Housetrends Greater Columbus April / May 2009 : Page 18
18 housetrends.com
Keeping It Cool
Karen Bradner
New Albany couple creates a sun-drenched retreat for their parents, kids and grandkids
From the get-go, there were a few things that just didn’t sit right with Mike and Judy Vinson when they built their approximately 8,000-squarefoot New Albany home. They loved the neighborhood and their private lot. For the most part they were happy with the home, but there were just a few items they wished they’d handled differently. F “It really all began with my refrigerator,” Judy says. F When the couple built the home in 1997, they owned a 42-inch refrigerator. Too late into the construction process, they realized that the builder only left room for a 36-inch model. “I had a hard time keeping space open for two gallons of milk,” Judy says. F As the years went by, the two grew more critical of the kitchen. In their minds, the area was simply inadequate for a home of this size. “The kitchen had seating for four,” Judy says.
The not-so-empty nest That may not seem like such a big deal when you consider that Mike and Judy are empty nesters. The two were young parents, they’ve been married 33 years and have a grown son and daughter with five children of their own. But those grandchildren live nearby and visit often, even stopping in unexpectedly during the week. It’s important to “Nana and Grampy” that they feel welcome at all times.
Judy and Mike’s parents also live in town, and they, along with their great grandchildren are frequent guests at the Vinson home.
It was with those family members in mind, that the Vinsons began to plan for an addition which would give them an expanded kitchen, dining space for a crowd and plenty of room to gather a group of fans to watch televised sporting events.
Go with the flow Mike’s main concern was that the addition not look like an addition.
He wanted a blended look that flowed seamlessly with the existing home. With that goal in mind, the couple hired Sullivan Bruck Architects who drew up plans for a major renovation which would break through the back wall of the home with an 18x30-foot addition. The architects introduced them to several contractors for the bidding process and the Vinsons chose J.S. Brown & Co. Breaking through the back wall was to be one of the earlier challenges.
The exterior brick used on the Georgian-style home had been discontinued, so the construction crew took each brick off carefully, cleaned them up and saved them to reuse on the new facade.
“It was a painstaking process,” says Judy. “They knew exactly how many bricks they needed to do what they wanted to do.” The homeowners admit it was a challenging time. “It would have been easier to build a house than to live through a project of this size,” she says. “But J.S. Brown made it livable, they kept it clean and they kept the dust contained. The project manager on our job did not miss a day,” says Judy. “He was here all day, every day.” Been there, done that Judy and Mike both know the ups and downs of building and renovation. Together they have gutted a home and built two others from the ground up—one in Texas and one in Columbus.
“Judy and Mike had very realistic expectations,” says Carolyn Rand, who worked as the project’s interior designer.
Before construction even began, Rand got busy working on the front rooms of the home, which would not be touched structurally. With the homeowners’ recent trip to Tuscany as inspiration, Rand “casualed up” the front of the home to tone down the formality and introduced the rich colors—gold, ocher, terracotta, burnt sienna—of the Italian countryside. This warm And relaxed theme would carry through to the rear addition once the renovation was complete. Rand specified furnishings in low maintenance fabrics and finishes such as leather, ultrasuede, cork veneered fabric, and distressed woods.
“People can eat anywhere and put their feet up on anything,” Rand says.
“I don’t want anyone to feel like they can’t go in a room,” says Judy. “My grandkids can go in any room in the house.” Built to suit This time around, the homeowners took painstaking measures to make sure they got the kitchen they needed to feed a crowd. “We went through and measured every plate and pan we had to make sure things would fit,” Judy says.
A major obstacle to their initial design plans came early in the process. During demolition, steel support beams found on two walls on either side of where the range was to be placed made it clear that function came first and that designs would need to be redrawn. Plan B was creatively incorporating the beams by using them to create niches for the refrigerator and the range and creating a range hood as a focal point for the space.
The J.S. Brown team drew the hood to scale so that Mike and Judy could picture the look. “Their project manager would help me visualize things. He’d call the architect in and we’d have meetings.
He was very good about stopping and letting me have the time to think about how to proceed,” Judy says.
Two large islands are placed so that those working in the kitchen have plenty of room to stay out of each other’s way. Attached to one of the islands is a lower eating area. “I’m short, I don’t like to sit at a bar,” says Judy. “This is where we sit to have breakfast, lunch and dinner.” The outside is inside Sunlight drenches the conservatory area thanks to three walls of windows and a striking skylight, or lantern, that soars six feet above the space. Reminiscent of an old greenhouse ceiling, the steel and glass structure brings whatever the sky brings—rain, sun, snow or clouds—front and center.
Rand designed this space to be multi-functional. Three zones were created by arranging furniture on each of the three handmade oriental Ziegler rugs from Pakistan.
In the sitting area, four cushy chairs are arranged in a circle surrounded by large plants to give the space a garden feel. This is a favorite conversation spot for the family’s great grandparents.
The dining area is defined by a large harvest table made from reclaimed antique pine which sits on scrolled iron pedestals and comfortably seats ten. Bronze lanterns hang from the cross members of the metal caged skylight adding to the illusion of eating outdoors. The viewing area is organized around the large screen TV and fireplace. Overstuffed upholstery sits near a square coffee table/ottoman with removable built-in trays and a leather upholstered border for feet propping— one of Mike’s favorite features.
Really cool Mike also takes great pleasure in the time he spends with his grandchildren. “Looking at our house, you’d think we’d have kids living here,” says Judy. There are several bikes in the garage, and small putters just perfect for the vertically-challenged golfers to use on the couple’s recently installed putting green.
Judy loves spending time in the new kitchen and conservatory area, but when asked to pick her favorite new feature she admits that it is probably still the refrigerator—actually the refrigerators.
The couple are now proud owners of two 27-inch refrigerators, one is used just for drinks and the other for food; a 27-inch refrigerator drawer; and five freezer drawers, two of which are ice makers.
And the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree—one of the favorite spots among the grandkids is the snack bar area in the family room. It has the refrigerator drawer where the couple keep snacks, lots of drinks and popsicles for the grandkids. “They love that. I mean they love that!” says Judy. “They like getting their own things and like knowing that I have the things they want.” They may love their cold snacks, but their is no doubt that what the Vinson grandkids really love is spending time with their really cool grandparents.
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