Winterhalter purchased the Greek Revival duplex, also known as the Dohner Brothers House, in spring 2020. “I believe it has always been set up (as a duplex),” she adds, “to be best suited for the brothers who built it.”
The outdoor spaces and balconies, a side lot garden, limestone basement, attic and three-car garage appealed to Winterhalter.
“I used to always walk past this home dreaming about taking naps on the front balcony and creating a hanging garden,” says Winterhalter. “During the summers, I grow annuals and perennials from seed and create large hanging baskets full of nasturtiums and petunias. It’s also my pets’ (Oscar, Heidi and KJ) favorite part of the home as well to take naps during the warmer months.”
The couple lives in the upstairs of the building, and tenants Anna Blair and Shane Kosir reside in the first-floor unit. Both residences feature two bedrooms and one bathroom.
The upstairs and downstairs spaces are split about evenly. “The upstairs has a bit smaller of a footprint than downstairs due to the staircases,” Winterhalter says.
Both couples agree their closeknit neighborhood — with its progressive dinners, events such as the Dayton PorchFest, and storied architecture — is wonderfully charming year-round.
As a financial manager at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Natural Resources and Conservation Services, Winterhalter knows a thing or two about pretty foliage — and it is gloriously evident inside and outside the home.
“For my hanging gardens and baskets, I grow everything from seed, and I use the seeds I sowed from the previous year,” says Winterhalter. “My favorite to grow are nasturtiums because they are beautiful, easy and edible.”
Loney, an IT analyst for Kettering Health Network, lends his DIY skills, too, ensuring the home’s exterior is appropriately decorated for various holidays throughout the year.
FIRST-FLOOR FESTIVE
Tea and homemade cookies await guests to the first-floor unit where Blair and her partner Kosir have lived since May. Blair has assembled a cheerful tableau: sugar cookies shaped to look like candy canes, toffee bars and rosewater-cardamom shortbread cookies.
An IKEA table and chairs strike an appealing balance to the cozy vintage vibe of the table setting.
“I’ve always wanted to live in a historic home, and this happened to be available right at the time we were needing to relocate to Dayton for work,” explains Blair.
“When we moved in, I needed to buy a few new furniture pieces,” says Blair. “Now, I’m looking to acquire vintage and antique pieces that complement the historic style of the home.”
Blair, 26, reupholstered a 1960s Broyhill sofa and rocker she found on Facebook Marketplace. The fabric she used was also purchased from a seller on Marketplace. Having learned many crafting skills from her mother and grandmother, Blair has sewn and crocheted many soft furnishings for the home as well.
“I want a colorful, cozy home that looks like people actually live in it,” explains Blair, who is a systems engineer for a defense contractor. “I want people to get a sense of my personality when they visit my home.”
“I want my home to have repurposed and secondhand items,” adds Kosir, 27, a chemical engineer for the University of Dayton Research Institute. “I don’t want a home that feels generic and gray. And I want a home that is good for our cats.”
Blair, who grew up in rural Illinois, says she is constantly finding interior-design inspiration at thrift stores or on Facebook Marketplace. She says her mom calls her a nester, and “my friends call me a magpie.”
“I love the sense of satisfaction when the perfect item falls in your lap,” Blair says. “I try to be patient with the state of my house, and let the right items make their way to me over time. I also get a lot of my things from my family and grandparents as they downsize.”
She adds she spends “a lot of time” on TikTok. “That’s where I get a lot of DIY and aesthetic inspiration to help me create the feel of the house.”
“There are so many little quirks in the house because of its age,” says Blair. “One of my favorites is this weird little shelf in our kitchen. It’s a very awkward and large size; and I didn’t know why it was like that, until Gretchen told me that it was a dumb waiter.”
Any words of wisdom to area renters who might be refreshing their abode?
“I encourage people to be conscious of their consumption,” Blair says. “I gravitate toward a secondhand and vintage vibe to my home because I want to be careful about my home’s environmental impact. My house is a work in progress and always will be.”
Kosir adds an important note for pet owners: “If you have cats, your home should look like you have cats. Make sure they have their own spaces and lots of high-elevation places to go to.”
SECOND-LEVEL CHARM
Walk a up a flight of stairs and you’ll step into Winterhalter and Loney’s cozy, midcentury modern space.
“I like all things midcentury as far as the swag lamps, colors, mirrors, furniture, even my Christmas tree is a ‘vintage’ midcentury tree,” explains Winterhalter. “I love thrifting and finding furniture at estate sales and thrift stores. Almost all the furniture, décor and kitchen wares are all thrifted. I’m a firm believer in sustainability and finding purpose in all things, especially used things.”
Not surprisingly, Winterhalter’s style savvy is derived from “whatever I find at the thrift store and estate sales.”
She and Loney will marry in September “at the Liederkranz Turner in our neighborhood. We’re trying to keep all things local to downtown.”
As such, she has been doing some serious thrift-shopping for items that could be incorporated into the wedding celebration.
Luckily, when Winterhalter purchased the home, most of the remodeling was done. “I’ve had to fix a few things — such as replacing a toilet and learning how to light a boiler.”
But Winterhalter and Loney happily admit they have lots of projects to work on.
“Currently, I’m trying to turn my side lot (an extra lot that used to be an alley) into a secret garden full of ‘gothic’ and English garden type of plants,” Winterhalter says. At this time, “I have lots of black and deep maroon and purple tulips and many varieties of black to dark purple irises.”
The couple also say renovating the upstairs attic is prominent on their to do-list.
“Eventually, I’d like to finish the attic upstairs, but I actually like it unfinished as well,” Winterhalter says with a laugh. “I’m still thinking on this one!”
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