THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 16, 1997 TAG: 9702150044
SECTION: HOME & GARDEN PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 202 lines
THREE YEARS AGO, Bill Schlaht and Philip Weber were riding a crowded subway to work and saving as much as possible toward their escape from New York.
Today they are among the pioneers of a redeveloping business district in the 600 block of High Street in Portsmouth.
Home now is an apartment over their antique and decor shop, Anderson-Wright Rooms and Gardens.
As residents of the city's main street, they're part of a growing number of people who are finding that Portsmouth offers them something larger cities can't - small-town atmosphere amidst city lights and downtown bustle.
``I feel much more alive and involved than I did in New York, even though this may be a quiet town and New York's a bustling place,'' Schlaht said.
Brian Fisher knows what they mean.
When the sun sets over the city, he likes to stand on his balcony and look at one of the city's older skylines.
To the west, peeping up through the trees, is the cupola of the 1846 Courthouse and the steeple of St. Paul's Catholic Church.
Looking at that scene, Fisher can almost imagine he has stepped back into a Portsmouth of long ago.
Regardless, he knows he has stepped into a zone where he can unwind from the stresses of his job as an emergency dispatcher.
If the wind is blowing a certain way, he can tell what's cooking next door at the upscale Cafe Europa.
If the breeze shifts the other way, he's just as likely to pick up the salty scent of the Elizabeth River or the Asian aromas of China Garden restaurant.
``To me, it's like coming home to a small community after working in another city,'' said Fisher, who works in Norfolk. ``This area of town, even though it's got all the businesses, it's very quiet, and it's very functional.''
Fisher can shop for clothes next door at the Quality Shop or walk to his bank or the library.
During warm weather, he and a group of friends meet at Portside for riverside music and conversation.
``I never lived in such a place, that I can go anywhere on a whim,'' he said.
Fisher's home is on the upper floors of the Courtyard Building, a mixed-use building constructed on a vacant lot about 10 years ago.
The three-floor building with its balconies was designed to blend with the restored turn-of-the-century downtown storefronts.
So it's surprising to walk through the door and see how modern his apartment is with its gas fireplace, bedroom level and raised dining room and kitchen area.
Fisher, an Arizona native who came to the area while in the Navy, said he lived in several Hampton Roads cities before finding his haven in Portsmouth.
``I've never lived in another place that is so casual and so friendly,'' he said. ``The only way I can put it is this part of Portsmouth is like out of place. It looks like a small little college community.''
Three years ago, Schlaht and Weber had no idea their dream of self-employment was pointing them this way.
Their plan was to buy a bed and breakfast in a historic area somewhere far enough south that they would live in the shade of palm trees.
Their plan was to buy a bed and breakfast in a historic area somewhere far enough south that they would live in the shade of palm trees.
Meanwhile their apartment was becoming crowded with the antiques they were buying for that fantasy inn.
They were in Hampton Roads visiting Schlaht's family when they found their solution.
Although Schlaht had grown up in Chesapeake and graduated from Old Dominion University, he knew little about Portsmouth.
But while visiting, Schlaht and Weber decided to check out a large Olde Towne house they saw in a real estate magazine.
The house already had a buyer, but it got them to the area.
``We were just shocked,'' Schlaht said. ``We walked around Olde Towne and saw the street lamps and the old homes, and it reminded us of a small Charleston.
``We thought our dollar would go further here and whatever we did would have a greater impact on the community, whereas Charleston . . . wouldn't notice you coming.''
Driving down High Street they saw the stretch of vacant buildings in the 600 block - an area that is getting new attention with the city's Vision 2005 plan.
``They looked like they were probably at one time apartments upstairs,'' Weber said. ``And it was really just in a day, we said, `Why don't we look at buying a building . . ., take everything we've collected and put it in a shop and live upstairs.''
The building they bought was built around 1907, and the first time they looked at it was by flashlight on a rainy day.
Plaster was falling from the ceiling, water was leaking all over the second floor, and vagrants had built fires in the bathtub.
But what Schlaht and Weber saw was the wood detail, the handrail and spindles of the staircase, the pocket doors and the transoms over the doorways.
``We saw enough of the original building that we thought we could pull it off,'' Weber said.
Schlaht and Weber matched a $25,000 renovation loan from the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, then took a year and a half to do the renovations.
The shop, which uses their maternal family names, has been restored to the turn of the century, down to the cash register and the clothes that Schlaht and Weber wear and even the way they furnished their apartment upstairs.
``The week before we opened we furnished upstairs,'' Weber said. ``Everything that didn't fit or didn't work, as dear as it might have been . .
The shop offers newer items as well as antiques, with an emphasis on decor and helping people create a certain look.
In addition to the restoration of the shop and apartment, they built on a Florida room and deck to the back overlooking a courtyard. The tearoom at the back of the shop looks out on that courtyard. Come spring, customers will be able to sip coffee outside and get a closer view of the Victorian reproductions of lawn and garden furnishings that the store also sells.
The building was open throughout the holidays for tours and was the site of a city-sponsored open house that showcased the types of properties available in that block.
PRHA still owns some of the property and has been looking at proposals. An area next to their store is being renovated to offer a courtyard and social commons area similar to that at Prison Square at High and Dinwiddie streets.
Weber and Schlaht are eager for those plans to unfold but already are finding that life in the downtown community suits them.
Weber grew up on a diary farm in Wisconsin and studied architecture for nine years at the Frank Lloyd Wright Fellowship. That's where he met Schlaht, a Chesapeake native who was acting with a classical repertory theater in Wisconsin.
Both men had wanted to experience life in New York but soon turned their energy and resources into self-employment and getting away from the big city.
But a small city is a whole different lifestyle.
``There's a real community,'' Weber said.
Joseph Preziotti Jr., an urban planning consultant, discovered that community after 26 years in suburbia. ``I guess the thing that struck me right off was the lack of need for an automobile, where I was married to one before,'' Preziotti said. ``You can walk to the store, you can walk to the library, you can walk to the post office . . . just about anything except maybe buy groceries.''
One of the first things he did was to buy a bicycle. Now on hot summer nights, he and a date will pedal down to the Seawall, along the Elizabeth River.
``Suburbia was too dull for me, too quiet,'' Preziotti said. ``I just always liked downtown. There's lots of activity, especially along High Street, with the new Renaissance going on.
``I think it's pretty exciting. I just wanted to be a part of it.''
Preziotti, who worked in Portsmouth's planning department in the 1950s and '60s, now does consultant work from his apartment in what used to be the city's YMCA.
The YMCA building in the 500 block of High Street has been renovated into 31 apartments.
Preziotti, who was one of the first tenants, chose one on the back of the building because he liked the flow of the living room into the dining and kitchen areas - a holdover from his suburban days.
``I'm pretty much of a gourmet cook, and I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and I wanted to see what was going on in the rest of the house while I'm doing it,'' he said.
Actually, he sees a lot of what's going on throughout the building. His living room window overlooks an indoor courtyard or commons area.
``I like the comings and goings,'' he said. ``I didn't mind living by myself, but I didn't want to be a recluse.''
Preziotti is sort of the mayor of the building when it comes to organizing parties and gatherings.
The commons area and a room on the front of the building that tenants call the ``piano room'' are used for everything from Christmas parties to last year's Mardi Gras celebration.
It's an apartment building where people socialize in a downtown neighborhood that does the same.
``In Portsmouth things are set to a human scale. . . . Here you have small entrepreneurs developing and operating shops,'' Preziotti said.
``If you go into Pfeiffer's book, card and wine shop, you're going to see the owner there. If you go to Brutti's, you're going to see Charles Greenhood behind the counter with the apron on.''
It's a place where everyone in the neighborhood's going to know your name, he said.
``Here, you walk and it's not a problem,'' he said. ``You're going to see friends and you're going to see people along the way.
``Just getting there is half the fun.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Staff photo
ABOVE: Bill Schlaht, left, and Philip Weber live in a refurbished
apartment over their Portsmouth antique and decor shop,
Anderson-Wright Rooms and Gardens.
BELOW: Brian lives in one of the newer buildings on High Street, but
he enjoys looking at the city's old skyline from his balcony.
RICHARD L. DUNSTON
The Virginian-Pilot
Weber and Schlaht took a neglected courtyard, top , and turned it
into an extension of their shop. A new Florida room and deck
overlook the space.
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
The Virginian-Pilot
RICHARD L. DUNSTAN
The Virginian-Pilot
Brian Fisher likes the convenience of living downtown, nestled
between The Quality Shop and Cafe Europa in Portsmouth.
RICHARD L. DUNSTAN
The Virginian-Pilot
Joseph Preziotti Jr. enjoys the social life available in and around
his apartment in the converted YMCA building on High Street.