Rene Maxey was looking for a home with size and character.
She admired older homes. But most of them were fixer-uppers, and she was looking for something already revived.
Maxey found it at 1317 Moreau Drive, where Heath Higgins had bought the home in 2012 and renovated the interior and replaced the windows.
"From what I heard, it was quite a mess," she said.
Neighbors also were pleased to see the home restored, since it is inside the Moreau Drive Historic District, recently designated by the National Register of Historic Places.
Now, this charming home has received its own notice as the Historic City of Jefferson's August Golden Hammer recipient.
The 1930s foursquare has colonial revival influences.
"The home definitely deserved it," said Maxey, who along with her two college-aged children has added a patio and landscaping. "Most of the other homes along Moreau Drive look wonderful.
"It was a sore thumb sticking out, when it wasn't restored."
With the introduction of the streetcar in 1910 and the redevelopment plan for the state Capitol after the second was destroyed by fire in 1911, the Moreau Drive neighborhood was created and grew.
The expansion of government in the downtown area displaced many affluent families from their homes, so many relocated to this new neighborhood catering to the wealthy. And with new means of transportation, the Moreau Drive neighborhood became very desirable.
More than a century later, "this quaint neighborhood is still desired, and we are thrilled that people, like Rene Maxey, choose to invest in this historic property and make it her home," said Laura Ward, committee chairman.
According to research by committee member Debbie Goldammer, 1317 Moreau Drive was built about 1932 by Orin and Ecce Shaw, who did not originally live there, but rented.
Ecce Shaw moved from 1301 Moreau Drive into the home about 1945 and stayed until 1964. The property remained in the family until 2011.
Orin Shaw and his first wife's brother, Chester Pollock, created in 1928 eight lots on 30 acres called the Shaw & Pollock Addition. They were part of the housing boom of the 1920s, which included the Vineyard Place addition.
Ecce and Orin Shaw married - the second time for both - in 1928. That same year, Shaw was president of the Jefferson City School Board.
Shaw was a printer, casterman and monotype operator in the publishing industry. He also was a member of the Workmen's Compensation Commission from 1926-1937, and Ecce was a clerk there.
Pollock served as the Jefferson City milk inspector.
Goldammer suggests that Green Berry Road may have been named at the time of the subdivision's development for the farmer, stock dealer and Cole County sheriff (1871-75), who died in a railroad accident in 1881.
"So many people have walked by and said how nice it looks now," Maxey said. "It makes you feel good to be a part of that."