Downtown Lexington condo boasts perfect location, historic charm, modern décor

Since moving to their condo in Lexington’s historic Wellington Arms building at 508 East Main Street in May 2014, Jason and Julie Sims have made good use of the available public transportation.

“There’s a trolley stop here at our building, and we love to hop on there to go downtown for the monthly Gallery Hop events,” said Jason, a partner with Dinsmore and Shohl LLP and an avid art collector.

The couple, who moved from Cincinnati to Lexington in 2012, chose their 1,700-square-foot condo primarily for its location. Their unit faces Main Street and includes three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

“I like being downtown. I feel like living here, you’re a part of your community. We walk to restaurants; we walk downtown,” Julie said. “It’s kind of an eclectic corner. There’s diversity, which I really enjoy. It’s a great place to live.”

A former schoolteacher and counselor, Julie now works from her home office and on the road in Eastern Kentucky counties as an area representative for National Teachers Associates Life Insurance Company.

“The restaurants downtown are fabulous,” added Jason. “I actually like them better than anything we had in Cincinnati.”

Unique appeal

And while the central location of the Wellington Arms building — which was completed in the early 1930s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places — was appealing, so too was its unique history and charm.

With its distinctive English Tudor-style façade, including a central exterior formed from 2-foot-thick, rough-cut Kentucky limestone, Wellington Arms began as an apartment building. It was converted to condominiums roughly a decade ago.

Julie and Jason’s unit — which combined two former apartments — had been partially renovated during the conversion, but was never purchased. As the first owners of the condo, the couple had the opportunity to incorporate a bit of their own personality and style into its final transformation.

“We’ve owned several homes together over the years, including new builds,” Julie said. “But owning something historic is just very different. We feel that this building is really an important part of the identity of Lexington, and to be part of that is a special thing.”

The challenge for the couple, though, was how best to honor the heritage and charm of the building — which still boasts its original terrazzo tiled halls, plantation entry doors to each unit (to allow airflow at a time before the building had air conditioning), and a stunning lobby adorned with marble floors and rich, burled walnut paneling — while incorporating their own mid-century modern taste.

They worked with interior designer Gail Moses and contractor Bill Nudd to make their vision a reality. The result: a seamless blending of the original bones of the home with mid-century modern décor hallmarked by clean lines and streamlined furnishings.

“We walked through the building and talked with Gail about how when you’re in a historic building, you can still have your own design style and make it work. That was really important to us,” Julie said. “We moved from a very contemporary condominium and we wanted to have some sense of that here as well.”

Many of the couple’s mid-century modern inspired furnishings — including the low-slung, white wraparound leather couch in their family room and the large, streamlined, burled wood buffet in the dining room — transitioned seamlessly from their former, contemporary home.

Throughout the condo, the couple’s colorful and eclectic modern art pieces also add a contemporary feel to the space.

Jason’s favorite art piece was purchased at an art fair at Cincinnati’s Coney Island and crafted by Northern Kentucky artist Doug Durkee. The 6-foot-tall work, called “Endless Time,” is a stunning clock hewn from stainless steel, featuring lights and a mirrored effect that evoke the feeling of infinite depth.

The clock sits prominently in a corner of the couple’s kitchen, adding a definitively cutting-edge touch to the updated space, which has been equipped with an oversized, black granite-topped island, stainless steel appliances and glass tile backsplash.

Modern mix

The condo boasts a large guest room, which doubles as Julie’s home office. Situated on the far left side of the unit, it provides privacy when the couple’s adult children or siblings come to visit.

Throughout the home, the couple painted walls in cool, calming hues — many of the rooms boast soft blues and gray shades — and they added modern light fixtures and new light switches in every room.

In their main bathroom, they had the original 1930s-era tub reglazed but replaced dated fixtures with sleek, stainless steel versions. The couple also replaced the original tub and sink in the owners’ bathroom in favor of a modern, tiled shower with glass doors and a designer, cone-shaped wood vanity.

They also worked with Nudd to reconfigure a few of the unit’s closet entryway doors and to build custom built-ins in the closet space Jason uses, just off the owners’ bathroom, in order to maximize storage space. And, they added surround sound speakers in all the rooms.

Julie uses the small bedroom adjacent to the owners’ bedroom as her dressing area, outfitting it with a stunning, vintage-inspired mirrored vanity.

Moses also designed and installed two custom painted, sliding wood doors — one in front of Julie’s closet in her dressing area, the other between the owners’ bedroom and the bathroom — to offer visual appeal and a space-saving means of adding privacy, when needed.

Not everything in the condominium is new, however.

“We kept the original floors and the original windowsills. All the doors and all the brass door knobs are original,” Julie said, including a set of two original, leaded glass doors that helps to define the transition between the kitchen and adjoining family room.

“They asked me if I wanted to keep them, and since they were original to the building, I really thought they were sweet and added a nice architectural element to the room,” she said.

The couple has found that the building, which includes 30 condos, offers the perfect balance of privacy and neighborliness.

“There’s a lot of privacy, but when you feel like you want to get together with people, you can,” Julie said. “The homeowners association hosts a few socials each year, including a cookout each summer and a tree-trimming party each winter.”

All in all, the couple couldn’t be more pleased at how well their transition to Lexington — and to their new, historic home — has worked out.

“We tried to respect what was here, but incorporate some of our own style,” Jason said. “And I think it has turned out well.”

This story was originally published February 14, 2016 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Downtown Lexington condo boasts perfect location, historic charm, modern décor."