After living in five new homes in five cities, Ann Marie and Mark Peters were thinking of something different when they moved to Columbus in early 2021.

They found it in the 1905 brick Queen Anne on Neil Avenue in the Victorian Village.

The couple was living in Idaho when Mark took a job as vice president of laboratory operations. battelle. Ann Marie came to Columbus looking for a house and gave Mark a face-to-face tour of the house on Neil Avenue. Mark signed before even stepping into the house.

More: Renovated Victorian Village home listed for $1.9 million

“When we got here, we looked at more than 40 houses. We liked some of the houses, but I couldn’t believe it when I saw that house was up for sale,” said Ann Marie, a higher education consultant.

“I walked into the house and I knew it was the right house. … It wasn’t just grand and beautiful. It sounds cheesy but it’s true, you walk into that house and it’s just a good place, a good atmosphere, a warm feeling. There were a lot of happy families in that house .”

After nearly four years at home, the couple is moving to the Washington, D.C. area for Mark’s new job as president and CEO of research firm MITER. They have He listed his home on Neil Boulevard Drew Fitzgerald and JoAnne Schorsten with Keller Williams Classic Properties for $1.5 million.

The four-bedroom home, which has 4,343 square feet on three floors plus 1,500 square feet of finished space in the basement, was fully restored when Peters purchased it in early 2021.

The couple added some details, such as extensive landscaping with an irrigation system and lighting, a third-floor skylight, a security system, window improvements and various mechanical improvements, including a radon mitigation system and duct and pipe work.

Like many homes of the period, the Neil Avenue home has several separate living areas on the first floor, but when the pocket doors are opened, the home opens up, making it ideal for entertaining.

“You go into a lot of houses, there are little separate rooms,” Ann Marie said. “This house has pocket doors and they’re all open, so the library opens into the dining room and then into the living room and it all connects to this gorgeous, gorgeous bar.”

Reportedly relocated from a Columbus tavern in the 1930s, the bar features brass rails, a mirrored full back bar and ornate carvings such as rams with horses’ eyes.

“We had bars in every other house we built,” Ann Marie said. “We had a nice bar in our previous house, but it was in the basement and people didn’t use it much. … This really turned the first floor into an entertaining space.”

The third floor of the house with a bathroom can be used as a nanny’s room. Additionally, the entire second floor above the two-car garage can be completed for guest space.

More: Photos: Circus House in Victorian Village

Mark Peters says he’ll miss gathering around the bar and the house’s abundance of natural light the most. For Ann Marie, it’s coffee on the wraparound patio overlooking Neil Boulevard and proximity to many events.

“We can walk everywhere,” he said. “We loved this area, with the Arena District, Goodale Park, festivals and restaurants. You’re not in the craziness of the Short North, but you’re close and comfortable.”

[email protected]

@JimWeiker

This article first appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: A look inside a $1.5 million Victorian Village home.