A Home of Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come - 405 Magazine
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A Home of Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come

Four generations have a new nexus for holiday merriment, as the Goodin family prepares to deck the halls of their beautifully remodeled home.

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A Dickensian tribute to the Goodin family’s tradition seems fitting when you consider how they celebrate Christmas Eve.

Each yuletide, Jan Goodin’s now-90-year-old grandmother, Helen Loveless, dresses in her holiday best for the three generations gathered around the family’s silky black, baby grand piano. Her fingers flit joyfully through the keys as she leads the family in merry Christmas carols, transitioning from one to the next with nary a stop.

“Mimi” (to her grandkids) revives a time of the past when family members and friends entertained each other. “We’re all usually in tears when it’s over,” Jan says.

This year, Jan looks forward to family tradition in a grand new setting.

The Goodin family – Jan, husband Ken, 18-year-old Caroline and 15-year-old Natalie – vacated their 13-year-old home for an exhaustive year-and-a-half renovation. Under the direction of Anders and Terry Carlson of AC Dwellings, crews knocked down walls to liberate living spaces and replaced a towering fireplace in the family room that blocked sunny views of the family’s infinity-edge pool and the fairways and greens of the golf course beyond.

The Goodins also gained a library, a larger kitchen for their shared love of cooking and more, adding about 5,000 square feet to the home.

“We identified all the space on the property that was not being used or was otherwise wasted, and we decided top address it in one way or another,” Ken said. He gives glowing credit to Anders Carlson’s ability to optimize a home’s untapped potential. “What he did was break down barriers to solving things.”

The family enjoyed their first Christmas in their new surroundings last year – a time Jan looks forward to repeating. “I can’t wait. I’m getting so excited,” she said. “I would have liked to have enjoyed it longer last year. I wasn’t ready to put it away because it was all fresh and new.”

Last Christmas was especially memorable due to Ken’s extraordinary present for Jan: commissioned life-size bronze sculptures of their daughters, which now flank either side of the pool. Caroline, a member of the Oklahoma City University golf team, is posed in mid-swing. Natalie, a sophomore at Deer Creek High School, is dancing – one of her passions, along with voice, acting and pom squad. The gift was a year in the making, during which Ken kept all of it secret.

“That is a tradition, too,” a smiling Jan said. “I hate surprises, but he does it every time.” 

The dining room formerly suffered from being boxed in by a wall that blocked the current open view to the kitchen. A relatively small room, mirrors expanded the views. The coffered ceiling stamped the room with its own alluring architectural signature. “Terry took what she called a dead room and turned it into a live functional room connected to the rest of the space,” Ken said. “It was very subtle, but had a huge impact on us and the flow.”

 

Garlands and Old World treatments grace the entryway and staircase. The renovation process included buying trips to locales such as the renowned antique shows in Round Top, Texas. The pendant lights were repurposed from circa-18th century Italian lanterns.

 

The Goodins love the addition of a larger kitchen with two prep islands. The hood above the stove behind the folk-art chandelier on the right was originally an antique hutch, repurposed from utility on a floor to a ceiling.

 

The family room fireplace was previously located where the windows are now, blocking sunlight and a golf course view. The long couch occupies what was once a wall that chopped up the space and limited flow. Mirrors on the Swedish hutch fold back to reveal an 80-inch TV.

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