One August 2014 Award Home Winner Loves the Trees

Sara and Mark Osbun have lived in their house at 4215 Drury for almost 30 years. “We walked through the front door and we immediately felt at home,” said Sara.  

Mark, having lived in the ’07 all his life, always dreamed of some day calling Southwood Park home. On mornings when he was early for school, he would ride his bike through the neighborhood and fantasize about living here. “It was kind of a childhood dream come true for him,” said Sara. 

Sara’s favorite thing about Southwood Park is the tree cover. “You drive into this neighborhood on a hot day in the summer and it feels like the temperature drops ten degrees,” she said.

The couple has worked hard to maintain the original charm of the home. When they first moved in, the side of their staircase was covered with fiberboard and wallpaper. They could tell by the inside of the closet there was some sort of paneling, but they didn’t know the condition of it. One night, Mark said, “I can’t stand it anymore!” and took a hammer to it. He pulled a piece back, peeked inside, and gasped. “Is it money?!” Sara asked excitedly. “No, it’s better!” he replied. Removing the fiberboard revealed beautiful original wood paneling along the staircase. Towards the bottom, there was an unfinished section, which they covered up with a custom-built bench that doubles as a boot box, and looks original to the house.

Recently, Sara and Mark have been making improvements to the outside of their house. A new paint job took the home from white on white to green with red shutters. And just this week, they installed a Little Free Library in their front yard, adding to the growing trend popping up around the ’07. 

“Our plan is to stay in this house until we die, then leave it to our kids and let them deal with it,” Mark laughed. “There really isn’t any place in Fort Wayne I’d rather live than this. I love it in the ’07.”

- Kelly Benton

(Editor's Note: Read more about the Little Free Library movement at littlefreelibrary.org)