A look inside 2 Rochester homes under 2,000 square feet

ROCHESTER — With 83 homes listed under 2,000 square feet in Rochester, two downtown area homes share opportunities and character.

At 1,305 square feet, this southeast Rochester home shows off three levels. Original features, such as woodwork and interior glass door knobs, are shared between a one-and-a-half-story home with two bedrooms and one bathroom.

“In the property what’s really cool about it, it has a lot of the original features like the original woodwork, the hardwood floors are original, so that makes it really unique,” said Christopher Schmidt, realtor with the Schmidt Group of RE/MAX Results.

Schmidt said the home is a “great opportunity,” including the possibility of adding a third bedroom in the basement. He added the 1938 home is fully finished, except for a small storage room, which is hard to find for around $200,000. The home is listed at $195,000.

“(On) the third level you can actually see the brick chimney stack going through the room, which is really cool to see,” Schmidt said.

The nook area offers a dining experience with a booth from the Pla-Moor Ballroom. While the table and benches had some cosmetic updates, Schmidt said the pieces are mostly original. The pieces “salvage” Rochester history after the dance hall closed in 2006 .

“It still shows a story with the character … because it doesn’t look like it’s new, it has the age to it that makes it look really cool and kind of gives the story,” Schmidt said.

While friends and family can squeeze in the booth today, many friendships started at the Pla-Moor over its 70 years open. Roy and Kathy Lange, a Chatfield couple, said they met at the dance hall in 1968. “I found her that night,” Roy shared with the Post Bulletin in 2006. “Right in that booth, right here. Half the people I know met here.”

With the 85-year-old home, “you could have a lot of that old character but have some really nice updates too,” Schmidt said. The windows, roof and furnace are new.

As a zero-lot-line home on 0.05 acres, there is “very little upkeep in the yard department,” Schmidt said.

“It’s funny because when you look on the outside of the property, it might not look like it would have that much square footage, like it would have three finished levels. But when you walk in you actually see it’s like, ‘Wow, this actually has some space,’” Schmidt said.

When realtor Nicole Engbrecht of Edina Realty Rochester describes this 1,592 square foot home, there are two words at the forefront: “phenomenal” and “charming.”

The reasons? A well-maintained home, its wood characteristics and attic space that is ready to be transformed.

The three-bedroom and one-bathroom house, near the downtown skyway and Mayo Civic Center, is “very cozy,” Engbrecht said. With dark wood features marking the home, a brick fireplace welcomes people to the living room.

“The dining room is gorgeous. It has wonderful charm with the wood trimmings. It’s a beautiful, just very characteristic room,” Engbrecht said.

Throughout the home “hidden gems” highlight cabinets, a custom pantry, and a “cute reading nook” in the master bedroom. The people who helped build Healy Chapel at Oakwood Cemetery also added their own touch as the home builders in 1915, according to the home’s previous owners. The home is for sale for $245,000.

There is another reading space Engbrecht envisions: the attic. She said the exposed brick structure would add to the atmosphere for the reading space or a children’s play area. Both the attic and basement are unfinished.

In the residential wood cabin-style home, a front porch and back patio share the home’s warmth and relaxation.

“The patio would be a fantastic spot for having people over for dinner,” Engbrecht said. “It would be a great space to connect with people.”

Both bedrooms are a “decent size” with space for a closet or office in the larger secondary bedroom. Another future project would reveal more wood with hardwood floors underneath the carpeting on both levels, Engbrecht said. Windows, insulation, the roof and the furnace are recent updates.

Through a cozy interior and exterior, Engbrecht said “the character of it is original to the home.”