Teaching Old Houses New Tricks

Renovations & Real Estate

I’m Grace Wagenman, a native Nashvillian and lover of old houses. I started my real estate career in 2016, and now work in residential purchases and sales at PARKS in Nashville. I grew up in a brick ranch that my parents renovated while we lived there, so some of my earliest memories are of getting to use a sledgehammer to “help” my dad demo a wall, or watching my parents lay flooring in the kitchen. I think this is where my love of renovations began.

I’ve always loved history and historic homes, so when my husband and I bought our first house it was only fitting that it be a 1926 Craftsman bungalow with a crumbling chimney and leaky roof. Wait - that isn’t everyone’s dream home? Over the last few years, we have done a lot of DIY projects as well as several professional renovations to make it a dreamy eclectic bungalow that we love so much. You can see my blogs on our house projects and updates here

Let's Get to Know One Another

About me

When the opportunity arose for me to design and oversee a renovation on a house that one of my husband’s other companies owned, I jumped at it, and fell in love with the work. We called it the Green Hills House and we sold it during the summer of 2020 to a sweet couple who were so excited about the updates we’d made.

After several years in real estate and some renovation experience, it seemed natural to start doing more historic renovations--the older the better. The first historic project we took on was a 1912 Victorian who we named Ruby and things took off from there. You can read about all of our past and current projects here. Today I design our historic renovations and restorations with the current real estate market in mind and head up the listing side of things when our project houses are complete, while my husband, Jonny, develops historic and new construction properties. If you’re ever interested in getting more info about purchasing one of our projects or working with us, please contact us here. We have an amazing team working with us, and we couldn’t do what we love without them. Doing work I love with people I love is not something I take for granted--I’m grateful every day to get to do what I do, and I’m so happy you’re here to follow along!

What Exactly Do We Do?

our business

I live in Nashville with my  husband, Jonny, our daughter (born in 2022), and our dog, Hank. Jonny and I love working together, but when we’re not working we’re usually traveling as a family, playing music (upright and electric bass for him, violin for me), hiking, rock climbing, cooking, or doing projects on our personal home. I think it’s fair to say that neither of us have ever been very good at sitting still, and it’s been an adventure ever since we tied the knot in 2018. 

Our dog is Hank Williams Wagenman, named after Hank Williams Sr. He’s my favorite sidekick, and loves hiking, snacks, (who doesn’t?) and his toy pig, Ethel.

I Swear I Have a Life!

off the clock

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How to Build a Daybed Swing - Front Porch Makeover

When we started this whole ORC project, the thing that made us most excited was building a daybed swing. They always look so inviting, and like you could take a nap and listen to the breeze on an early summer afternoon. Not late summer though… at least not in Tennessee.

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Mudroom Makeover Reveal - One Room Challenge

After six weeks of sawdust, paint fumes, our dog eating steel wool, and an infinite number of trips to Home Depot, I am SO excited to say that we have completed our first One Room Challenge: our mudroom! I’m thrilled with how it turned out, and I hope you enjoy looking through our photos.

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A Modern Nashville Cottage Renovation - Exterior Tour

Well friends, the Green Hills house is finished, sold, and movers are moving the new owners’ belongings in as we speak. Wait–what?! I thought you were keeping this house as a sober living house? Au contraire, mon frere. I suppose I’ve got a lot to catch you up on.

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