The Swiss Avenue home of John and Loni Christensen is marked by their love of the old and the classic. Each room of the two-story, historic home is brought to life with the often-creative use of antique pieces from around the globe.

Rather than take a please-don’t-touch approach to these older pieces, the Christensens make them an everyday, functional part of their home. Take, for example, the Austrian bread trough found in the dining room. The wooden structure has a hollowed-out middle in which bakers could knead dough. The Christensens added a glass topper in order to use the piece as a wet bar.

Sign up for our newsletter

* indicates required

Another striking aspect of the dining room (which includes sconces original to the home) is the unusually long and narrow dining table. Called a “Reformation table,” it came from a monastery and is about 500 years old.

John and Loni are both European-born, and lived overseas many years before retiring. During their travels, they combed flea markets and specialty shops to uncover the treasures from a working Belgian oven with handmade porcelain tiles to a still-accurate 1800s French grandfather clock  that fill their home.

The couple realized soon after they wed in 1963 that restoring old pieces would be the better investment for them.

“Buy nice old things and you can keep them forever,” Loni says.

It’s only natural that a Swiss Avenue home, built in 1925  and with many of its original features intact, would appeal to the Christensens’ love of old structures. All of the furnishings don’t hail from the past, however, and the mixing of modernity with antiquity contributes to the home’s unique feel.

But even outdoors, the past has a strong presence. Looming over the expansive backyard is a massive pecan tree, at least 100 years old. The tree provides generous shade over the stone pathways that dot the tree-lined yard.

Keeping up an old home requires work, the Christensens say. Like the family before them, they are mindful of the responsibility to retain the original aspects of the home. To them, the extra effort is worth it.

“When you have an older home, you have a lot of things to be cared for,” says John. “It’s not for everybody, but we enjoy it or we wouldn’t do it.”

The unique homes and extraordinary friendliness found in the tight-knit neighborhood convinced the Christensens that this would be their home after retirement.

“I can’t imagine living anywhere else,” says Loni. “We’re close to the Meyerson, all the restaurants on Greenville  you’re ten minutes away from anywhere you would want to go.”

Adds John: “Everybody really cares about the neighborhood, and you get to know your neighbors. You don’t find that everywhere  else.”

If you know of a unique home or garden in our neighborhood that we could include in a story, give us a call at 214-823-5885, ext. 210.