Home makes history

The remodeled home also is the first house in Ruskin Heights, a 32-acre subdivision at the northeast corner of Blackman and Battlefield Roads.

Charlyce Ruth, office manager at HBA, said that the inclusion of the remodeled house will help emphasize another facet of the organization’s membership, which consists of builders, remodelers and associates.

“Really, the only reason we haven’t done it before is because, I’d say that 99 percent of the time, when you’re doing an extensive remodel on a home, the family is still living there. They really don’t want 1,000 to 5,000 people walking through their house,” Ruth said.

The Ruskin Heights home is different in that it’s unoccupied and on the market, Ruth said.

Residential construction firm Integrity Homes did the renovation work; its owner, builder Scott Rookstool, is also owner of Rookstool Developers LLC, the company behind the subdivision. Rookstool said he is unsure of how many homes he’ll build in the development, and nine lots have been reserved by others. Construction is expected to begin in late summer.

The renovation will be the only pre-existing home within the subdivision, Rookstool said. He decided to rehab the 46-year-old residence because it was designed and built by Springfield architect Don Russell, who is now deceased.

“You don’t just tear down a Don Russell house,” he said. “Rather than just go in and raze the house, clear-cut land for development – because I’m not about that – I have chosen to actually recycle and refurbish. It’s called remodeling, but it’s more like recycling. There’s nothing wrong with the house; it’s built solid. It just needed some floor plan updates.”

The residence, which is expected to sell in the “low $600,000s,” features four bedrooms and four bathrooms, Rookstool said. There are 3,600 square feet of living space on one level and another 1,400 square feet of finished basement.

“It sits on 4.8 acres, inside the city limits, with stone gates. It’s really kind of majestic,” he added.

Renovations include relocating the laundry room from basement to main floor, all new cabinetry and plumbing fixtures, updated décor, and enhanced landscaping, Rookstool said.

But the strengths of Russell’s design have been maintained; the unique moldings, functional cooking fireplace and architectural artifacts such as doors that came from historic St. Louis hotels are all original.

“The neat thing about Don Russell is that he kind of believed like I do in certain respects. He didn’t just go out and buy new materials for everything. … There’s a lot of extensive stonework outside in terms of landscape planters and features. All the stonework came from a dismantled railroad bridge that crossed the James River when they dammed up Springfield Lake,” Rookstool said.

Rookstool also plans to adhere to some of Russell’s tenets when it comes to the other properties within the subdivision, though it isn’t likely to appear that way from the outside.

“It’s not in terms of external style, but in terms of internal livability…I don’t want to define a style that these homes have to be,” he said, noting that Integrity Homes is not expected to be the only builder within Ruskin Heights.

“These are going to be smaller homes that are affordable, but each have their own quality and look about them. Each has its own character, but it ties together,” said Rob Haik, owner/architect with H Design Group LLC and consultant on amenities in the Ruskin Heights development.

Rookstool expects the properties to appeal to what he calls the “down-sizer market” – mature buyers or young families seeking homes with less maintenance and more neighborhood. Houses will range from 1,700 to 5,000 square feet; pricing will start in the “high $200,000s,” he said.

“Internal livability” translates, in one way, to fewer rooms with more space in the most commonly used areas in the home – the bedrooms and the kitchen.

“We’re trying to provide rooms that have flexibility – some people want offices, some people want bedrooms – but everything is going to be based around what I call the hearth, the gathering area of the house,” Haik said.

Rookstool said other interior features also will attempt to maximize space – instead of including a three-car garage, which tends to serve as additional storage space, there might be oversized garages or basement storage.

Ruskin Heights will include 74 lots, ranging in size from 6,500 to 18,000 square feet. Two dozen will be patio court homes, which will consist of two owner-occupied units sharing a common wall. Unlike condos, the patio court homes will be maintained by the owners of each unit.

Plans call for housing to be grouped together to create more green space and a closer sense of community. There will be sidewalks on both sides of the street and an easily accessible zero-depth entry community pool. Rookstool hopes these features will encourage neighbors to get to know each other, adding a safer feel to the gated subdivision.