712 South Willow Avenue - Janice and Kevin Shukur

Welcome to 712 South Willow Avenue, built in 1926. The Shukur family purchased this lovely home just last year in 2024. When their son graduated from high school, they made their next move to a home at the beach, and also purchased a tiny bungalow in Hyde Park. But they wanted more space, and less beach time. So they sold both and went looking for a house.

They loved the generous entrance way in this home—many homes in Hyde Park do not feature one—as well as all the roominess inside. The large porch also drew them in. The house had original chair railings and coffered ceilings, but once the updating process began, smoother lines took their place. The removal of the low ceiling in the dining area also revealed a “wonderful surprise”—a soaring beamed ceiling above. They discovered a similar ceiling in the upstairs bedroom!

They found extensive termite damage in the original horizontal roof of the porch, so the whole thing came down. In its place, they erected the incredibly charming gable. As it turns out, this home originally featured a gable roof over the porch, so the quite strict Architectural Review Commission of this neighborhood gave it an easy go-ahead.

The Shukurs also gave the small brick fireplace a fresh facelift and added a window to the left of it to create balance in the room. Janice did all the decorating herself.

Their favorite new details of the house are the marble countertops and brass hardware, in the kitchen, and the leopard runner that goes up the stairway.

(Side note: two giant adorable white fluffy Samoyed dogs named Gator and Vasi live at this house, and the style they add, by default, is on point!)

Says Janice, “Once you live in Hyde Park, you’ll never want to live anywhere else."