330 Homes Spring 2022

d r e a m h o u s e

I t’s the perfect “forever home” for a Silver Lake family — everyone has their own space tailored to their interests, and there’s plenty of room for family time. The husband jams out on guitar in his soundproof music studio, the wife ap preciates the views from her dream office and their adult son has a high-tech model train room and an entire in-law suite where he has his own space. “This is the first time the three of us have actually been able to live in peace, where there’s something for everybody,” the hus band says. The project, which was orig inally a first-floor remodel but turned into a demoli tion and new build, let the talents of interior designer Julia Schumacher and gen eral contractor Don Brown of D.F. Brown Construction shine. The two of them worked together to design a home that exceeded the homeowners’ goals. Beyond wanting to up grade to a spot where they can all have their own space, the homeowners had another goal — taking advantage of the pictur esque Silver Lake views. From the great room, they point toward Silver Lake, visible through the win dows facing the street, and then they turn toward the back of the house, where there’s an up-close view of the 24-acre Crystal Lake right beyond the backyard.

“It’s a total offset to a busy life,” the husband says. “Out here in the backyard, I have a beaver dam. They’re swimming. The bats are flying. … We have geese, ducks, turtles.” “We’ve always loved the water,” the wife adds. Those views are brought into the house through large black-framed win dows and natural tones. “The use of natural mate rials, of wood floors, big windows and then the palette — it’s all very neutral, nice, simple wood tones and white,” says Schumacher, the owner of Akron-based Schumacher Designs. “Thinking of light and nature were the driving forces for the design, and timelessness.” That vision shines in the open-concept great room and kitchen, starting with the quarter-sawn oak cabi netry flanking the 16-foot cast stone fireplace. “We wanted a huge fireplace, something tall to hold up this side of the room,” Schumacher says. Quarter-sawn oak beams break up the ceiling while visually connecting the fire place to the range hood and quarter-sawn oak kitchen cabinetry on the opposite end of the room. Nearby, a quartz-topped island is set with seven chairs, and a walk-in pantry/food prep area completes the kitchen. An adjacent breakfast nook features an oak table from the husband’s parents and some green cabinetry for a pop of color.

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