See what's old and new on Elizabeth Home Tour Cuthbertsons' home dates to 2000, but built into it are pieces of the family's past.

Cristina Bolling

Oct. 3, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- A visit to Bill and Leslie Cuthbertson's home in the serene, tree-lined Elizabeth neighborhood starts even before you step through the turquoise front door.

Their wraparound front porch is the kind of place you'd like to sit and stay awhile -- maybe chat with neighbors on comfy white rockers under the glow of three '50s-style glass bowl pendant lights.

"We hang out here all the time," Leslie says of her brood -- 11-year-old Will, 7-year-old Flynn and 4-year-old Kate. "Nine months out of the year, we can eat out here."

The Cuthbertsons' home at 518 Clement Ave. will be one of seven homes, a church and the Charlotte Council of Gardens, that will be featured during next weekend's Elizabeth Home Tour.

Proceeds from the tickets, which cost $12 in advance and $15 the days of the event, go to the Elizabeth Community Association. Much of the money is used to replace aging and dead trees, says Maya Packard, chair of the home tour planning committee.

"Our neighborhood was built about 80 years ago, and that's the lifespan of those willow oaks" that are so abundant in the neighborhood, Packard said.

The Cuthbertsons' home, built in 2000, is one of the newer ones in the neighborhood, where so many are from the 1930s and 1940s. But the traditional colonial architecture blends in perfectly with the others on their street. The Cuthbertsons even took pains to make some front windows from leaded glass that looks wavy and antique.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the home is its history. The one-acre lot it sits on has been in Bill Cuthbertson's family for five generations. The couple lived in a 900-square-foot carriage house on the property for six years while building the home. They originally wanted to restore a house on the property that had belonged to Bill Cuthbertson's grandparents, but termite and other damage was so advanced, they salvaged what they could and then tore it down.

The result is a new abode full of new treasures and new memories, but with remnants from the past -- all the hardwood floors on the home's first floor were milled from trees that once sat on the family's lot.

A transom window over a doorway to the first-floor sitting room was once over his grandparents' front door. Columns on a side porch came from Cuthbertson's grandparents' sleeping porch. Even the green Italian tile roof came from the old home.

While the home's architecture feels like it could be from the 1940s, the design is full of clean lines and furniture with both a modern feel and '50s influence.

An open foyer with a soaring ceiling greets you as you walk in. To the left, the dining room makes a bold statement, with its marble-topped Saarinen, and wooden Cherner armchairs, both from 1950s design.

What is perhaps most striking are the light fixtures, which look like three giant balls of fiberglass string around large circular light bulbs.

A small powder room is fresh and inventive, with angled stripes in blue-green, browns and off-white. The den and kitchen are where the Cuthbertsons spend their time when not on the front porch. The rooms are warm and inviting, with a den fireplace made from old stones, yet in a modern design. A series of large French doors open onto a slate patio, bringing the neighborhood's beauty in.

Upstairs, a loft serves as an office, with a sleek black desk that gives Leslie the perfect view out her front center window to the street.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0038-28544267