining how the space could be used, creating large open rooms, a master bedroom suite and a third-floor getaway. Andrea loved bringing her decorating vision to life, weaving in her love of art, some treasured antiques, modern lighting and nods to a German castle they visited on vacation.

While you’re watching the episode, keep an eye out for the beautiful herringbone wood floors and the marble fireplace in the living room. You can get a closer look in the slideshow photos below.

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Thank you to the sponsor of this episode:

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More information about the property

Learn more about the City of Covington here.

Learn more about the MainStrasse Village neighborhood here.

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Additional photos of the property (slide show)

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If you’d rather read than watch, here is the episode transcript:

[Jill Morenz, host] Hi, and welcome to another episode of Beyond the Curb River City Living. I’m Jill Morenz with the Catalytic Fund. Today, I’m going to take you inside a stunning renovated property in Covington’s Mainstrasse and neighborhood. So let me show you.

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Part of this home’s appeal for the owners was that it was in such bad shape that very little could be saved, which allowed them to customize it, to reflect their own style. They took out most of the walls on the first floor to create the spacious rooms.

Some of the details in the dining room were inspired by a castle that Joe and Andrea had visited in Germany. The finishes in the kitchen are so lovely. There’s a bronze backsplash and the counters are calacatta gold marble. They set up this area for coffee and cocktails.

The brick and the staircase is a nice feature.

Upstairs is a serene master bedroom. The walls are painted gray with a hint of lavender and the color is very soothing. The master bathroom has a lot of beautiful modern elements and is also very calming like the best kind of spa.

This is Andrea’s dream closet.

In order to create this fabulous dressing room, they ripped off the kitchen, which was an addition to the original building anyway, and then built this new edition, which accommodates the two car garage, this room, a workout room and a roof deck above.

The workout room is connected to the dressing room and the master bedroom. The guest room brings in a little more pattern and showcases the antique furniture. Up on the third floor is a more casual family room with access to the roof deck and these views.

[Andrea Stevie, homeowner] How did we find this house?

[Joe Stevie, homeowner] So I was approached by the lady that lived here. I was rehabbing the building down the street, I lived the building across the street. So, when she was ready to sell this, she actually came and approached me and I bought it without telling her.

[Andrea] My favorite feature has to be the closet. That was actually his bargaining chip to get me to agree, to move into this house. Because when we first saw the house, it was in really, really bad condition. And he walked me through and I sat him down at the very end. And I said, “I just wanna say one thing, we will never live in this house.”

[Joe] I actually knew within 20 seconds of her walking in that she was going to say no.

[Andrea] And then in the same day, he drew up sketches for what he would be willing to put as an addition. And the closet was part of it. And when I saw that, I said, “Okay, fine.” So, I love having the closet, there’s a space for everything. And it’s nice to have that convenience of a new addition in a modern build. And also have the charm of the historic original part of the house too.

[Joe] It’s got incredible views. You can see pretty much the entire Ohio River Valley, as well as Downtown Covington, you can see in a Newport. So, it’s pretty gorgeous.

[Andrea] For me decorating the house was more of creative expression and just kind of choosing the things that I like. I never have a problem knowing what I want or what I like. So, it was just kind of cobbling all of those things together. And I used inspiration, I would say from our travels, we love to travel international and experience different cultures and see different architecture and different designs and styles. So, I took all of the pieces that I loved from our travels and tried to incorporate them and let those pieces inspire me and my designs.

The entire first floor, I kept all the walls white intentionally because I have a strong appreciation for art. So my intention in doing that was to bring in a lot of artwork, local artwork. And my sister-in-law is from Pakistan and she has access to a lot of really great artists that are there. So we’re going to have some of it commissioned, and I want to be able to put that art into the rooms and against that white backdrop and just have everything pop so that it really stands out and kind of has a gallery feel.

My favorite thing about living in Covington is the culture. I like a lot of diversity and I like a lot of variety. And in Covington, I get that the diversity and the people, the variety in the architecture, because it’s just always something new and something different. And I really appreciate that and enjoy it because I get pretty bored easily with the ordinary. So, I love all the variety that’s here and just the way that everyone melts together and is accepted and celebrated.

[Joe] Yeah, I would say the same thing as far as the architecture and everything down here, every house, every building is a little bit different and it’s something you really don’t get in the suburbs. The other great part about this is that my office is right down the street so I can walk to work, but we can also walk pretty much anywhere down here, we can walk over to Cincinnati. We’re sorta equidistant on Greer Street from Mainstrasse and like the central business district, with Hotel Covington and ridges in Braxton, all that stuff. So, that’s a great part of us moving from Wallace Woods is which is where we came from down to Mainstrasse. It’s a lot easier to get around everywhere.

[Jill] Thank you for joining me on our tour of this gorgeous renovation in Covington, Kentucky. I invite you to check out our website beyondthecurb.org for other episodes and when we have in-person tours. On behalf of our sponsors and the Catalytic Fund, I’m Jill Morenz. Thanks for coming Beyond the Curb with us.

Beyond the Curb is presented by the Catalytic Fund, a company that through its investments and real estate expertise, executes high impact real estate projects in Northern Kentucky and creates new spaces for living, working and entertainment.