Columbus Doctor Robert Falcone Converted a Former Kroger Warehouse Into an Art-Filled Home

When Dr. Robert Falcone purchased his Franklinton home in 2013 for $195,000, it was a workshop for a media company. Prior to that, Kroger used the 58-year-old, two-story commercial structure as a warehouse. It had no windows, two garage doors and no HVAC. The previous tenants used space heaters. The building was designed for semi-trucks to drive through. 

Falcone had always lived in city homes or warehouses—including one he renovated in Downtown Columbus on Spring Street—and when he saw the affordable building in an up-and-coming area, his imagination took flight. “I had been looking for warehouses for a year,” he says. “There weren’t many small ones in Columbus. I saw this one and thought, ‘I can make it work.’ ” And he did, creating a funky, art-filled, one-of-a-kind, urban dwelling just west of Downtown. Today, Falcone, and his wife, Dr. Deborah Meesig, are moving on from the renovated warehouse. But before they said goodbye, they offered Columbus Monthly a tour of the transformed space.  

While designing the home, Falcone married Meesig. The couple had known one another since the 1980s. Falcone trained as a trauma and critical care surgeon before taking on administrative leadership roles with OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, the Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Ohio Hospital Association. He is currently the CEO of the Columbus Medical Association and affiliates. And Meesig is also a surgeon with administrative experience. She’s the chief of staff for the Chillicothe VA Medical Center.  

Located east of state Route 315, their home occupies three lots on a block with many longtime residents. “They're nice people,” Falcone says. “It’s a nice, working-class neighborhood with really good people. And it’s nice and quiet.” 

The building is a concrete box containing two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, two garages (one of which stores a 1974 Alfa Romeo, the same car from “The Graduate”), a laundry room, Falcone’s art studio and a storage room. And it’s completely open, with doors only to the bathrooms and storage room (where the cat sleeps).  

The exterior is fenced and contains a Zen garden with sculptures. The garden was a compromise; Meesig, who at first was reluctant to move from her longtime suburban Columbus home, originally wanted an English cottage look. 

The warehouse-to-home remodel took a year. Falcone, who received his MFA from Columbus College of Art & Design, designed the home, with the help of architecture firm Miller/Watson. Falcone wanted to maintain the warehouse feel, so they kept the block walls and allowed the electric, plumbing and HVAC to stay visible.  

Scott Watson, principal and owner of Miller/Watson, calls Falcone a Renaissance man. “The process was as creative as you think it would be,” Watson says. “He presented us with the warehouse and asked how to create an interior art gallery, studio and courtyard. It was an interesting challenge for the area commission, because they wanted a front porch. We convinced them that the front porch was the courtyard.” 

In the center of the first floor is a functional kitchen with a full hood that goes up through the roof. “You can’t walk into the house and know that I cooked bacon for breakfast,” Meesig says. Granite countertops rest atop an old grain store cabinet base from an antique market. The couple stores all of their kitchen needs in the cubby holes in the cabinet.  

Falcone wanted the home to be primarily white—a place to show art but not be art. The couple chose Dover White, a creamy white with yellow undertones. “It’s warm, easily inviting and livable. Stark white is hard to live in,” Falcone explains.   

Lighting was also a key factor in the design. They’d found a chandelier that became central to the look of the entire first floor. While they have fluorescents, they never turn them on. The home has six halogen track lighting fixtures that highlight artworks and define their living spaces. Thick, oversize rugs also help divide areas, as well as absorb sound. “We had to get used to talking to one another,” Meesig says. “It echoes a little bit.” 

The couple’s home is filled with countless pieces of art, many by Falcone himself, and a collection of eclectic and repurposed furniture from either junk stores or antique malls, depending on who’s speaking. Falcone’s personal artworks comprise a third of their collection and include manipulated photography and pop art-style paintings. The couple’s favorite piece, however, is from Moscow-based artist Aidan Salakhova. It’s called “Portrait of a slightly pregnant Leda,” an homage to the poem “Leda and the Swan.” In the art studio—adjacent to the  main entrance—Falcone paints, builds airplanes, records music and works on his photography. It’s his favorite room in the house.  

Falcone designed the upstairs to make it feel like it’s still a part of the main floor. A stamped metal stairway provides access to the open second floor, where you’ll find Meesig’s office. At this height, much of the art—which is displayed nearly from floor to ceiling—is eye level. “There’s nothing to obstruct the view,” Falcone says. 

In the upstairs bathroom, a stained-glass window—an homage to Frank Lloyd Wright’s style, created by Falcone’s late wife—looks over the first floor. And the master bedroom also provides an impressive view of the entire home. The top floor has a softer feel, as the concrete is covered with bamboo flooring. 

While the two love the home, the pair plan to move to Florida for the next phase of their lives. Falcone predicted it would take a long time to sell the unique building, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. At the end of July, a new caretaker, Christine Clifford Brontë, bought the home for $900,000 within a week of it hitting the market. 

This story is from the October 2023 issue of Columbus Monthly.