Historic Willo showcases elegant living

Andrea Katsenes has been known to carry wall and furniture measurements when she goes on vacation. That's because she might spot a piece of art or an accessory that would fit a display niche or tabletop.

Indeed, her Willo Historic District home, built in 1927, is replete with her finds.

You can see Katsenes' home and others in the neighborhood during Sunday's Willo Historic District Annual Home Tour. The tour, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., includes examples of Tudor, Spanish Revival, bungalow and ranch-style homes dating from the 1920s through the 1940s.

In its July/August issue, Cottage Living magazine named the Phoenix neighborhood, which is between Thomas and McDowell roads and First and Seventh avenues, one of the top 10 cottage neighborhoods in the nation. Bungalow Heaven in Pasadena, Calif., Five Sisters in Burlington, Vt., and Cottage Home in Indianapolis were among the other locales on the list.

Katsenes, media-relations director for Cox Communications, loves collecting art from other countries.

"It's fun to remember where you were when you got it," she said.

Such as Shanghai, China, where she found a hand-carved jade vase with ram's heads. The jade is in rich shades of gold and tan, not the more typical green. It fits perfectly in the arched niche above the living-room fireplace.

And Istanbul, Turkey, where "it's fun to go and bargain," Katsenes said. "You think Mexico is the bargaining place, but there, it's like a varsity sport." On one of her three trips there, she bargained for her living-room rug. Done in muted shades of tan, navy and sage green, not the more typical bright reds, it matches the room's soft green walls.

Despite the rug's large size, about 6 by 9 feet, it was no problem getting it back to the United States, Katsenes said.

"They roll it up and put it in a special suitcase," she explained.

One of the guest bedrooms contains a collection of blue-and-white plates gathered from France, Portugal, the Netherlands and Turkey. The understated Amish four-poster-style bed frame doesn't overpower the room's other features: a rug from China, given to Katsenes by her parents, and a vase that Katsenes carried back from Shanghai and had converted into a lamp. The colorful paintings on the wall were done by rural-area Chinese children.

In the dining room, a painting depicts three women, clad in red dresses, against a wooded landscape. The artwork is from Athens, Greece, where Katsenes met the artist, a transplanted Russian. The painting adds color to the traditionally styled room, which also features a collection of crosses, most of which are of Mexican pewter, and a dark wood table elegantly set with black-and-white toile dinnerware and Mexican stemware.

Black and white and bright colors characterize the family room, which previously sported a nondescript tile floor. Katsenes, who moved into the home 3 1/2 years ago, added a fireplace to make the space more cozy. She painted the walls a bright salmon color, filled the room with colorful furnishings and artwork, and installed brick floors to match those of the adjacent courtyard.

Other features of Katsenes' 2,000-square-foot home:

• A guest bathroom with wainscoting, the original mosaic-tile floor, black-and-white toile shower curtain and a collection of black-and-white photos taken by Katsenes.

• A galley-style kitchen with an old O'Keefe & Merritt stove. The stove still has the salt and pepper shakers it came with.

• Wood-plank flooring, reclaimed from a neighborhood gymnasium, in the kitchen and master bathroom.

• Home office with mementos of Katsenes' previous jobs working for former Arizona Congressmen Eldon Rudd and Jay Rhodes.

• A cozy courtyard with black iron furniture, covered in black- and white-striped cushions, that face the built-in fireplace.

The home tour also includes food vendors and a street fair featuring handcrafted goods, jewelry, antiques and artwork. Trolleys will carry the tourgoers.

Reach the reporter at sue.doerfler@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8236.

Andrea Katsenes' 2,000-square-foot home is featured during Sunday's Willo Historic District Annual Home Tour. The tour, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. , takes place in the Willo Neighborhood, between McDowell and Thomas Roads, First and Seventh