In 2017, my husband, Zach, and I —new empty nesters — were ready for an adventure. Being a lifelong resident of Springdale, I have many fond memories of downtown, which is why getting involved with the revitalization effort was a perfect fit. For our first project, we purchased a cottage built in 1897. Even though most considered it a teardown, we could see the potential. Our goal was to complete the project in such a way that it would enhance downtown. We had years of experience remodeling our rental properties, but we were green with regard to the then newly passed, form-based code. Initially the code intimidated us, but once we started working with it, we appreciated the guidelines it provided. As with most processes, we experienced some things that worked as we hoped and others that did not. We were able to save the wood floors, open a dropped ceiling to expose beams and keep the wavy glass windows on the original part of the structure. We were also able to arrange the addition in a way to save the more-than-120-year-old trees and the detached outbuilding, which is now a repurposed garden shed. In contrast, we learned quickly that when you are working with an old home, you should expect that issues will arise. We also found that saving original details in the home took longer and cost more than we thought. In the end, however, we feel like the increased time and extra funds spent were worth it because they allowed the design of the cottage to flow seamlessly from old to new. Today, The Grove Cottage is a successful short-term vacation rental where we focus on giving guests an opportunity to experience historical charm with modern comforts. We hope all who see the cottage enjoy our little piece of sunshine in downtown Springdale.
Sarah Taldo-Brothers is a downtown Springdale resident and developer.
