330 Homes Fall 2023

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FALL 2023

FARMHOUSE RETREAT

photo by Ashley Iris Photography RANDY and EMILY KNAPP'S MODERN FARMHOUSE

LUXE YACHT FEEL ANCHORS LIVING AREA

OPPOSITES ATTRACT IN STYLISH HOME

SERENE KITCHEN SHOWCASES HEIRLOOMS

cont ent s

fall 2023 | volume 5 | issue 2

dream house 14 VACATION AT HOME 26 STYLISH CONTRASTING HOUSE

space lift

8 LUXE YACHT LIVING AREA 20 SERENE KITCHEN

fresh design

12 DISPLAYING LOCAL ART

open air

32 NEW OUTDOOR LIVING SPACE

FALL 2023

on the cover

FARMHOUSE RETREAT

14 | OASIS FOUND | photo by Ashley Iris Photography

photo by Ashley Iris Photography RANDY and EMILY KNAPP'S MODERN FARMHOUSE

LUXE YACHT FEEL ANCHORS LIVING AREA

OPPOSITES ATTRACT IN STYLISH HOME

SERENE KITCHEN SHOWCASES HEIRLOOMS

we l come

by COLIN BAKER

UPDATE PLAN It’s time to cross some items off your home to-do list.

a supplement to Akron Life maga z i ne

Publisher COLIN BAKER cbaker@bakermediagroup.com Creative Director WILLIAM L. TECKMYER III wteckmyer@bakermediagroup.com Managing Editor KELLY PETRYSZYN kpetryszyn@bakermediagroup.com Assistant Editor ALEXANDRA SOBCZAK asobczak@bakermediagroup.com Graphic Designer TYLAR CALHOUN tsutton@bakermediagroup.com

I started the summer with a list of projects I wanted to complete in my house. It all seemed realistic. There were a few ambitious projects, but I threw out a few of them early. I had some money set aside, knowing that I was going to need to hire some of it out. I jumped on it early, got an electric project done and was feeling pretty good about that. I hired it out of course — I don’t mess with electrical issues. The big project for the summer was replacing several windows. My house has newer windows in about three-quarters of it, and the other windows are the original 1930s metal-framed single-paned windows. These windows are drafty, and I probably lose half the heat ing and cooling out of them. I have had several window contractors come out and look at replacing and matching the windows to the same windows I have throughout the rest of my house. The first time I got a quote, I said, This is for all the windows that need replaced, correct? It was about what I thought it would cost. He said, Unfortunately, no. This is the price for two windows. The sticker shock lasts a while. So here I am, having the same windows and the same prob lem as before. I have decided to give it a try myself. I have several contractor friends who have

been willing to help, so I purchased the windows. Now they have been sitting for several months, waiting for me to find the time to put them in. These days, I find myself lacking time more than anything. I think I can do the work, although I could be wrong. That’s why I have contractors as a backup. What causes most of my hesi tation is that I am fitting them into a brick opening, and from what I’ve read, it seems like the old windows are difficult to take out. Once I cut that old one out, I better be sure the new one is going in that day. It’s not like I can leave it open until I get around to finishing it. I also didn’t mention that one is two stories up, and one is three stories up. I’m not afraid of heights, but it’s enough to make you think twice about doing it on a whim. So, the plan is to do it in a few weeks. The weather should be cool, and I’m com mitted to making it work. Let’s hope I don’t need to fill them with pieces of plywood until I can call a professional. If you need ideas for your next home project, this issue of 330 Homes can give you some inspiration and prompt you to get long-awaited updates done. I will report back in the upcom ing issue of 330 Homes on how my window project went.

Contributing Writer VINCE GUERRIERI

Sales BUNNY LACEY STEVE TYSON BEN DICOLA sales@bakermediagroup.com

Circulation circulation@bakermediagroup.com 330-253-0056, ext. 104

Editorial/Photography Intern KAITLYN MURRAY

Editorial Intern ASHLEY CAUDILL

fall 2023 | volume 5 | issue 2

33 O HOMES is published by Baker Media Group, LLC, 1653 Merriman Road, Suite 116, Akron, OH 44313. Copyright 2023© by Baker Media Group, LLC, All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or pictorial con tent in any manner is prohibited without written permission. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by an addressed envelope and sufficient postage. Baker Media Group, LLC and Akron Life accept no responsibil ity for unsolicited material. Subscription rates: Continental U.S., One year —$19.95, Two years —$34.95. Call for Alaska, Hawaii or interna tional rates. Single issues available by calling the circulation department or visiting akronlife.com/ store. $4.95 each plus $3.50 shipping & handling. Editorial, advertising and business offices: (330) 253-0056, fax (330) 253-5868.

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space lift | fresh design | dream house | open air

by VINCE GUERRIERI and photos by MICHAEL R. TIMMER

MAIDEN VOYAGE A lakeside living area gets a luxe yacht makeover.

W hen Cynthia J. Hoffman made her initial voyage to a Portage Lakes home for a design consultation, she was instantly captivated by the lake view. “I told the client I felt like J. Hoffman Interior Design. “They hadn’t thought of that. They said, Surprise us , at the beginning of the project, and we felt very open-minded.” What started as a potential kitchen renovation took on a broader scope, removing decorative columns from the dining area and removing and replacing the stairs in the foyer, as well as adding a new 96-inch-wide fire place faced with white gloss undulating wave tile and a white-enameled shiplap, mahogany-capped half wall to define the seating area. Now, the 1,000-square-foot open space of the kitchen, dining area, living area, foyer and work-from-home study area are designed with a nauti cal theme — “luxe yacht,” Hoffman calls it. There are bright pops of teal like in a custom L-shaped teal leather sectional and more rich mahogany features through I was on a yacht,” says the president of Cynthia

out, including oiled wide plank floors. But it’s the details that anchor the nautical feel. STAIRS: A new custom mahogany plank floating staircase with stainless-steel accents transforms the space. The back wall behind the old foyer staircase extended 9 inches, which was farther than necessary, so they removed it to make room for the new stairway. “The extra space let us cantilever the stairs into the wall, and we didn’t need any kind of support post or anything,” says Hoffman. “The new staircase really opens it up.” ACCESSORIES: A demi-lune table behind the sectional and a dining room table were both custom-built and feature mahogany inlaid with teak and holly, reminiscent of an antique yacht. The demi-lune also features a Virgil Villers sculpture of an ibis. The front door was replaced with a custom mahogany

one with stainless-steel portholes, and buoys hanging in nets and antique brass marine lamps add to the yacht feel. There’s also a commissioned piece of fiber artwork on a teal-painted wall over the staircase, featuring a ship’s wheel, anchor and some rope made by Kris Kapenekas. “It sort of gives a compass effect,” Hoffman says. CABINETS: White enamel and mahogany kitchen cabinets with custom stainless-steel icebox hinges simulate brightwork that might be seen in a ship’s galley, and there’s a mosaic glass tile kitchen backsplash made in Italy that evokes thoughts of ocean waves. They added a window at the end of the kitchen, and cabinets against the back wall were replaced with a NanaWall folding glass door. “The client said it was a game changer,” Hoffman says. “You could see the lake, and it brought in a lot more light.”

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space lift | fresh design | dream house | open air

by KELLY PETRYSZYN and photos provided by ZEBER-MARTELL GALLERY & CLAY STUDIO

ON DISPLAY Local art adds a unique flair to your home.

get the look

W e could all use fresh creative energy. Having local art in your home can inspire that. Rather than buying duplicate art from a big-box store, having art custom-made for your home by local artists like Michael Martell and Claudia Zeber-Martell of Zeber-Martell Gallery & Clay Studio exudes a truly unique look and feel. “You connect with the artists. You connect with the designs,” says Zeber-Martell. “There’s an energy about it that is totally different than buying commercial art for your home.”

The duo’s ceramics are extremely time-inten sive to craft — it often takes six to 14 weeks to finish artworks. Martell throws pieces on the wheel, often construct ing smaller parts and layering them on top of one another for larger artworks. Zeber-Martell hand-decorates art works, applying differ ent colors and layers of underglazes one by one using airbrushes, blender brushes, her hands or a sgraffito tool. “I build up the colors just like an oil painter to get that really intense depth of surface,” she says. Artworks are fired

multiple times and fin ished with a clear glaze. Shop the 2,200-square foot gallery in Akron’s Northside District for handcrafted lamps, dishes, tables, vessels, garden decor and more. They have made Akron skyline mugs and commissioned vases depicting birch tree allee at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens. “All of our pieces are inspired by the natural world,” Zeber-Martell says. “We really strive for a sense of harmony and balance in our pieces that make a person feel comfortable.”

While you shop, she recommends bringing a picture of the space in your home you are looking to decorate so staffers can help you fill it with an existing piece or suggest custom art. “We’re very good at helping people realize what’s good for their space as far as size, dimensions, type of work,” she says. “We’re designers by trade, so we help them design their space.” Zeber-Martell shares tips on types of art to select and how to style them in your home.

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fresh design

LAMPS, $198-$700

Don’t dismiss lamps as being a key piece of decor. “Lamps are probably one of the most important design elements in your room because when you go into a room at night, the first thing your eye goes to is the light source,” Zeber-Martell says. “So why not have a lamp that’s a piece of art as well as functioning as a light source?” The gallery has a variety of shapes and types from round or four sided to squat or floor lamps, and you can get them in any color it offers. Style It: When choosing something like a bold decorative floor lamp, Zeber-Martell advises giving it space by displaying it in an empty corner or by a sofa table when you come in the entryway. “It needs to be visual. Don’t put it behind something,” she says. “A lot of art — you should give it room to breathe.”

WALL TILE ART, $200 AND UP

BUBBLE WALL ART, $400 AND UP, AND CURVED RECTANGULAR TRAY, $85 Martell and Zeber-Martell donated custom bubble wall art to Grace House Akron, a nonprofit hospice. It picks up warm earth tones in the decor like taupe, sage, woodland brown, black, gray and old gold and features circles that add efferves cent joy. “It’s just a real fun, happy way to use a space,” says Zeber-Martell. “Given where the piece is, that was very appropriate for the residents in that home to sort of uplift their spirits.” A curved rectangular tray also calms with browns, blacks, golds and a serene emer ald green found in nature. Style It: Sometimes a tray is displayed on a stand or hung on the wall, but don't hesitate to simply set it on a table. “There’s no necessity to put anything in it,” Zeber Martell says.

PEARS, $148-$800 For centuries, people have made art featuring pears, and Zeber-Martell offers a reason for the fascination. “It’s the female form, and it’s very nurturing. That’s why there’s an automatic attrac tion to that form,” she says. “I play around with pears, and I do them in all different shapes, sizes and configura tions.” Each pear is uniquely hand-shaped, attached to a handmade tile base and features a pewter stem. The colors vary, including a group with standout reds and purples to simulate rip ening. Style It: Pears make a fitting accent for a dining room table, dining room sideboard or kitchen island. “It’s a perfect centerpiece,” Zeber-Martell says.

Six panels combine to make one multidimensional modern Baroque piece. The handmade tiles are all dif ferent sizes and attached to the final artwork at different levels. “It really creates a lot of interest instead of just putting one panel on the wall,” Zeber-Martell says. Some tiles are attached to wooden frames with construction adhesive, and those frames are textured with five to six layers of modeling paste that add even more depth. Style It: These homeowners put the layered artwork in the kitchen, and Zeber-Martell says that’s a spot where art can shine. “The kitchen is one of the most used rooms

in the whole home. It’s a gathering place,” she says. “Why wouldn’t you want to decorate it?”

43 Furnace St., Akron, zeber-martell.com

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dream house

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dream house

FOUND OASIS by VINCE GUERRIERI photos by ASHLEY IRIS PHOTOGRAPHY A sprawling retreat brings vacation vibes to a Franklin Township family.

R andy and Emily Knapp lead busy lives. He’s a sales repre sentative for a medical device company — a job that requires him to scrub in for procedures in Cleveland-area hospi tals. She’s a school guid ance counselor. They have two daughters both playing soccer, fill ing up their weekends year-round. They don’t get to go on vacation as much as they would like. So when they started thinking about a new home, they made it a goal to bring vacation vibes to them.

“We had a crossroads point,” Randy says. “We

Township. The Knapps were looking for a more pastoral setting — “I was a country girl all my life,” says Emily, who grew up near Sugarcreek, in Amish Country — and built a home that allows them to get the same relaxation of being in vacation mode. “It really does feel like I’m on vacation on Saturdays,” Emily says. “I’ll drink my coffee and open the sliding doors and listen to the birds.” The Knapps were looking for an indoor outdoor feel. The double glass-paned wooden

front doors — dark to contrast with the white exterior and naturally stained wood beams — open into a 961-square foot open dining room and living area with high ceilings, a gas fireplace that stretches two stories high and clerestory windows. “The main entertaining space flows well and creates a lot of nice views,” says Marc Benedict, partner of Fidei Architecture. “It’s a fairly large space

had a nice house in Kent, but it was in a

subdivision on a teeny lot. We saved enough money where we could maybe buy a vacation house somewhere, or we can sell everything and put it into one big, nice house. That led us to say, Why don’t we have a place where we feel like we’re on vacation when we’re at home? ” The result is a

3,500-square-foot modern farmhouse

but doesn’t feel overwhelming.”

style home designed by Fidei Architecture on a 1.5-acre lot in Franklin

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dream house

Double wood framed glass back doors open into an expansive recreational area, featuring an in-ground pool with a small waterfall and a 1,064-square-foot pool house, with an additional 540 square feet of space woodburning fireplace. “They really wanted an oasis,” says Terry Carter, the site superintendent for Fidei Build, “a space where they could hang out and relax.” The relaxation extends to maintenance. The pool is bordered by artificial turf from Bob & Pete’s Floors in Canton. “We didn’t want anything around the pool that we’d have to mow and blow grass into the pool,” says Emily. The pool house features a washer and dryer, a full bathroom and a full under an attached veranda, including a kitchen in addition to indoor leisure space. “It’s basically a fully functioning unit,” Randy says. “This gives us the ability to have an in-law

suite if we needed it for our parents.” Inside the main home, Emily describes the decor as eclectic, furnished with family pieces and some she

“I really love taking something that was a treasure at one time and bringing it new life,” Emily says. While the main living area, as well as the rest of the house, is primarily white with espresso brown accents, it gets warmed up by natural wooden beams. They and the fireplace mantels are from a barn that was taken down in Mantua.

The home itself has a walk-out primary suite — “We wanted to open our door and skip right out to the pool,” Emily says — with a gas fireplace on espresso brown panels that provide an accent. There are his-and hers walk-in closets (Emily’s contains a single-person sauna, which she finds therapeutic) and a bathroom with a large shower as well as a soaker tub.

found and reused. The sink in the half bathroom by the

kitchen is a repurposed Victorian-era dry sink, and a vanity in the upstairs bathroom was picked from the side of the road and repainted.

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dream house

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dream house

CLOSER LOOK

One of the unique facets of the Knapps’ Franklin Township home is what it doesn’t show. Their daughters each have a hideaway walk-in closet behind a bookshelf in their bedroom, and the expansive kitchen includes a butler’s pantry — but you have to look for it. “They didn’t want the door to the butler’s pantry to look like a door,” says Marc Benedict, partner of Fidei Architecture. “So it looks like a piece of casework.” The butler’s pantry is a con cealed room where food can be prepared and kitchen equipment can be stored. It’s becoming more popular in new builds, Benedict says, and the Knapps’ includes a refrig erator. Although the decor remains a work in progress, it comes in handy when the family entertains. “We use it very frequently,” homeowner Randy Knapp says. “When you want to get rid of things that you don’t want to put on your kitchen table, you can hide it back here.”

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dream house

Upstairs are four more bedrooms. They left some spaces unfinished because they wanted time to decide what to do with them. But to plan ahead, they installed a waterproof system for the concrete foundation that is precast, pre-insulated and pre-studded, so when they finish the basement, they can easily mount drywall. In the basement, the Knapps envision an area where the girls can practice soccer, but Randy would also like a spot to work on his golf game. (The basement has unusually high ceilings to line and trampoline for the kids, and Emily is thrilled to have a garden, growing a variety of vegetables, as well as bushes that she hopes will bear a variety of berries next year. They have the resting spot they want. “This is my zen place,” Randy says of the veranda. “I’ll put on a fire, pour myself a glass of wine and listen to the waterfall.” accommodate a golf backswing.) The property is big enough to have a zip

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space lift | fresh design | dream house | open air

words and photos by ALEXANDRA SOBCZAK

PRECISE RECIPE A serene kitchen showcases balance and fine details.

W hen and interior designer Mary Jack of Mary Jack Design was redoing her kitchen in 2015, her home was always busy with the activities of her then-15-, 17- and 20-year-old children, so she focused her redesign on creating a sense of calm. “That was a jumping-off point — finding some serenity in the kitchen,” Jack says. Hudson resident

She achieved that through a tranquil white-and-blue color palette and a vaulted ceiling with a skylight. It’s all part of a balanced design that incorporates both curvilinear and rectilinear lines, such as curved accents on the rectangular cabinets and a curved custom stainless

steel range hood above a custom water-jet mosaic marble backsplash that features curving leaves within a rectangular frame. “I like keeping the feel ing light and airy,” says Jack, whose home was

Garden Tour. “I find that when I combine curvilin ear form and rectilinear form, I achieve a sense of balance in a room, so it doesn’t feel too harsh, nor does it feel too soft.” Jack describes some other ingredients of her artful design.

featured in the June Hudson Home and

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CHINA COLLECTION: In her home, Jack incorporates mean ingful art and family heirlooms. One of the most stunning dis plays is on the custom cherry topped sideboard — her col lection of china she inherited from her mother, grandmoth ers and great-grandmothers, which is also set on the nearby round dining table that’s complete with antique Regency mahogany upholstered dining chairs from England that be longed to Jack’s grandmother. The plates, platters, bowls, a tea set and more are primarily Allerton’s blue willow and flow blue English transferware. “I wanted to feature this beauti ful collection,” Jack says.

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CABINETRY: Jack collabo rated with Deanna Carleton of Kitchen Design Group to completely transform the cabinetry. She had the previ ously dark maple cabinets painted white and added crown molding. “That was important to me, architec turally, to bring the scale of the room down while still enjoying the vault,” Jack says. “I put in this crown molding, and that helps to give the cabinetry an end point.” She also chose to have some cabinets with glass doors, some with solid white doors and some open, to create differences in depth. HARDWARE: Against the white cabinetry, polished nickel hardware stands out, matching the faucet in the sink, which sits within the white quartzite countertop. “It shows this beautiful, pol ished nickel and then echoed that finish in this beautiful faucet by Waterstone,” Jack says. “I feel like hardware is the jewelry in the kitchen.” The same faucet is also across the room in the hammered stainless-steel bar sink on the built-in quartzite-topped side board, which features a paneled mini fridge below it and a display of family heirloom glassware and barware on the glass fronted shelves above it.

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FIREPLACE: Formerly ex posed brick from the ceiling to the hearth, the white fireplace now features a custom mantel piece, wallboard, crown molding and black-honed granite, and you can see through it to the living room. The family often uses it during cooler months. Atop the mantel sits more blue-and-white English transferware vases, planters and a serving dish, and above it hangs a print of Claude Monet’s “Marine (Sea Study).” “I saw the image … I felt like I was entering into the ocean,” says Jack. “I love the brushstrokes and all the colors. … I find those colors really easy to live with.”

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dream house

OPPOSITES ATTRACT by VINCE GUERRIERI and photos by NATHAN ROGERS OF NATHAN ROGERS PHOTOGRAPHY A couple marries their different tastes in a contemporary Jackson Township home.

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T he key to any success ful marriage is compro mise — knowing which battles to pick and when to be agreeable. Angelo and Nicole Zimbardi had wildly different tastes when it came to building and decorating what they hope will be their forever home on a wooded 1.75 acre lot in a cul-de-sac in Jackson Township. “We like stark contrasts,” Nicole says. “I like a clean

look and pops of color, and Angelo likes black. We have very different ideas, and I was worried.” When the time came to build, they enlisted the services of Rembrandt Homes, going with a nearly 4,000-square-foot home that allowed them to express their own creative impulses while relying on Rembrandt’s expertise. “We definitely wanted to be unique, and I think we

accomplished that,” Nicole says. “We tried to provide some direction and let them run with it.” The Zimbardis bought the lot in early 2020, and construction started in 2021 on the home for the family of four. “Their family was growing, so they wanted a two-story home,” says John Mizener, a conceptual designer for Rembrandt. “They had a specific look they wanted:

European flair but also contemporary.” The European look included exposed stained wooden beams and two-story ceil ings high enough to accom modate a second-floor mez zanine overlooking the living area. The exterior features a modern monochromatic look with white siding, stucco and stone, and neu tral colors abound in the interior on walls, built-ins and window treatments — with a few key exceptions.

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“The wall colors are pretty neutral so the accessories could be the focal point,” says Betsy Casey, a design consul tant for Rembrandt. “It’s all about materials and finishes.” The first-floor powder room features a textured metallic patterned tile on one wall. “It’s a dramatic effect,” Casey says, “especially with the light bouncing off the tile.” “We think it looks like mer maid tails,” Nicole says. The centerpiece of the main floor is the 15.7-by-16.6-foot kitchen. The quartz counter tops feature gold veins, the white cabinets have gold hard ware and the backsplashes feature dark stone mosaic with brushed gold mixed in. “I knew right when I saw it, they’d love it,” says Casey. The kitchen has a 10.5-by 5-foot island, which carries through the gold-veined quartz countertops and white cabinets with gold hardware. “Growing up in an Italian fam ily, everyone always gathered in the kitchen, so this gives us plenty of space to do that when people come over,” says Angelo, who is a third generation owner of a family Italian restaurant. Both the kitchen and the scul lery behind it — a butler’s pantry that includes an oven and refrigerator — feature dark light fixtures with gold rims. “I never would have picked those light fixtures, but they put it out to us, and it worked,” says Nicole. There’s also a breakfast nook with a u-shaped white wooden bench and a formal dining room with charcoal gray walls, a white geometric-

contrasting charcoal gray and beige with raindrop crystals. The living room features a large two-story stone fire place flanked by built-in book shelves. The couches face each other, providing a more intimate feel. “This is some thing I never thought to put together,” Nicole says. “John staged the area, and I love it.” blue walls contrasting with natural light let in by large windows. “I wanted to keep the bolder colors,” Nicole says. “Angelo loves the big windows. It took me a little while to get there, but the natural light is amazing.” There are Jack-and-Jill sinks on either side of the primary bath and a shower with his and-hers entrances, and the toilet has a bidet. “Angelo likes little quirks in every bathroom,” Nicole says. “John loved working with him because of that.” A touch-light vanity leads into a walk-in closet, which features a unique light and an island with drawers in it for storage, and Nicole says it also comes in handy for folding and drying laundry. The primary suite is on the first floor, with dark

patterned ceiling and a candelabra chandelier in

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BEFORE

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There are three more bed rooms upstairs, one for guests and one for each of their daughters. The base ment is where Angelo and Nicole both give free rein to their passion projects. “That first landing coming down the steps, you’re in a completely different style,” Casey says. “We wanted a totally different look downstairs.” The basement is more rustic, with a leathered granite bar, dry-stack stone behind the bar and on a nearby column, luxury vinyl plank floors and a darker brown and gray color scheme. Angelo is a bourbon connoisseur. More than 150 bottles of different vintages are behind the bar. (He’s par tial to Jack Daniel’s Coy Hill, a small-batch high-proof whis key.) “I told John I needed shelving for a bourbon col lection,” Angelo recalls. “He said, Do you think six shelves will be enough? I said, I’d need a counter too. It was a pan demic hobby that got a little out of hand.” A custom-built shelving unit underneath the three TVs — one for Angelo, one for Nicole and one for their daughters — contains a variety of video game systems, including a PlayStation, Nintendo Wii and Sega Dreamcast. “I’m the gamer,” Nicole says. “This is my bourbon.” The Zimbardis moved into the home in 2022, the end of a process nowhere near as complicated as they expected. “This is a perfect marriage between us,” says Nicole.

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CLOSER LOOK

On fall Sundays, homeowner Angelo Zimbardi — an avid Cleveland Browns fan who painted his home office orange — can typically be found in his basement watching football “until the cows come home” in a lounge area featuring a framed Walter Payton Chicago Bears jersey. And the fan experience doesn’t end there. It’s a family tradition that the basement bathroom has a urinal, and it can be used during commercial breaks so barely any game action is missed. “My grandpa had one, my father had one, so I had to have one too,” Angelo says. In fact, the thought occurred to him to put in a trough, reminiscent of the men’s rooms at the former Browns Municipal Stadium.

“It is tempting,” he says, “But Nicole wouldn’t let me.”

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space lift | fresh design | dream house | open air

by VINCE GUERRIERI and photos provided by LANDSCAPE DESIGN ASSOCIATES

CLEAN SLATE A backyard gets a fresh outdoor living area to match a colonial home.

W hen Ken Kushmider, a Landscape Design Associates licensed landscape architect and contractor, had an initial meeting with a Wadsworth homeowner, the potential client had an ambitious plan in mind. The homeowner envisioned modi fying a quarter of his acre prop erty, removing a wooden deck and screened-in gazebo off the back of the house and replacing it with a 2,000-square-foot-plus patio. He said the new patio had to be large enough to accommo date a 30-by-30-foot tent for big gatherings, a new 18-by-30-foot pavilion and a new 16-by-16-foot card house while complementing his brick colonial home. “He wanted to remove the old deck and take everything off the back of the house and start over,” Kushmider says. “The home owner wanted a refined look and wanted it to match the house.” Kushmider brought that grand vision to life with a stone paver patio, a pavilion with a full com plement of kitchen appliances, space for a small wrought-iron patio dining set, a three-season card house and raised garden beds to grow vegetables. There’s a red brick walkway to the patio as well as walls and accents of red brick — all selected to match the brick home. Here are some highlights of the complete overhaul.

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open air

the Details

PAVILION KITCHEN: The piece de resistance in the project was a new pavilion, with a coffered custom ceiling, granite countertops, outdoor barbecue, refrigerator, sink and pizza oven. The homeowner makes pizza sauce from tomatoes grown in a new raised 8-by-16-foot planter bed that produces amazing tomatoes because it has three inches of leaf debris and sticks at the bottom, three inches of pea gravel and eight inches of super topsoil. The pavilion also features shelves and cupboards built into brick masonry walls that match the nearby stone fireplace, which also has a red-brick rim. “The homeowner wanted a total utilization of space,” Kushmider says.

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open air

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PAVILION TECH: There’s a 60-inch TV above the pavilion fireplace, a full sound system and low-voltage lighting. There’s also a mosquito-repellent system, which is one of the only parts of the project that was subcontracted. “It works like an irrigation system, but repellent is shot out of the nozzles instead of water,” Kushmider says. “It turns on twice a day for 30 seconds.” THREE-SEASON CARD HOUSE: The previous gazebo was replaced with a three season card house, where friends gather to play games and relax. The interior is all-weather, with green walls and a floor made of the same Unilock Beacon Hill pavers used throughout the project. Landscaping around it includes flower beds that use some of the yard’s existing topsoil and a walkway that uses flagstone. “We always try to salvage material,” Kushmider says.

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