Classic 1940s home updated with a modern flair.

This 1940s Colonial style sits in the family-friendly Fairway neighborhood on a quiet cul-de-sac street. The tree-lined location is a walkable area of Lexington roughly between Idle Hour Country Club and Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate.

The columned entrance topped with a fanlight window speaks to the Colonial style, as does the symmetry of the brick façade with its balance of windows, dormers and chimneys.

From the foyer you are met with a center hall floor plan with formal dining room on the left and living room on the right. A staircase to the second floor bedrooms terminates with a volute handrail capped with an inviting gilded pineapple.

All of which might sound a bit proper and stuffy, which doesn’t really do justice to this dynamic four bedroom, five bath, 4,348 square foot gem of a home at 320 Kingsway Drive.

When you’re looking at a house built in 1942, you typically find a small master with inadequate closet space, small kitchen, no great room and a floor plan with unsatisfying flow. Thanks to a major renovation/expansion by previous owners, those issues have been thoughtfully and strikingly solved.

ROCK SOLID AND SEAMLESS

Current co-homeowner Dr. Rachel Miller, a GYN Oncologist at University of Kentucky Hospital, remembers a home inspector marveling about the house and the stone foundation.

“When the guy did the inspection and came out from under, he was like ‘even the crawl space is in good shape in this house,’” Rachel said. “It’s just so solid, we haven’t had any issues at all. It’s always felt like a really good house to us.”

Husband Josh Miller, a Lexington attorney, recalls his first impressions. “We liked that it was a historic home that it had a really well done addition,” Josh said. “The transitions are just seamless in the upstairs as well. The flow was really good and a lot of older homes don’t have that.”

“The best part of the house for us is this living space from here back (kitchen, great room and back porch),” Rachel said. “We can just open up the French doors and use the porch like an extra room. It becomes like an indoor-outdoor space when we’re hosting people for game watching or a cookout.”

PLAYGROUND AND SHOPPING

Beyond the cul-de-sac there’s a cut-through to the Hearing and Speech Center, a school that provides support services to children.

“The Hearing and Speech school allows the neighborhood children to use their playground on evenings and weekends,” Josh said. “Both of our boys (Jack Charles, 7 and Carrick, 2) have learned to ride their bikes in that park and it’s just a really cool space.”

It’s a short drive to Kroger on Euclid for groceries and only 10 minutes to Hamburg Place Mall, but if you’re in a walking or biking mood, Magee’s Bakery, Wilson’s neighborhood grocery in Kenwick, and National Avenue offerings like Eppings on Eastside are all only about a mile away.

The attic (one of the joys of an older home) has been turned into a bright cozy haven/office with original rustic heart pine flooring. The basement includes a den with fireplace, wet bar and half bath. For the Millers, it’s mostly used as the kid’s play area.

The large back porch has a newly-installed low-maintenance composite decking. Relaxing under the pale blue beadboard ceiling, a harbinger of good luck according to Southern tradition, has become a ritual.

“We come out here on the porch in the evenings after the kids go down,” Josh said. “Eight months of the year we’re out here. It’s probably my favorite spot.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2020 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Classic 1940s home updated with a modern flair.."