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Published: Wednesday, Dec. 05, 2012 / Updated: Wednesday, Dec. 05, 2012 05:34 PM

Home on York tour blends familiar, modern

YORK -- 

Kellie Wine Mull grew up with memories of Sunday afternoon dinners and Easter egg hunts at her grandparents’ Wright Avenue home in York. The three-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home where Mull now lives with her daughter is one of six historic homes and two local businesses that will be open this weekend during the Yorkville Historical Society’s annual tour of historic homes and businesses.

Kellie Wine Mull grew up with memories of Sunday afternoon dinners and Easter egg hunts at her grandparents’ Wright Avenue home in York. Now, Mull is raising her daughter there.

The home today is a unique blend of vintage character — from the 11-foot ceilings, beadboard accents and broad, covered front porch — and modern amenities such as sparkling new wood floors, gleaming new bathroom tile and modern kitchen appliances.

After the roughly 100-year-old home was gutted by a fire about five years ago, Mull and her family renovated and refurbished it with a modern, livable style that retains the historic charm.

The three-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home is one of six historic homes and two local businesses that will be open this weekend during the Yorkville Historical Society’s annual tour of historic homes and businesses.

The original shotgun-style cottage — with rooms running off each side of the large central foyer hall — was built in the early 1900s, Mull said. It was purchased by her grandparents, Robert and Adis Wine, around 1947.

“I grew up having Sunday lunch here as a child,” said Mull, who owns the York Wedding Chapel. “We would come here every Sunday after church, and have lunch, and we’d have Easter egg hunts here. It feels like a member of the family, the house itself.”

Mull, who lives in the house with her 7-year-old daughter, Gracie, inherited it from her father, Johnny Wine, a retired Clover High School art teacher. Wine lived in the house for a few years before that.

She said the interior was destroyed by fire, smoke and water damage about five years ago, when a heating gun caught some insulation on fire. Mull renovated the home with the help of her father, a talented carpenter and furniture maker who has used salvaged wood pieces for many of the accents.

She said they were able to keep the original studs and siding, as well as the masonry fireplace and some doors and moulding. However, she said the plaster walls, windows and flooring have all been replaced.

As part of the renovation, Mull was able to add a second floor, which includes two bedrooms that run off a large open hallway. The hallway includes a sitting area and there’s a bathroom.

She said her father made the tall beadboard kitchen cabinets and used decorative porch columns and woodwork as accent pieces in the kitchen and dining area. The kitchen island was made with wood salvaged from the demolition of another home, she said.

Wainscoting and a bench seat in the first-floor study area also were salvaged from another home, she said. Some of the doorknobs and trim in the house were rescued from other historic homes, she said.

The house is comfortably decorated with antiques and one-of-a-kind wood pieces made by Wine, like a kitchen table made from salvaged window sills and a master bed with a striking handmade headboard.

Mull said she enjoys raising her daughter in a home that has been so rich in family memories and experiences. “It’s just a very neat experience,” she said.