By Maria Cook
At first glance, one would assume that the home at 1151 W. 116th St. in Carmel has always been elegant. The sprawling white house, built in 1870 and surrounded by trees on a 3-acre lot, is nothing short of impressive. Yet, the estate had humble beginnings. In fact, it was originally built as a stable—albeit an upscale one.
“There were 14 stalls. The floor was paved in bricks. It was beautiful,” said Lisa Millner, who is assisting her mother, Jeanne Atkins, in selling the home. “The current kitchen was the tack room. It was beautiful with a brick floor, fireplace and a bath. That’s where you sat and got warm and chatted. It was a very nice stables.”
Although Millner’s parents completed several renovations to the 5,324-square-foot home, in the years since it was converted into a living space, they took care to leave some historic elements intact, including parts of the original wooden ceiling and exposed wooden beams, which once separated stalls in the stable.
“You walk in the front door, it’s pure drama,” Millner said of the architecture. “Those massive beams and ceiling, with all that wood exposed, it would be hard to replicate something like that. My parents put on a very large dining room addition. The main room of the living room and dining room was expansive, but my mother loved to entertain, so she put on a really large dining room with a front porch leading off of that.”
Millner said her mother also designed the home’s living room fireplace. Atkins has lived in the home for 40 years.
