A few hours of free time on a weekend afternoon started the ball rolling. “It was just one of those Sundays where we had nothing going on,” Christine Masur says. So, when she came across a real estate listing for an open house she thought might interest her husband Paul, she asked him if he’d like to take a drive to see it.
The description of the home—a repurposed 1878 bank barn from Troy, Ohio—intrigued Paul. “I’ve always been a barn guy,” he says. “I just like barns.” When the couple arrived at the Liberty Township location, Christine says, “There were cars everywhere. There were at least a hundred people going through the house.”
Christine immediately loved the architecture of the home. “It’s one of a kind,” she says. The fact that the home was set up for aging in place, with a primary bedroom and guest suite on the first floor, was a major bonus. Christine was expecting her father Jim, who lived in Cleveland, to move in with them eventually.
Ready or not
“It was during a crazy housing market in 2022,” Christine says. “We had to decide right then and there to make an offer and there would be no inspection.”
Paul was hesitant. “Are we ready?” he said. They needed to sell their Mt. Lookout house. The main barn home needed mechanical updating and a creekside outbuilding was infested with squirrels and racoons. Nevertheless, the couple put in an offer. “We did not get the home,” Christine says. “I think Paul was relieved.”
Second chance
Three weeks later, the couple’s realtor called and told them, “The barn house is back on the market.” Again, the couple had to move quickly, but this time, the outcome was in their favor. They would become the second owners of the home.
The first owners were Dave and Karen. Dave had an engineering degree and worked as a timber framer. In 1985, he “re-built” the home recreating the same structure as the original “bank” barn…which is a style of barn often built into the side of a hill to be accessible on two separate levels. The outbuilding was where he worked on millwork.
Fortunately for the Masurs, Karen carefully documented the history of the original barn, and the process Dave went through to recreate it as a home. She was a wealth of information for the new owners. Plus, she was a master gardener who had worked at the Cincinnati Zoo and her touch is seen throughout the 2.5 acre property.
“Thanks to Karen, we inherited lots of flowers, plants and trees,” Christine says. “We have native plants and species you just don’t see everywhere,” she says.
The bucolic setting includes gently rolling hills sprinkled with colorful clusters of perennials, a greenhouse frame or “hoop house” with climbing vines, and a creek that
runs along the back of the property.
Creek barn
A second, more traditional style barn, serves as a family entertainment space when needed. When the couple took residence, the barn was home to wildlife and full of the builder’s woodworking tools. Today there’s an expansive lounge area and a cozy bar and pool table area off in a side room.
Inside the home is where you clearly see Christine’s touch. As co-owner of Nest Home Staging and Design, she has confidence when it comes to making design choices. Throughout any updates and remodels, the couple wanted to keep the architectural layout untouched. “The footprint was the layout of the original barn,” Christine says.
Case in point is the kitchen which Christine describes as an “oversized galley.” No walls were removed when this space was remodeled. “We focused on function without changing the layout,” she says. Plus, the couple didn’t want any updates to stick out as “new.” They wanted the kitchen to feel seamless—like it belongs with the house.
With that goal in mind, Christine knew she wanted to use natural stone in the kitchen to honor the age of the home. “I chose Viola marble because I loved all the movement in pattern running through it.” An eggplant colored vein that runs through the stone inspired the paint choice for the cabinetry—Mahogany by Farrow
and Ball. “I love the color,” she says, “It feels very grounding.”
Family’s mark
The Masurs have three children—Emma, Grace and Jack—all in their twenties now and out of the house. However, selling the family home was an emotional time for them. “Grace even got a tattoo of our old house,” Paul says.
Emma embraced the charm and beauty of the family’s new home when she chose the venue as the setting for her recent wedding. Flowers from the property’s cutting garden were picked by the couple’s family and found in arrangements throughout the venue. The bride and bridal party walked down the moss path, the ceremony was in the meadow and the barn was used for dinner and dancing. It was a beautiful setting for another chapter in this property’s narrative.
“Paul and I are honored to live in this home,” Christine says. “We consider ourselves stewards and want to carefully tend and respect the structures, the land and its history.”
RESOURCES
Design Nest Home Staging and Design
Counters Viola Marble, NK Stone
Cabinets Custom by Ken Feinauer Custom Woodworking
Paint Farrow and Ball, Oakley Paint
Faucet Ferguson
Range The Aga Studio
Cabinet hardware Bona Decorative Hardware
Electrician ACM Electric LLC
Sconces Visual Comfort
Appliances Monogram
Sunroom lighting Switch
Harvest table and chairs Cincinnati ReUse Center
Leather sofa in barn and kitchen runner Everything But The House
Article by Karen Bradner
Photos by Ross Van Pelt
Originally posted in May 2026