From the moment she saw the interior photographs of the 1918 Craftsman-style bungalow posted “For Sale’ on the internet, Dr. Kathleen Fearon could envision an extension of her veterinary practice, Home Veterinary Services, in this Trumbull house.
Dr. Fearon’s career started as a microbiologist after she received her Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology. It was while she was doing postdoctoral work at the University of Alabama that she decided to study veterinary medicine, and received her D.V.M. from Auburn University.
Establishing herself as a mobile vet in eastern Fairfield County seven years ago, she makes housecalls to her 4-legged patients in a custom-designed RV, complete with operating room, x-ray and testing equipment. The design of her clinic-on-wheels is now used by the manufacturer as their model for other veterinary units.
Dr. Fearon believes that “observing the dog or cat in their own environment is the ideal way of practicing veterinary medicine.” However, the number of patients she can visit in any given day is limited because of the time it takes to drive from one house to another. It was for this latter fact that she began to think seriously about finding the right house for a second clinic – one where she could create a comfortable ‘home’ atmosphere for the pets and their owners.
The house she found on Church Hill Road in Trumbull was just what she was looking for. When she stood in the living room for the very first time, she immediately visualized two examining rooms and a reception area.
Like most Arts & Crafts houses, the open design would require her to do some renovation, but she was certain she could meet the challenge of retaining the warm character of the house without compromising its architectural integrity.
The American Craftsman style was popularized between 1860 and 1930. The design emphasized craftsmanship and encouraged the use of local, natural materials. This house exudes the definition of Craftsman – natural 6-panel wood doors and trim, wood columns and staircase, oak and fir floors, stone fireplace and an extended front porch supported by square wood pillars.
Acting as the general contractor, Dr. Fearon began the task of finding the right craftsmen to transform the design she created on paper into a reality. The transformation began on the July afternoon she closed on the house.
“I didn’t want to waste any time,” she recalled. “I went straight to the house and began removing the layers of wallpaper that covered almost every wall.”
The builder she hired to do most of the reconstruction wanted to remove two wood columns that defined the span where a wall needed to be built to define the examining rooms. “There needed to be a door for each room,” Dr. Fearon explained. “And my builder didn’t think we had enough room to have two doorways that conformed to the egress code.”
But because the columns were such an important decorative detail to the Arts and Crafts movement, they figured out a way to keep them – and have a doorway for each examining room on the new wall.
The 6-panel doors throughout the house are typical of interior Craftsman flat panel doors, and Dr, Fearon wanted the doors for these new rooms to match the others in the house. As luck
would have it, while rummaging through the garage a worker found three 6-0panel doors that were original to the house. However, all was not perfect. These doors measured 30 inches, and the openings required 34 inch doors.
The solution required the carpenter to cut the doors down to the panels and add new styles to each side to measure, when finished, 34 inches. Dr. Fearon’s father, who lent a hand on a number of projects, matched the stain perfectly. The ‘new’ doors look as good as the originals.
Many of the decorative appointments, such as the sconces adorning the walls on the first floor, starburst crystal doorknobs and a chandelier in what had been the dining room and is now the surgical/x-ray suite, have been in the house since it was built. It’s these little things that help to create that comfortable, homey feeling.
And the room that speaks to that feeling the most is the living room, Dr. Fearon’s favorite room. A beautiful, natural stone fireplace is this room’s focal point, with large wood-trimmed windows looking out onto a parklike landscape.
The renovation was completed in December, and is more than Dr. Fearon envisioned upon that first visit to this house. The attention to the smallest of details helped to recreate the charm of a time-gone-by; and combined with state-of-the-art equipment, it brings a unique practice of veterinary medicine to Trumbull – unlike anything this area has seen before.
This compassionate veterinarian has already seen the positive effect she hoped to attain for the pet and its owner when they walk into the living room of this home clinic. “The pet owner is definitely more comfortable and relaxed, and the pet senses this and is more at ease.”
Treating a 4-legged patient in as stress-free an environment as she can is a philosophy Dr. Kathleen Fearon has practiced since becoming a housecall vet. And the next best thing to treating a pet in their own home is seeing them in Home Veterinary Services’ new home – a comfortable Arts & Crafts house, true to its history, with a few extra creature comforts.