When someone’s lived in a home for awhile, it becomes more than a place to sleep—it’s a shrine to the life its residents have lived. Michelle and Nathaniel Stitzlein’s combined home and art studio, tucked off a quiet street in Fairfield County, is a vivid example.
The artist couple bought the Baltimore house at auction in 2000, the year they got married. It was formerly a grange hall where farmers and the community gathered for discussions, dances and dinners. Nathaniel spent part of his childhood in Baltimore and remembers attending 4-H club meetings in the building he now calls home.
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The bottom floor, where guests used to dine after gatherings, now serves as the primary living space. The kitchen is more or less the same, including the cabinets, countertops and appliances. The rest of the space was wide open when the Stitzleins bought it, save for the two bathrooms. They built two bedrooms, while remnants of the home’s past life linger—a bit of tape that held balloons on the ceiling, or the scrap of cardboard that once served as a menu.
Clever furniture arrangement makes the 2,500-square-foot open living space feel comfortably organized without turning claustrophobic. Bookshelves that Nathaniel and his brothers built section the right half of the room into a personal office and library, the left half containing the combined living room-dining room-kitchen.
The bottom floor is undeniably in-your-face cool. Michelle and Nathaniel’s collections are tantamount to a trip to Disneyland for the tchotchke-lover. Painted masks join fun statues and a cathouse designed to look like a retro television (which, Michelle affirms, their three cats Tagua, Marfa and Meryl do use).
Don’t confuse the volume of items for clutter, though. Michelle attests—and Nathaniel confirms—that each item has been meticulously and intentionally placed in its spot. “If he moves something half an inch, I move it back,” Michelle laughs. “That’s really what my artwork is—the process of arranging things until I feel it’s in the right spot.”
The bedrooms are rich with tapestries, unique pillows and woven baskets from India, South Africa and Peru. Michelle’s jewelry collection containing many self-made items ranges from bracelets fashioned from grinders, belts and buttons, to necklaces made from similarly reused materials. They add to the funky, eclectic energy the whole house carries.
The owners’ artwork is on display throughout the home, such as the flower Michelle made to introduce greenery into the lower level space, or a jointly created piece inspired by Polish pajaki mobiles made from “byproducts from the production of templates at Timely Products.”
Much of the decor—globes, ceramics, African meat platters, typewriters, baskets, comic books, textiles, shoes—is the work of methodical, artistic curation over 26 years of marriage.
Art studios on the home’s top floor used to be the gathering space and dance floor of the grange hall. There, Michelle creates sculptures with recycled materials including garden hoses. The hall’s stage is now home to materials and inspirations, including a large collection of colorful Afghans and textiles. Supply shelves are organized by color and shape to help with visualization.
Those interested in seeing Stitzlein’s work in person can do so at the Columbus Museum of Art’s 2026 Greater Columbus Arts Council Visual Arts Awards Exhibition, which will run April 15-Sept. 20.
Nathaniel half of the upstairs studio space is full of natural elements that inspire him, including the walnuts he harvests from their backyard to make ink that he then uses in his artwork. Large drafting tables hold books and supplies, as if left behind after a long painting session. The studio itself feels almost as painterly as the artwork being created.
On my wintery visit, the bright teal exterior of the home was a colorful, creative haven from the white waste outside. In the warmer months, though, the couple makes the most of their 1.76 acres by cultivating pollinator gardens prioritizing native plants.
“When it’s warmer, I’m outside all the time,” Nathaniel says. “There’s not a separation between what we do in the studio and our living space. It’s all encompassing. It’s always fueling that desire to look, observe, be in awe.”
This story appeared in the April 2026 issue of Columbus Monthly. Subscribe here.
This article originally appeared on Columbus Monthly: How an Artist Couple Turned a Grange Hall Into Their Dream Home Studio
Reporting by Lucy Clark, Columbus Monthly / Columbus Monthly
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
