Crystal Wise
Way West on West Seventh Street — like, close to where the street literally ends blocks past French restaurant Saint-Emilion — was a cream-colored house with hunter-green shutters. The house, with a colonial-style facade obscured by shrubs and an old oak tree, looked like something inhabited by a recluse — likely named Boo Radley.
Fast-forward a couple of years, and what was once a fixer-upper got, well, fixed up thanks to Breanna and Matt King. “When I first saw this house, it was pretty spooky; I’m not going to lie,” Breanna says. The Fort Worth natives — who are also TCU alums — partnered with Southside Design and Build and Jessica McClendon of Glamour Nest Interior Design to give the home an inviting ambiance and feng shui perfect for entertaining.
While the home’s potential no doubt attracted the Kings to the project, Breanna felt particularly intrigued by the home’s history. The house sits on what was once Camp Bowie — a short-lived military tent camp that closed down in 1919. The camp was quickly replaced by a residential area that took advantage of the utility hookups left by the army. While no official records exist, according to the home’s previous owner and neighbors, the house sits where the officers’ mess hall once was — where officers gather and eat meals. “There’s something about an old home, its story, and becoming part of that story,” Breanna says. “I feel like there’s a real story here of people’s lives.”
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“Old Fort Worth,” as Breanna describes it, was one of the biggest influences on the home’s decor. Given the Kings’ love of history, the pair wanted to pay homage to the house’s storied past. The home’s decor has old family photos and pieces of history that represent an older downtown, including a piece of art from Fort Worth-based Leonard’s Department Store.
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Originally a fifth bedroom, the Kings converted it into a media room. The room comes complete with an L-shaped couch and a bar area with a minifridge. Many of the styling pieces, including the throw pillows, were provided by Simple Things Furniture.
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The spiral staircase leads to an attic, where the Kings’ children spend much of their time. “My kids are 8 and 6, so it’s just a good hideout spot,” Breanna says. “Every kid imagines having a really cool play space, and it’s just turned out to be a really neat area for them to be creative and have their own space.”
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The Kings took a cream-colored facade with hunter green shutters and updated it to a color Breanna describes as “naval.” They also removed the shutters to give the exterior a cleaner look.
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When the Kings purchased the house, the kitchen was “literally the size of a closet,” Breanna says. They knocked down a wall to open up the space into the living and dining space — essentially becoming one large room. The fireplace in the living area is original.
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“The home had been remodeled before in the early ’90s,” Breanna explains. “So the master bath had a really Austin Powers vibe.” To rid the bathroom of its aged design, the Kings added subway tile and some “funky” green cabinets.
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