5 Reader-Favorite Home Tours From 2019

Photos by Sarah Parisi Dowlin

5. Eclectic Farmhouse-Inspired Style in Florida

House at a Glance
Who lives here: Josh and Mary Beth Tatum and their black Labrador, Stubbs
Location: Miramar Beach, Florida
Size: 3,644 square feet (339 square meters) including carport and porch; three bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms

Mary Beth and Josh Tatum bought a lot on scenic Choctawhatchee Bay in Miramar Beach, Florida, after living in a teardown for years. They took the opportunity to build and design a new home, relying on Houzz for design ideas and inspiration. “I used Houzz to home in on my particular design aesthetic,” Mary Beth says. “I was then able to further streamline and categorize my thoughts through the ideabooks.”

Her design inspiration started in the kitchen. “My favorite item in the home is our La Cornue French range,” she says. “We purchased this before we began construction. Our entire first floor was designed around this piece.” The interior features a palette of rich grays, cool blues and silver inspired by the range.

Building the home, which sits amid pine and river birch trees just across from the bay, was a team effort. Josh drew up plans and sent them to a draftsperson at Kennedy Drafting Service. Then the couple, pictured here with their 13-year-old black Labrador, Stubbs, hired subcontractors to complete the renovations. “We got what we liked and appreciate every aspect of it,” Mary Beth says.

Read more about this home

Photos by Margot Hartford

4. A California Interior Designer’s Bright Remodel of Her Family’s 1956 Home

House at a Glance
Who lives here: Stacee Christen of Christen Interiors and her two sons, John Paul and George
Location: Marin County, California
Size: 2,875 square feet (267 square meters); four bedrooms, 4½ bathrooms

Interior designer Stacee Christen bought a 1956 fixer-upper tucked into the side of a hill in Northern California’s Marin County and went straight to work remodeling the neglected property, which had been untouched by previous owners for decades. The day the house closed escrow, the first dumpster arrived. “Six weeks later, we moved in,” she says.

Christen worked closely with general contractor Rob Jackson to make the quick interior transformation. “I started with opening up the main room by knocking down the walls that were blocking the flow and visual connection to the kitchen and stairs,” the designer says.

Photos by Rachel Loewen

3. Thoughtful Refresh for a Historic Home in Illinois

House at a Glance
Who lives here: Jessica Hoenes, owner of Found Home & Design; husband Matt; daughter Ellie, 8; and son Parker, 5
Location: Glencoe, Illinois
Size: About 2,500 square feet (232 square meters); three bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms

For Jessica and Matt Hoenes, it took three years of patient renovations to get their 1895 Chicago-area Victorian just right. “We love doing house projects but we do them in spurts,” Jessica says. The couple used Houzz for inspiration, and to read reviews of architect Lesa Rizzolo of L.A. Rizzolo Architects before hiring her.

The house was originally a barn for a Victorian and was turned into a Colonial-style residence in 1947. The Hoenes family is only the third to occupy the home, and the couple brought in a general contractor to do a lot of the heavy lifting. “It’s had renovations that feel timeless and can be passed on to a fourth family,” Jessica says.

Find a local architect on Houzz

Photos by Rikki Snyder

2. Patterns and Collections at Play in a New York Apartment

Apartment at a Glance
Who lives here: Jeanie Engelbach of apartmentjeanie and her English bulldog, Tater Tot
Location: New York City
Size: 775 square feet (72 square meters); one bedroom, one bathroom

Collection enthusiast and professional organizer Jeanie Engelbach shows how to balance color and restraint in her compact rental apartment, which she packed with neon pink wallpaper, candy-colored hues and styled vignettes. “I realized that I can’t live in a home that doesn’t have at least one wall painted in sunshine yellow,” Engelbach says. “Given the limited wall options, I went with the low kitchen ceiling. It adds an unexpected punch and brightens the darkest part of the apartment.”

Watch now: See how Engelbach displayed her collections in her previous apartment in this episode of Houzz TV

Photos by Lauren Edith Andersen

1. A Chef’s Kitchen Renovation in Wine Country

Kitchen and Office at a Glance
Who lives here: Amy Vogler of Wooden Spoon Kitchen; her husband, Rocky; their 6-year-old daughter; and their Labrador mix
Location: Kenwood, California
Size: New kitchen: 320 square feet (30 square meters); new office: 280 square feet (26 square meters); total home: 1,500 square feet (139 square meters); two bedrooms, two baths

Amy and Rocky Vogler waited more than 10 years before renovating their 1970s kitchen in their Northern California wine country home. Amy is a cooking professional who develops, tests and writes recipes for cookbooks and is also a producer on video and TV projects, cooking apps and websites. The previous kitchen and adjacent workspace were cramped, and storage space was minimal. The couple wanted to flip the locations of the kitchen and family room to radically transform the space into one with a much more functional layout.

They hired a team of design professionals, including architect Malcolm Yuill-Thornton, general contractor Mike Samuelson, painting professionals Baggenstos & Associates and Rhyne Design Cabinets for custom cabinetry.

“I had a long time to think about where things should be,” Amy says. “I’m very practical and never thought I’d have a kitchen as big as this is. It’s been a game changer for our family, for my work, for everything. I knew, if I was standing at the sink, where things should be in my head. I couldn’t be more pleased.”