330 Homes Summer 2021

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BARN SINGS AS NEW HOME

photo by Tim Wilkes PHIL and JEN LOPEZ'S BARN HOME

A JAW-DROPPING WATERFRONT RETREAT

TIPS FOR GROWING FRUIT AND VEGGIES AT HOME

A STUNNING POOL AND PATIO FINISH A BACKYARD

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summer 2021 | volume 3 | issue 2

d r e a m h o u s e 10 JAW- DROPP I NG LAKE HOUSE 22 MODERN BARN HOME 36 UN IQUE ' 70S TRANSFORMATION

o p e n a i r 8 INDOOR-OUTDOOR ROOM

16 GARDENING TIPS 42 STUNNING PATIO

f r e s h d e s i g n 20 PALMER MARKET 32 SWEET MODERN

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28 FUN FINISHED BASEMENT 48 SLEEK KITCHEN UPDATE

s m a r t t e c h 46 SECURE YOUR HOME

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22 | FAMILY TREE | photo by Tim Wilkes

w e l c o m e

by COLIN BAKER

a s u p p l e m e n t t o A k r o n L i f e m a g a z i n e

COOL FINISH Finally tackling long-needed projects feels great.

Pub l i she r COL I N BAKER cbaker@bakermediagroup.com Cr ea t i ve D i r e c t o r WI LL I AM L . TECKMYER I I I wteckmyer@bakermediagroup.com Mana g i ng Ed i t o r KELLY PETRYSZYN kpet ryszyn@bakermediagroup.com As s i s t an t Ed i t o r ALEXANDRA SOBCZAK asobczak@bakermediagroup.com Gr aph i c De s i gne r TYLAR SUTTON tsut ton@bakermediagroup.com

M y house was built in 1931. I love the charm and solid con struction that comes with houses built during that time. But there have been some setbacks, like the lack of central air conditioning. The previ ous homeowners said they never needed air conditioning because the house stayed cool. I should have taken into consideration that they were from the South. The first year we lived there, it was miserably hot. The problem with an older home like mine is that there is no ductwork. We have a boiler and use steam for heat. Most mod ern air conditioning units are retrofitted to your furnace and use the exist ing ductwork. A neighbor of ours who has a similar house said that they use large window units on each floor, and that works for them. That seemed like an easy, temporary fix. And it did work for a while. This year we decided to install air conditioning in our whole home. It was quite an undertaking. It seemed like the company had every truck they owned parked in front of our house each day. Contractors were com ing in and out all the time. My wife currently works

from home and is on live videos most of the day. Sometimes the sawing and pounding were so loud she could not hear. I realize that happens in construc tion projects. I have a good friend who is a contractor, and he told me that home owners are happy when you first come, but you can sense quickly when the homeowner wants you to wrap up and leave. Luckily, we never got to that point because they were on schedule. There were a few little prob lems, but the issues were fixed, and I am overall happy with the service. Of course, immediately after we had it installed there was a stretch of several weeks of temper atures in the 40s and 50s when we didn’t need it. Despite the challenges, the project was worth it. I hope you get inspired by the local dream homes, remodels, shops and land scaping projects featured in this issue of 330 Homes and take on a project of your own. It’s never fun to have your house torn to pieces or deal with cleaning up sawdust, but as I sit in the cool air this summer, I doubt I will remember the hassle of the construction.

Con t r i bu t i ng Wr i t e r s V I NCE GUERR I ER I LYNNE THOMPSON

Pho t og r aphe r TYLAR SUTTON

Sa l e s BUNNY LACEY STEVE TYSON BEN D I COLA ROBERTO ALMENAR sales@bakermediagroup.com

C i r cu l a t i on circulat ion@bakermediagroup.com 330-253-0056, ext . 104

Ed i t o r i a l I n t e r ns WYATT LOY MORGAN MCGRATH

Pho t og r aphy I n t e r n RYANNE LOCKER

summer 2021 | volume 3 | issue 2

33 O HOMES is published by Baker Media Group, LLC, 1653 Merriman Road, Suite 116, Akron, OH 44313. Copyright 2021© by Baker Media Group, LLC, All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or pictorial content in any manner is prohibited without written permis sion. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by an addressed envelope and sufficient postage. Baker Media Group, LLC and Akron Life accept no responsibility for unsolicited material. Subscription rates: Continental U.S., One year —$19.95, Two years —$34.95. Call for Alaska, Hawaii or international rates. Single issues available by calling the circulation department or visiting akronlife.com/store. $3.95 each plus $3.50 shipping & handling. Editorial, advertising and busi ness offices: (330) 253-0056, fax (330) 253-5868.

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s p a c e l i f t | f r e s h d e s i g n | o p e n a i r | s m a r t t e c h

by LYNNE THOMPSON and photos by ADDISON JONES PHOTOGRAPHY

AL FRESCO An indoor-outdoor living room extends time in the fresh air.

E ven four seasons rooms can be uncomfortable on the coldest and hot test days of the year. So when husband and-wife business owners bought this 9,000-square-foot mountain-modern Boston Heights home with a 620-square foot indoor-outdoor living room in 2021, they wanted to make it truly usable year round for hosting large business events and intimate family gatherings. Hudson-based interior designer Laura Yeager Smith remodeled the living room, a natural passage from the house to the outdoor pool and patio, into a comfy, dura ble space boasting a wood burning fieldstone fireplace, radiant-heat flooring, air con ditioning and ceiling fans.

“It allows you to use it in the winter, connected to the house as an extension of the home,” Smith says of the result. “And it can be an extension of the home or the outdoors in the summer.” The following are some other features that make it a year round hangout. LACANTINA DOORS: The glass doors between the kitchen and in door-outdoor living room collapse and stack in the wall. “It feels like a seamless transition between the two spaces when they’re open,” Smith says. The effect is enhanced by the large-format medium-gray porcelain tile floor and reclaimed-barn-wood-style ceiling cladding and beams from Olde Wood in Magnolia, Ohio. COUNTER BARS: Modified aluminum-clad garage doors roll up to reveal windows above twin poolside-terrace counter bars. “Guests can sit at those stools and mingle with the people who are inside,” Smith says. She also installed cabinetry topped with weather-resistant leathered granite and an under-counter True beverage center for mixing drinks.

GRILL STATION: A range hood over the Lynx gas grill vents smoke outside so the homeown ers can comfortably barbecue even on the coldest days — with all doors and windows closed. The grill was built into cabinetry stained the same black as the hood shroud and flanked by a beverage center and refrigerated drawers. “You can have your hamburgers, hot dogs ... in that drawer, really easily accessible to the grill,” Smith says. FURNITURE: The fully uphol stered sectional, daybed and pouf ottomans by Lee Industries, designed for indoors or outdoors, can stand up to everything from ketchup spills to dripping-wet bathing suits — they have built in sloping drains. “The cushions are made of material that will dry out within four hours if they re ceive a hard rain,” Smith says. And the frame covers, like the cushions, are covered in an acrylic Sunbrella fabric that can be removed and machine-washed.

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by KELLY PETRYSZYN photos by PIXEL PERFECT PHOTOGRAPHY

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LAKE LANDING A couple finally gets the Portage Lakes house they’ve been wanting.

F or over three years, searched for properties right on the Portage Lakes. They’ve always been drawn to the lakes for boating and dining, and while they have lived nearby, they’ve never had a house at the water’s edge. Then they found the perfect 6,900-square-foot home on a 300-foot bend of Mud Lake and moved in during June 2018 with their goldendoodle, Finbar. “Where it was and everything really drew us to it,” Kevin says. “I wanted someplace that had privacy and park Kevin and Peggy Gaffney ing, which is hard to get on Portage Lakes.” With the three-bedroom, four bathroom house being on a double cul-de-sac lot and having a three-car garage, there’s plenty of room for their big families with kids and friends to visit.

The house did, however, show that it was built in 1983 with oak everywhere, pink carpet and tile in the owner’s bedroom and bath, a frosted window with a duck scene in a loft and carpeting in the great and dining rooms. They enlisted Green-based Shultz Design & Construction to remodel the basement and owner’s bedroom and bath in 2019. In the bedroom, they redid the fireplace in a stacked stone for a natural lakeside feel and expanded the walk-in closets with custom his and hers racks. Flooded with light from two existing skylights, the airy bathroom got new blue Amish-made, quartz-topped cabinets with gold hardware for a touch of warmth and a new custom walk-in tile shower with a wave mosaic. In the basement, a room with a broken-down hot tub got upgraded to a cigar lounge

and wine room — an idea Peggy got from a North Canton Parade of Homes tour that suited the couple, as they are wine club members and Kevin enjoys stogies. “We have our guys there to watch some football games, smoke a cigar,” Kevin says. The best part is they installed an Echols Heating & Air Conditioning ventilation sys tem, so there’s zero smell or smoke leakage. By February 2020, the Gaffneys had moved into a rental so Shultz’s team could return for an over haul of the main floor and upstairs. But construction revealed major hazards. “We found a significant dip in the floor and some undersized framing,” says Darren Shultz, vice presi dent of construction for Shultz. “It never had the proper support under it.”

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To remedy it, they cut into the new cigar lounge and the home’s slab foundation and added new footing with steel columns to jack up and support the struc ture. They then resealed the lounge. Another hurdle came after a stormy night when the team noticed water leak ing from the great room windows and soaking the carpet. “We started tak ing off siding and … find ing massive rot all over the outside of the house,” Shultz says. The Gaffneys agreed to have nearly all of the win dows and doors replaced

and the siding redone in a slightly darker James Hardie fiber cement sid ing. Installing larger floor to-ceiling windows with darker exterior frames woke up the previously dim great room. They replaced nearly all the first-floor flooring with white oak for a light, cohesive look. The previously heavy oak three-story foyer staircase got thinned out as a stair case with custom-fabri cated, powder-coated iron steel railings topped with oak by Finelli Architectural Iron & Stairs in Solon.

“The outside of the home is the modern aesthetic. We wanted to try to bring some of that inside,” Shultz says. Up the stairs leads to a catwalk connected to the loft, where a wall got knocked down to turn it into an open, brighter area. Down the stairs leads to the basement, with the cigar lounge, a koi pond and bridge, a conversation pit and a sunken bar. Designers kept that mod ern look in mind when reworking the black-and gold hearth fireplace in the great room. With the fire place stretching two sto ries, it needed to be subtle. The answer was hard coat

stucco with a linear gas fireplace accented by an elegant gold chandelier and pairings of burnt orange and royal blue statement chairs. The step-up dining room got a face-lift with a stun ning live-edge marble Arhaus table and an Amish made wet bar, topped with live-edge Cambria quartz, to match. But the view from the larger windows outshines all the finery. “We see the sunrise. And the sunset is unbelievable,” Kevin says. “All the reflec tions coming from behind us on the house across the lake is so cool.”

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d r e a m h o u s e

The breakfast nook is equally as impressive with a live-edge marble circular table — sur rounded by three floor to-ceiling windows and two overhead Velux sky lights replacing an old leaking one. The previously all-oak kitchen was small for the large house, so relocating a pantry and coat closet opened up space for new side by-side stainless-steel Thermador ovens, a hidden walk-in pantry behind a sliding barn door and new Amish made, quartz-topped white cabinets. There’s a waterfront look with a four-seater light blue island and a wave tile design in the backsplash over the ovens. The surprises turned the project into a com prehensive remodel, so the couple didn’t move back into their dream lake house until last October. The pair are looking forward to their first summer living right on the water and enjoying resort-worthy outdoor amenities: a large pool, a life-size chessboard, a sandy Tiki bar, a practice green, a kitchen and a dock for their red pon toon boat that they take to nearby restaurants. “It feels great,” Kevin says. “We see the lake. It’s so open now. This is really lake living.”

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CLOSER LOOK

Nearly all of the remodeled spaces are finished in clean whites and grays, but the cou ple went bold on a bathroom by the kitchen. The design started with a striking blue vessel sink on a black vanity. “It’s something that caught our eye,” homeowner Kevin Gaffney says. “We want to jazz it up a little. Everything else is real light. We went real dark in there.” Other dramatic elements include a black toilet, gold hanging pendant lights, a palm frond print wallcover ing and porcelain tile with the appearance of Shou Sugi Ban charred wood.

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s p a c e l i f t | f r e s h d e s i g n | o p e n a i r | s m a r t t e c h

by KELLY PETRYSZYN and photos courtesy of AMY DRAISS at DAYTON NURSERIES

RIPE PICK Grow a fruit and vegetable garden with these pro tips.

TRY it OUT

WORK T H E GROUND Just like us, plants need to breathe. It’s best to plant fruits and veggies in raised beds with a depth of at least 1 foot for water and air flow. “Raised beds will produce more than a nonraised bed because of the extra drainage,” Dayton says. “Roots need air.” Fill the beds with organic matter like compost, cow manure or nutrient-rich sweet peet, which is a composted horse manure. To apply, spread on a 2-inch layer and use a rototiller to work it 6 inches down. “That will provide a slow-release nitrogen. The plants will do exceptionally well,” Dayton says. Before planting, also spray around beds with a glyphosate fertilizer like Roundup to control weeds. When planting heat-seeking produce, like peppers and tomatoes, wait for temps above 50 at night. It might be later than you think. “Many people think Memorial Day is the last day to plant a garden — that’s not true,” Dayton says.

B etween the convenience of fewer grocery trips and the satisfaction of enjoying the fruits of your labor — literally — many at-home fruit and veggie gardens have taken root during the pandemic, and budding gardeners continue to pack nurseries.

Dayton, president and owner of Dayton Nurseries in Norton. “It augments peo ple’s pleasure in life with good eating, so it makes perfect sense,” he says. Maintaining a produce garden takes a lot of care and planning. Dayton offers a few tips on how to have a successful harvest.

“It’s increased from last year. Last year was a banner year,” says Tom

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Because some of those types of plants can be lost to diseases, he recommends planting some around Memorial Day and then more two to three weeks later up until the Fourth of July. If you plant earlier, cover them on chilly nights with a frost blanket. Potted herbs, like cilantro or basil, can be taken in the house if it’s cold and can also be purchased into the summer. Make sure your pot has drainage, and consider a Smart Pot that’s made of cloth for better aeration. “They work better than a pot because the sun does not heat up the root so much,” Dayton says. “It provides more oxygen … for better growth.” NOUR I SH I T Newbies might want to water constantly. But plants need the opposite: Dayton recommends about one watering a week — two if it’s extremely dry. Plants in beds need a total of 1 inch of water weekly, and watering in the morning is best. “If the foliage is wet at night, fungus problems can develop,” Dayton says. When you first move your produce from containers into beds, water them every other however, need watering every day. Water with a watering can or wand attached to a hose for a gentler spray. Many fruits, veggies and herbs, such as strawberries and rosemary, are prone to diseases like powdery mildew and gray mold that looks like a day for a week to get them established. Potted plants,

TO THE TEST

E AT U P After putting in an entire summer of work, harvesting is rewarding. Every plant is on a different harvest schedule according to its care tag, so write it down to keep track. Tomatoes and peppers are ready when they turn a ripe color. Watch squash, cucumbers and beans carefully, as they are by your preference. “You can take it at different stages according to your liking,” Dayton says. And be sure to thoroughly wash everything. The first few seasons will be trial and error, but enjoying your harvest is enough to keep many gardening. Dayton likes taking that first bite of something you grew yourself. “It’s amazing,” he says. “I grew a garden and provided vegetables for sale since I was 12. It provides great pleasure.”

white coating. The solution is the organic fungicide calcium chloride, which makes up ice melters like Dowflake. Dayton advises mixing 2 1/2 tablespoons into 2 gallons of water and spraying it on susceptible plants twice a week. If some plants are disease ridden, pull them out, so it doesn’t spread. Also, as weeds sprout, regularly hand-pull them. In addition, spray an organic fertilizer like Plant tone once a month. For potted plants, Dayton recommends a liquid fertilizer like Jack’s Classic 20-20-20 at a rate of 1 tablespoon mixed into 1 gallon of water once a week. Fertilizers help plants get nutrients.

Learn what’s in your soil to best treat it. With the science of soil testing, know exactly what your garden needs. In the fall, do a university soil test, like the $15 Penn State University one at Dayton Nurseries in which you mail the university a soil sample. “The university soil test has what’s called the lime test index — that is the ability of the soil to resist change or its buffer capacity. You cannot get that in a home test,” says Tom Dayton, president and owner of Dayton Nurseries. It also determines your soil’s pH, which is ideally between 6 and 6.2, as well as other measurements like phosphorus and potassium levels and tips on how to bolster its health.

“You would need to supply them with a low-level fertilizer, or they won’t produce,” Dayton says.

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s p a c e l i f t | f r e s h d e s i g n | o p e n a i r | s m a r t t e c h

by ALEXANDRA SOBCZAK and photos by RYANNE LOCKER

FROM US TO YOU A shop curates custom furniture and modern farmhouse decor for your home.

GET the LOOK

W hen Hunter and Amanda Palmer opened Palmer Market in Louisville in 2019, they filled the shop with furniture, antiques and decor. They kept getting requests to customize the furniture. Hunter, who had been interested in wood working, decided to solve that problem. By request, he began reworking the furni ture they had in stock to custom fit people’s homes.

“We were trying to find a way to be creative with that and share it with other people,” Amanda says. Now, he makes fur niture like bookcases, benches and dressers, and other staffers at Palmer Market make signs out of metal, vinyl and wood cus tomized with family names and quotes. The store also has a variety of antiques like crocks

and handcrafted items like hand-poured soy candles. “We’ve been … incorpo rating different things that we enjoy having in our own home,” Amanda says. Most of the store is filled with neutral toned modern farm house pieces. She hopes that makes it easier for customers

to find places for the items and put personal stamps on their homes. “I hope that it brings them joy,” Amanda says, “and then encourages them to be creative with it in their own home.” Amanda recommends some Palmer Market pieces to help you feel at home.

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SH E LV E S : Typically made of oak, cherry or walnut, the shelves are often built by Hunter. “It’s appealing to your eye, but then you can also store things in it that are useful,” Amanda says. They can fit your space, whether that be under the TV as an entertainment center or as a sofa table accented with decorations that you swap seasonally. “It will last forever, and it will never really go out of style,” she says. “But you can change what’s in it or what’s on top of it all the time.”

B I CYC L E TA B L E : While searching for antiques out of state, Palmer Market found a one-of-a-kind piece, an antique bicycle topped with a butcher block where the handles and seat would have been. How to Style: Amanda recommends using it as a table behind a couch or as an island in the kitchen, where it would really stand out. “It’s a good height for people to kind of hang around and then put snacks [on],” she says.

BAS K E T S : The handpicked neutral seagrass or wire

P L AN T S : It may be tough to tell, but the eucalyptus, peonies, tulips, dahlias and other plants in the shop are artificial. “They’re fun and easy to just add something small to a space to add a little bit of color,” Amanda says, adding you can put one stem in a vase or a whole bouquet in a crock to brighten up your kitchen, bathroom, dining room or living room. Check the market’s social media for visits from its flower bicycle cart, from which you can make bouquets or buy ones premade of live cut flowers.

COUCH : The Palmers got an antique couch from someone in town, and they added their own take. “We recovered it with the cowhide, because we thought it would add a super fun dimension,” Amanda says. How to Style: She says that if treated with sealant to prevent watermarks or wearing down the wood, couches could be used outdoors, but they could also be used as is on a covered porch.

baskets are from a local wholesale company, and the Palmers choose ones with some character and texture. “They have the tassels on them to add dimension,” Amanda gives as an example. How to Style: She enjoys filling them with greenery and flowers but says others use them in the bathroom to store towels, in a common area to hold kids’ toys or even on a shelf, empty, purely as decor.

Shop in-person, 228 E. Main St., Louisville, thepalmermarket.com

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TREE FAMILY by ALEXANDRA SOBCZAK photos by TIM WILKES and LAUREN WOODS An 1895 New York barn is transformed into a modern Hudson home.

I t took Jen and Phil Lopez missing out on the house they wanted to conceptualize their dream house.

Restorations, which restores timber frame build ings from the 18th and 19th centuries, and eventually decided to incorporate a barn frame into a new build. The 1895 barn, originally from Schenectady, New York, was brought, disas sembled, on a flatbed truck from Texas to the approxi mately 3.5-acre lot Jen and Phil had bought in Hudson. It was a long time com ing. Both Jen and Phil had grown up in historic homes from 1910 and 1820, respectively. “I missed the character of an older

home,” Jen says. “But [Phil] was not excited about buying something historic, because he knew how much work they are and the upkeep.” The barn frame in a freshly constructed house was a perfect fit, a way to blend old and new. The home’s exterior has a brand-new look with white James Hardie concrete siding, a metal roof and a sleek white paver patio, but inside, the olden beams that frame the four-bed room, 4 1/2-bath house stand out in every room.

“We found a home … that was an old barn conversion that we fell in love with,” Phil says. “It was already sold. And that kind of got Jen’s ideas going.” Jen, the owner of Jen Lopez Design, teamed up with Phil’s brother, Chris, who is an architect, and they began searching for other options. They looked into Texas-based Heritage

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“It was exciting for us to think about how we could incorpo rate this old barn, but make

it feel modern and not farmhouse,” she says. The frame’s exposed hemlock beams are on the ceiling, formed into railings and supports surrounding a three story staircase, used as shelves in the owner’s bathroom and more. Eighty-five percent of the beams are original, and ones that couldn’t be used because of rot ting and other issues, Heritage Restorations

concrete floor, velvet couches and a black-brown 11-foot fireplace with steel plates. Vertical space under the floating staircase is dedicated to wine storage, with brass pins attached to the wall for single bottles. From the living area, you can see the kitchen’s black tile walls and spacious geometric island next to the dining area with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the backyard. “It’s all open all the time, the whole house, basically, unless you’re in your bed room,” Jen says.

The openness extends to the fresh air, as accor

replaced with wood that was the same age and species. “It was important for us to do that, take the extra time and expense to keep the charac ter consistent,” Jen says. Throughout the interior, a neutral color palette of black, gray, cream and white complements the beams, while remaining minimal and timeless, Jen says. “We try very hard to just let the barn speak and to keep everything else quiet,” she adds. When you enter on the second floor, the open concept space invites you in with rugs on a heated

couple can turn on a two sided gas fireplace with a concrete finish so that every one in the yard can enjoy it. They have had a band per form on a stage they’ve built on the grass and have had family over to eat at the long table on the patio. And although there isn’t live music inside the house, the couple’s love for music is also present in Phil’s modern rock-and-roll-themed office, which is in the loft. It has an attached balcony, where Phil can take his work calls, a gas fireplace, bold purple

dion doors push back, con necting the interior to the outdoor entertainment area. Under an overhang sup ported by barn beams, there’s a black metal wood burning fire feature, which allows for an intimate gathering. “There’s a lot of wildlife out there,” Jen says. “It’s nice for us to grab a cup of coffee in the morning and light a fire on the weekend and sit out.” And for outdoor gatherings, either with their two kids or with family and friends, the

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CLOSER LOOK

velvet chairs and a black bookcase with outward facing music-focused books, some with rock stars’ faces on the cov ers. “I wanted them to be spaced out so that it looks like art,” Jen says. There is also a lineup of autographed guitars, with signatures such as Steven Tyler, Sammy Hagar and Lenny Kravitz. These kinds of details make the historic barn genuine and personal to the family, and it’s a place they hope to stay forever. They have an elevator to accom modate guests and their future older selves, and they see it as a place that their kids can always return to. This project, a callback to Jen’s first job on a farm when she was a teen, ultimately launched her career in interior design. “It was every thing,” she says. “I really enjoyed it and knew that this is what I wanted to do going forward, instead of just dabbling in it.” Connecting not only historic and modern ele ments, the house also links Jen and Phil’s past and present selves. “I’ve always had an affin ity for farms. So for me, there’s just something that feels like home,” Jen says. “There’s a lot of love here.” “It was kind of a perfect fit,” Phil says, “from where we grew up, as well as where we’re call ing home now.”

In the dining area, there is a walnut-finished Wrensilva M1 record console, mimicking a classic ‘60s stereo, with a vinyl player and record storage under the hood, along with Sonos speakers that play throughout the house and outdoors. Jen Lopez, owner of Jen Lopez Design, has used it to play tunes by Aerosmith and Lenny Kravitz. The wooden console is high lighted by the geometric Phillip Jeffries Fretwork wood pattern wall covering behind it and accompanied by a station for mixing cocktails.

“People can come and put on what albums they want as we're sitting here making a cocktail,” she says.

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T E S T A R E A LT Y S AV E S S U MM I T C OU N T Y R E S I D E N T S T HOU S A N D S We all know of someone f inancially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While so many industry sectors have been hit hard, one of the bright spots has been the residential housing market. “Summit County has seen a 32 percent increase in home sales in November and December of 2020 over the previous year. During that time, the average days on market fell from 69 to 40,” says Testa Cos. president Joel Testa. “The real estate industry has been one of the few around that has managed to thrive during these very diff icult times. Because of this, we feel a moral obligation to our community to give back.” Testa’s real estate f irm has announced a program called “Community Strong,” which went live in 2020. If you have a home to sell in Summit County and are looking to buy another one in that same area, it is willing to list your home and assist you in purchasing your new home for free. That’s right — free. Testa is quick to point out that as much as it sounds too good to be true, there is no catch to the program.

“Our agents earn our fee from the seller of the new home our buyers purchase. So, there is already no cost to the buyers for our service,” he says. “By committing to let us help you with that transaction, we are willing to list your house for sale at no charge.” Testa sees this as a way to not only give back to the community but also to invest in future clients. “We aren’t just offering this to families that need to retain as much of the equity in their house as they can when they sell,” he says. “We are hoping that aff luent sellers see the value and become new clients for life. So far we’ve managed to save some clients tens of thousands of dollars in each deal.” For more info, contact Cassie Testa, director of residential sales and leasing at Testa Real Estate Group at cassietesta@testacompanies.com or 330-945-HOME.

Testa Realty 330-945-HOME testacompanies.com

s p a c e l i f t | f r e s h d e s i g n | o p e n a i r | s m a r t t e c h

by VINCE GUERRIERI and photos by TYLAR SUTTON

GROUND UP A basement gets finished as a fun hangout for a cultured couple.

T he plan was always home, custom built in 2001, to have a finished basement. But the homeowners didn’t get around to it until recently, which led to some inauspicious timing. They started meeting with Medina-based designer Dena McLaughlin and Tim Englert Construction of Wadsworth in late 2019, for this Bath Township and the contract was signed March 11, 2020 — right before Ohio shut down amidst the COVID 19 pandemic. “We waited a month and said, If you’re comfortable, we can start,” says vice president Justin Englert. The space had outdoor access, so the workers could social distance from the homeowners, and the project took much longer than usual. At 2,300 square feet, the basement could accommodate a large open common area with alcoves that fulfill the homeowners’ must-haves — a workout room, bath room, TV area and game lounge — while affording ample space for a distinct design incorporating the couple’s “love for old things” from travel rel ics to castle motifs, all in neutral tones. “It really was a dream project,” McLaughlin says.

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F U L L BAT H : The angular design of the foundation brought chal lenges but also opportuni ties, like the addition of a new 140-square-foot full bathroom — with 50 square feet being an angled walk-in shower, featuring a rainfall show erhead and tan ceramic tiles with a mosaic band. “It’s bigger than a lot of bedrooms,” Englert says. The space is finished with a natural stone vessel sink and a trio of Edison bulb pulley light fixtures. ACC E N T S : As a whole, the basement has a castle feel. The nature-inspired decor includes a stained live edge tree game room shelf, a stacked stone statement wall behind the TV and cultured stone accents to comple ment the home’s stone and stucco exterior. The game room’s door arch ways have stone accents to match the upstairs. “It was one of those projects where I got to use all of my creativity,” McLaughlin says.

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BA R : The basement was roughed in for a bathroom and bar, but more plumbing, HVAC and other technical upgrades had to be installed and some structural posts had to move. Downtown 140 in Hudson, the couple’s favorite restaurant, inspired the vintage style bar that features cultured stone on the front, a granite-top bar, custom board-and batten paneling and custom distressed cabi nets with lion’s head moldings. The leather barstools with nailhead accents and most of the other basement furni ture are from Leopold’s Fine Home Furnishings in Brecksville. homeowners are wine connoisseurs, and the game room especially reflects that. Beyond air hockey and Ping Pong tables, there’s a dartboard mounted on striking wall art made of reclaimed wood from wine crates the couple gets delivered. GAME ROOM : The well-traveled

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B E A M I R A C L E M A K E R Shana Kim is passionate about supporting kids in our local community. Join Shana in supporting our local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. For every transaction of buying or selling a home, Shana will make a donation that helps support medical research initiatives and provides life- saving care to local kids. Put your money where your miracles are! Work with Shana and give kids every chance to get better. More than 1 million wishes have come true through over $1 million that has been donated through RE/ MAX Crossroads to local children’s hospitals. Globally make a difference in children’s lives with Shana as your local, national and global real estate agent serving over 85 countries with over 40 languages and 60 currencies. Selling, buying, building and relocating can bring miracles to our community!

Call Shana Kim today. 330-618-7848 salesbyshana@gmail.com

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With 20 years of experience and nearly 100,000 satisf ied customers, Perfect Power Wash can be trusted with your exterior home cleaning needs. Call today to get a free quote and schedule.

Perfect Power Wash 3443 Summit Road, Norton 330-349-5024 perfectpowerwash.com

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s p a c e l i f t | f r e s h d e s i g n | o p e n a i r | s m a r t t e c h

by KELLY PETRYSZYN and photos provided by SWEET MODERN

SECOND LIFE A midcentury modern store preserves the history and quality of vintage furniture.

GET the LOOK

W hen Adam Krutko and Ronald Higgins were looking for midcentury modern furniture to were disappointed by reviews of new brands that said the pieces didn’t hold up. They decided to go vintage and found pieces that needed work. They researched affordable ways to fix the wood and upholstery, and it felt like an opportunity. Higgins had extra office space in Akron he was renting for his web development company, and they used their newfound skills to open Sweet “The goal was to have vintage furniture but not leave you wonder ing how you’re going to get it recovered, refinished or delivered,” Higgins says. Sweet Modern’s show room has refinished Modern, a vintage midcentury modern furniture store, in December 2018. fill their Highland Square home, they

CR E D E N Z AS , $895 - $3 , 595

pieces, while the ware house has furniture that can be custom refin ished upon purchase by craftspeople with expertise in upholstery, metalwork, woodwork and caning. The couple picks the furniture from auctions, flea markets and contacts nation wide, and likes midcen tury modern furniture for its quality hardwood frames and versatility. “The style of midcen tury modern furniture — clean lines, simple profile — mixes well into any kind of setting,” Higgins says.

Each piece has a unique history, and they love preserving it. “A lot of people — we buy the furniture they grew up on,” Krutko says. “It makes fami lies so happy that this

This massive 9.5-foot custom floating Danish modern credenza doubles as a buffet. The team added magnetic drawer latches and sturdier French hooks, lightly sanded spots of wear out of the wood and applied Danish oil. “We want to leave a bit of character,” Krutko says. How to Style: Credenzas can be stylish and functional for a dining room or living room. “There’s storage in it that’s vertical that could be used for records or serving trays,” Higgins says.

piece they loved is going to be loved again.”

The unique inventory is always changing, but here are a few pieces Sweet Modern has redone.

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COUCH E S , $2,200 & UP This funky ‘70s striped couch was taken from upstate New York to the disappointment of a little girl who didn’t want her Mommy to sell it, so Sweet Modern made the girl a throw pillow out of some extra fabric and selected a similar high quality fabric to reupholster it in. “We really took time to find a fabric that we felt honored the over-the-top nature of that original fabric with these big bold pink, purple, brown and orange stripes,” Higgins says. How to Style: The team can upholster couch cushions with a pattern on one side and a complementary solid color on the other, so you can flip them for a new look.

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D I N I NG S E T S , $ 1 ,495 - $3 ,495 Featuring alternating stripes of rosewood, walnut and butternut on the table, this dining set has been reoiled, and the chairs have been re-caned and reupholstered in high-end charcoal leather. While one of these sets is in the couple’s home, another is available in the showroom. How to Style: At their home, a mahogany credenza complements the reddish rosewood in the table. “The wood on the table can serve as a bridge between multiple kinds of wood within the same room,” Higgins says. D E S KS , $1 ,000 & UP Higgins was lucky to inherit a desk by influential designer Jens Risom from a former co-worker, who found it at an Akron Goodwill. The pair bought some items from Risom’s daughter in Connecticut, and she told them stories about how workers would get wood right from the forest. “When we find a piece of furniture by her father and redo it,” Higgins says, “we take pictures and send it to her so she can enjoy it.” Shop online or in person, Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. or by appointment, 2 N. Summit St., Akron, 330-923-9230, sweetmodern.com

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G E T ORG A N I Z E D W I T H A C U S T OM U N I T F ROM C L O S E T F A C T ORY

Let Closet Factory help transform your home into an organized oasis that will be the envy of your friends! Our expert designers help create spaces that make it easy to stay organized. From glamorous walk-in closets that showcase your wardrobe to functional desks for virtual learning, an organized system will bring order to your life. We can also create the perfect mudroom to store backpacks and more. Our designs range from simple to spectacular and everything in between. Closet Factory is the authority on custom storage and we design around you to create an organization plan tailored to your needs. We design, manufacture and install custom closets, home off ices, mudrooms, garages, pantries, entertainment centers, wall beds and more! Our Northeast Ohio location has been family owned and operated for over 22 years. That means you receive the experience you need with the personal touch you want.

Closet Factory 5305 Commerce Parkway W, Parma 216-362-4660 closetfactory.com

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T R E A T YOU R S E L F T O B E T T E R WA T E R

Vern Dale’s Water Center has been treating water in Stark and surrounding counties for over 60 years. Call us for: • Water Treatment Systems: We are the experts when it comes to treating your family’s water with equipment for the most challenging water problems. We offer a no-obligation free water analysis and 0 percent f inancing. • Service: Our highly skilled technicians service most brands of residential water treatment equipment ranging from conditioners, f ilters, reverse osmosis and UV systems. We also pride ourselves on a quick response time. • Water Coolers: We have the lowest water cooler rental price, as well as coolers available for purchase. • Salt: We can load pickup salt for you, or we can deliver salt, carry it to your basement and load it into your tank. Ask about our Drop and Go delivery special. • Bottled Water: We have the highest quality bottled water for pickup or delivery. • Filters: We have a variety of whole-house cartridge f ilters and drinking water system f ilters available. If you have a question or need, call us. Visit our website for online shopping and curbside pickup.

Vern Dale’s Water Center 3827 Kirby Ave. NE, Canton 330-455-9466 verndalewater.com

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TIME CAPSULE by LYNNE THOMPSON photos by TYLAR SUTTON

A remodel updates this split-level and preserves its ‘70s glamour.

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B rian Steere knew Valley split-level he purchased in 2013 was unusual, if not downright the 1970s Merriman 4,000-square-foot home’s gold-painted family room three years later, he received various pitches to bring the space into the 21st century by removing the distinctive stacked-sandstone wall behind the bar and the stacked-sandstone fireplace, and filling in the surrounding conversation pit. He loved that stacked sandstone was a signature feature that connected almost every house in the neighborhood, so he searched for remodelers who wanted to preserve the home’s architectural integrity. “[The] goal was to make some nice modern updates but not lose the charm of the house,” says the co-president of Tallmadge based engineering-and manufacturing firm Steere Enterprises and co-owner of Springside Athletic Club in Montrose. Steere choose Adam Kilgore, an independent remodeling contractor who now owns Cuyahoga Falls-based Alair Homes, to marry the old and new, the rustic and sleekly contemporary. He initially was hired to replace the foyer and family room carpeting with engineered hardwood and swap out a family room post with a more unobtrusive support beam, but his unique. When he was ready to remodel the

design suggestions were impressive, so he took over as interior designer too. Kilgore added a gated screen and rough-hewn cherry mantle to the fireplace, replaced the flammable conversation-pit carpeting with travertine tile and covered the pit’s built-in bench in a Berber weave. More importantly, he recommended swapping the nondescript paneled bar with a curving counterpart made of sandstone sourced from Ohio Beauty Cut Stone in Akron, stacked to match the wall behind it and topped with cherry, back in the ’70s,” Kilgore says. “It might not look like something somebody would do exactly today. But we also [wanted] to honor the style of the original house.” Three years later, Steere called Kilgore back to renovate the kitchen, din ing room and living room, pink kitchen, poorly lit by a single window and slid ing doors to a deck, was walled off from the dining and living rooms. The din ing room was too small for Steere to extend the antique wooden dining table inherited from his great-grandmother to its full 12 feet, a length per fect for buffets and big sit-down dinners. And the neighboring living room was nothing more than a “dead space” where his three dogs slept. hickory and ash slabs. “Somebody put a lot of effort into that stone next to the step-down family room. The light

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“Those three separate spaces … were all too small for that size and that scale of a house, especially for the type of entertaining that he liked to do,” Kilgore says. He combined the three rooms into one by replac ing the load-bearing walls

casement windows where overhead kitchen cabine try once hung. The lost storage was gained in the island and walk-in butler’s pantry. The latter was cre ated by enclosing the eat in area at one end of the kitchen. “It gave [me] the opportunity to have a sec ond sink and dishwasher for overflow,” Steere says. It also gave his wine refrig erator, long banished to the basement, a proper home. Kilgore replaced the sliding doors to the deck

with a single door and extended under-counter cabinetry along a wall in the main kitchen. “[Brian] liked to have this long stretch of uninter rupted countertop to lay out food and catering dishes,” Kilgore explains. An Alair employee turned an outer wall of the but ler’s pantry into a kitchen focal point by using a heavily veined marble tile to lay a herringbone-pat terned counter-to-ceiling

backsplash. The kitchen and dining room were painted white and finished to complement the con temporary family room decor. Old kitchen tile and honey-toned dining and living room hardwoods were replaced with the same engineered flooring in the family room and foyer. And kitchen cabine try was ordered in a gray paint several shades darker than the family room walls and topped with light gray-veined white quartz.

between them with a rustic cherry post and

hand-hewn beams similar to the fireplace mantle and flooded the space with light by adding white-vinyl

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