“We walked in the
front door and we
knew. We knew
right away.”
42 SHAKERONLINE.COM | WINTER 2014
Balancing Old and New
While the bones of the house are well-preserved, the
Holcomb’s modern-day improvements necessarily included
the kitchen and bathrooms. They replaced the kitchen sink
and installed new granite countertops, and gutted and
beautifully remodeled two of the bathrooms. Both projects
were done with the help of Cleveland Heights interior
designer Teri Johnson.
“My philosophy was to be sensitive to the fact that it
was one of the oldest homes in Shaker, but to bring things a
little bit into the twenty-first century,” Johnson says.
The Holcombs’ personal touch is reflected in the firstfloor
bathroom tiles, inspired by a tumbling block pattern
they saw at the Getty Villa near Los Angeles. A playful fish
sculpture made of golf tees and other odds and ends hangs
above a towel rack made from an old level. A mosaic that
complements the floor tiles adorns the wall of the stand-up
glass shower.
The couple couldn’t be happier with their decision
to return from California to Shaker Heights for their
retirement. “Originally, we thought we’d live the good life
out there,” Kathy says. But now, with family just around the
corner and a house that’s part of local history, Kathy and
Jim Holcomb have a better, fuller life at home in Shaker. SL
Artist: William Forsall (American). Signed but undated.
Probably turn of the 20th century.
Subject: A yacht race.
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Artist: Unknown. Circa 1870. The painting was the first piece of marine
art that Jim Holcomb purchased, in Westport, Connecticut in 1981.
Title: 1870 America’s Cup Race Won by the Vessel “Magic”,
Passing Sandy Hook Lightship.
Medium: Oil on canvas.