Old-world charm

In 2005, when Mike and Amie Whittle moved from a Tuscan-style villa in the Arizona desert to a 1970s split-level on Spokane’s South Hill, they brought with them the old-world charm of their former abode. When the couple first laid eyes on the 1974 “Brady Bunch” house near Comstock Park, it had little in common with the rustic retreat they shared in suburban Phoenix. The Whittles say they fell in love with the home’s sprawling backyard and graciously updated kitchen, with its granite counters and tumbled marble tile.

“That’s what really sold us,” Mike Whittle says. “But we really loved the Tuscan style and Italian design of our old house in Arizona and thought we could bring that to the rest of this house.”

Renovations began in earnest during last year’s holiday season, shortly after the Whittles moved in. They hired a contractor to lay the travertinelike porcelain tile floor with mosaic detail in the foyer, along with new carpet in the living and family rooms. But the couple are doing the bulk of the remodel themselves. One of their biggest projects to date was the construction of an interior stone wall that now separates the home’s entryway and living room. The Whittles also added stone to the existing fireplace, built a hearth and incorporated a custom maple mantel. Mike Whittle decided to tackle the stone project himself after observing similar work done by contractors at the Whittles’ home in Arizona. It took several weeks to lay and grout the combination of English and Tuscan fieldstone.

“I would do about four or five feet a day on weekends,” he says. “It is a lot of work, but you just have to know that you’re going to dedicate some time to it.”

Another major endeavor involved removing textured wallpaper in the entry, hallways, landings and formal dining area. In the latter they added natural wood trim and applied Venetian plaster to the walls to give the room an authentic, timeworn feel. Silk brocade drapes frame a large picture window that overlooks the backyard. An Italianate crystal chandelier anchors the room.

Throughout the house Amie painted many of the walls in natural earth tones that evoke the Tuscan landscape, setting off wrought iron light fixtures, sturdy wood furniture, vintage Florentine wine posters and other accents that add a provincial ambience to each room. The Whittles also updated two of their three bathrooms with new paint, cabinets and fixtures. Each is embellished with baroque detail, including a guest bath on the upper level that features a Carrera-marble vanity designed by Amie.

“The original countertop was white Formica. – It was just hideous,” Amie says. “I liked the clean look of the marble.”

With several coats of sealant to protect its porous surface, the marble vanity now sits atop dark wood cabinets that Mike designed and built. In fact. the Whittles’ home features a number of Mike’s custom furniture pieces, including an enormous, ornate wall unit and desk that occupies one entire wall of the family room, and a territorial-style china cabinet in the dining room.

“Amie bought me a table saw one year for Christmas,” Mike says, explaining that the gift prompted him to design and build the china cabinet. “That was the first piece of furniture I ever made for Amie.”

He said his foray into furniture-making grew out of the difficulty the couple had in finding the kind of furniture they like at prices they can reasonably afford. “Our approach is to figure out what we like and then shop around for something close that is a good deal,” Mike says, adding that sometimes it is simply easier and cheaper to do it yourself.

Although the Whittles have moved several times over the years, Mike says they plan to stick around Spokane, at least for now.

“We usually live in a house for (a few) years, and we just keep working and working and working, and then we move and do it all over again.”