THERE ARE DOZENS OF AMAZINGLY UNIQUE THINGS about Bee Fitzpatrickâs sprawling shotgun house at 1220 Pleasant St. For starters, the circa 1880 house sits on an oddly shaped lot that stretches from Pleasant to Toledano Street one block over, so the front of the house is actually on an entirely different street from the back. The house is also overstuffed with beautiful and often one-of-a-kind pieces of art from all corners of the globe, but thatâs still not the truly unique thing about the house.
âThat makes this particular shotgun stand out is the number of bathrooms. While the prototypical shotgun design allows for just one or two bathrooms, Fitzpatrickâs house has four full bathrooms, the largest of which should never be referred to as a âmasterâ bathroom. âI call it my âmistress bathroom,ââ she said. âI did it for myself. It has heated floors. Thatâs the nicest thing I ever did for myself in any renovation.â Fitzpatrick worked with Brian Gill to design the new bathroom in the early 2000s, during the most recent wave of renovations to the historic house.
âFor Fitzpatrickâs first round of renovations, which began in 1978, Fitzpatrick brought in restoration contractor and designer Michael Carbine to create a unique floorplan that has worked through every stage of her life. Carbine reclaimed space from a bedroom on one side of the house, which was once divided down the center as a traditional double shotgun, to carve out space for a master bedroom and dressing room. He also worked with Fitzpatrick to remove a wall and fireplace and open the entranceway in what became her family room, connecting everything to the kitchen. That aspect of the redesign also created space for a built-in bar area flanked by ample closet space.
âIn the hallway, walls were added to create an enclosed office, which Fitzpatrick said she enjoys shutting off from the world so she can work in private. âHe is a genius with spaces, he really is,â Fitzpatrick said of Carbine. âThe house is surprisingly large. It actually has four bedrooms, but I also have two other rooms that could probably be bedrooms if I wanted them to be.â
âThe stairs up to the attached building to the rear of the shotgun hug the wall of a room Fitzpatrick calls her computer room, and steps lead down to another bedroom. The entire back half of the house could easily be sectioned off into a separate two-bedroom apartment, further exemplifying the extreme versatility of shotgun houses.
âFitzpatrick has spent years filling her house with amazing pieces from her frequent travels across Asia. An antique Indian altar centers the family room, while a collection of Buddha statues welcomes guests to the main entranceway. Above the side entrance, Fitzpatrick has adorned the doorframe with a kaleidoscope of good luck, feng shui, and house protection symbols from a variety of different cultures, from a Mezuzah to an ankh to a Fleur de Lis. âItâs a little bit of everything,â she said. âI figure Iâve got all my bases covered.â
âThere will certainly be something for every Shotgun House Tour attendee at the Fitzpatrick house.
âJust donât call it a âmaster bathroom.â
