In a town of cavernous vintage Victorians and sprawling modern mansions, there is something to be said for a cozy bungalow on Redman Avenue from the Roaring '20s.

First and foremost, it’s a Goldilocks-fit for the Wolfe family: the 1,700 square feet in this Craftsman charmer suits this couple and their young daughter just right.

The two downstairs bedrooms are modest in size and there is no family room. Upstairs, there is only one large room, a space Pam and Chris Wolfe hope to use eventually as a master bedroom, as well as a large, new master bath they added.

But the Wolfes are fans of the period the home represents, an era and style reflected in many of the Mission and period pieces that complement the home. In the dining room is a century-old glass-fronted china cabinet, not as big as many built for earlier and later periods, but one that might have been made for a Craftsman home of this time.

“We realized we wanted a house to fit the furniture,” said Pam, only half-seriously.

They lived on one floor of a house on Mount Vernon in which Chris grew up and bravely decided they could transform the Redman house into something fine and functional.

Lucky for them, what they wanted most to do, to save and restore the house, suited the aging owner.  

“The gentleman who owned it lived in a nursing home,” said Pam.

“And he didn’t want this home knocked down,” said Chris.

The transformation took about a year and included everything from the removal of asbestos shingles to a renovated porch with an inviting Craftsman-style frontage to a thoroughly modern stainless steel kitchen a 21st-century cook would appreciate.

Slate and terra cotta tiles make an attractive kitchen backsplash. Two layers of linoleum flooring were removed so that pine floors could be restored. Oak cabinets provide good-looking cupboard space.

Of the previous kitchen, Pam said: “It was uninhabitable.”

In fact, the house in general was in such bad shape that when the Wolfes posted online “before” shots for their friends to see, some said: “You bought what?”

The Wolfes added new heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing systems, as well as a new roof.

“Throughout the process, we continually asked ourselves, ‘What are we doing?’” recalled Pam, who works at Camden’s Rutgers School of Law, pairing students with volunteer opportunities. But the Wolfes kept at it because they were “committed to preserving this house,” said Pam.

“The floors are original, the moldings are original, the windows are original.”

And the size is perfect.

“We’re three and the dog, and we like each other’s company so there’s no need to hide,” said Pam.

Chris works as an environmental engineer and making the home “environmentally friendly and energy efficient” was a top priority.

He has only one complaint.

The stairs to the upstairs floor make, well, noise.

“We weren’t able to make the stairs not creak,” said Chris.

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