Tipp Hill bungalow updated with passion

Mary Jo Kiggins remembers walking past the run-down little bungalow with a raggedy front porch on her way to school each day at St. Brigid's Elementary on Syracuse's Tipperary Hill.

Kiggins, who said she has a knack for seeing the possibility hidden beneath peeling paint, always had a soft spot for that 1940 fixer-upper at 708 Avery Ave. She snapped it up when it came on the market almost 17 years ago. After spending years spiffing up the 900-square-foot house, Kiggins is ready to tackle another project. She is selling the two-bedroom, one-bath home for $79,900.

An offer for the house has been accepted, said the seller's real estate agent, Adrian Nugent, of Prudential CNY Realty.

As a facilities manager, Kiggins oversees construction projects at Onondaga Community College, just four miles away. She was confident about tackling many of her own home's renovations.

"I did a lot of the remodeling myself - there's a lot of sweat equity in this house - with the help of friends, family and some contractors," Kiggins said. "That's why I'm so passionate about my house."

Kiggins started by tearing off the dilapidated front porch and adding columns. The house now has a deep, open-sided, covered front porch with a wraparound concrete floor.

Kiggins replaced all the windows and doors, sided the house in vinyl and replaced the roof. Soon, she found a certificate in her mailbox from the Tipperary Hill Association deeming it "Most Improved House."

"I thought, 'How nice that they noticed! I've been working so hard on it, and they like it,'" she said.

The full-glass storm door and insulated front door, inset with leaded glass, open to the living room, which has crown molding, a lighted paddle fan and painted wide-plank wood floors, also found throughout the house.

The kitchen, updated with a four-burner gas cooktop and separate built-in oven, has laminate counter tops and white raised-panel cabinets with glass fronts on the upper doors. There's a corner stainless steel sink, and space in front of the sliding glass door for a small island or bistro table and a couple chairs.

Beyond the sliding glass door, which floods the kitchen with morning sunshine, a wood deck with wood railings easily accommodates a gas grill and deck furniture. The deck overlooks the backyard, gently sloping away for the house and edged with mature evergreens and maple trees. Kiggins' vegetable garden takes up a back corner, leaving plenty of room for other uses.

A door in the kitchen opens to the walk-out basement, where Kiggins has her washer and dryer as well as her stained glass workshop and studio.

A small room off the kitchen is listed as a second bedroom, but having no closet, it might make a better guest room, home office, den, hobby space or small dining room.

The full bath, also off the kitchen, has been updated with a new toilet, pedestal sink and ceramic tile floor. Kiggins added a shower to the re-glazed original claw foot tub, which is complemented by the original wood wainscoting.

The staircase, which starts in the living room at the front door, ends in a brief hallway outside the upstairs bedroom. The bedroom has three windows. Its painted tongue-in-groove ceiling peaks in the center and slopes down to the short walls on either side, creating a cottage effect. There's a walk-in closet and more storage space under the eaves. The home, which has natural gas forced-air heat, has an asphalt driveway but no garage.

Kiggins said she has lived in this Tipperary Hill neighborhood for nearly 50 years, and she enjoys running up and down the hills while training for the Syrathon foot race series, including the Tipp Hill Shamrock Run, and half-Iron Man competitions.