Jessica Kilcoyne: The Revivalist

As a renovator, Realtor, and host, Jessica Kilcoyne transforms historic Greenville homes into unforgettable places

Jessica Kilcoyne’s approach to home renovations resembles a hero’s journey. There’s a call to adventure, decisive actions amid difficulties, and finally, real transformation. Upon encountering a listing in Greenville’s Pettigru Street Historic District, intrigue set in—and then adventure. She made an offer on the 1900s bungalow with information gleaned from only a few photos.

“The first time I saw the inside of the Pettigru House, I was already under contract,” says Kilcoyne, flashing a smile equal parts warm and clever.

Her grandmother was a Realtor in Greenville. Her pilot father and accountant mother became frequent home renovators when she was little. Kilcoyne remembers watching her father remove lead paint from an olive green Victorian the family had purchased in New Hampshire. 

“I found it really romantic,” she reflects. “[My parents] were working together towards this common goal of building something greater than themselves.”

The family moved to Greenville when Kilcoyne was in first grade and continued to flip houses every two years. By the time she attended Mauldin High, Kilcoyne had been through so many childhood bedrooms that redecorating had become routine. “As soon as I could drive, I would go to T.J. Maxx or Marshalls and find all of these little things.” 

She used the finds to rework her bedroom—and her parents’ room. “It was this urge that I had to make [spaces] better than they were yesterday. It was my creative outlet.”

There’s a beguiling quality to the way Kilcoyne remakes a room. Her spaces seem to be filled with what the late writer Joseph Campbell called “the rapture of being alive.” 

Reviving Historic Greenville Homes

While living in Atlanta, Kilcoyne bought a house in the Augusta Road area of Greenville. She drove back and forth, renovating the home over a summer and keeping it as a rental for a few years. In 2019, she sold the house and shared her renovation journeys from a dedicated Instagram page. Friends noticed her adept abilities, asking for consultations on their home improvements.

An encounter with a Townes Road Extension property initiated the next phase of Kilcoyne’s journey. After purchasing the house in 2021, the self-taught renovator transformed it into Townes Cottage, a fully furnished monthly rental with calm, coastal vibes. She began the Pettigru House project only a few months later.

“The day I closed on this house, I sat on the floor on a cushion, and thought, and dreamed, and let ideas come naturally,” Kilcoyne says. In the candlelight, surrounded by a few pieces of art, the flow and personality of the home revealed itself.

The moldings and tiles reminded her of places she had been in Europe with her family. She combined two rooms to form a cafe-style gathering space in the kitchen. She turned the dining room into a large, green-accented bedroom beloved by bridal parties who use it as a dressing room.

Other European-inspired design elements of Pettigru House include checkerboard floors, a vintage vanity, antique oil paintings on the walls, and a row of French opaline pendant lamps down the hall.

When subcontractors discouraged her from restoring the travertine tiles that had been hand-laid in the bathroom 120 years ago, “I took that on as a personal challenge,” she says. Kilcoyne spent four days on her hands and knees with a scraper and kettle of boiling water until the job was done.

The attention to detail is paying off. “This is the best Airbnb I have ever stayed in!” wrote a guest named Lisa in an online review dated August 2022.

“She cares about people—more than most,” says Amanda Chvatal, who, like Kilcoyne, is a licensed Realtor with Joan Herlong and Associates/Sotheby’s International Realty. Chvatal appreciates how Kilcoyne has become a source of support for other female entrepreneurs.

Before reviving old homes, Kilcoyne worked in healthcare as a nurse who later traveled the country for a medical device company. Her adventures in real estate have at least one thing in common with her nursing days. She says, “Don’t the best rental properties make a person feel attended to and cared for?”

Jessica Kilcoyne’s Tips for Reviving a Historic Home

1. Recognize the features of a house that are more challenging to change—like square footage, ceiling height, and the overall bones of the home. Consider whether these aspects will work for modern-day living.
2. Do plenty of due diligence during inspections, expecting there will be repairs and obstacles you’ll run into during renovation. “Nearly everything can be fixed,” Kilcoyne says, “it’s a matter of finding a cost-effective solution that makes sense with how the space will be used.” Ask if the repair is worth the experience and equity you’re building.
3. Surround yourself with the right craftspeople, real estate experts, and contractors who will work with you and share the knowledge that you’d like to have. Ask, “Who can I collaborate with and hire to help me along the way?”
4. When shopping for interiors, look for pieces that remind you of the personality and energy of the home—even if you don’t know exactly where they’re going to go yet. Mix old with new; a room should feel like its contents were collected over time. Kilcoyne loves hunting for treasures at Artifacts Greenville, The Rock House Antiques, and Westside Market. She also visits estate sales and looks for vintage finds on Etsy and Facebook Marketplace.

For more inspiration, follow @roomandrevival on Instagram. The name was inspired by Kilcoyne’s background as a nurse. “There are so many aspects of reviving a home that remind me of the way it felt to be a part of nurturing a patient back to health,” she says. “It’s really an honor, and I think I’ll always feel a sense of reverence for the process.”