330 Homes Summer 2022

d r e a m h o u s e

by LYNNE THOMPSON photos by TYLAR CALHOUN

STAND OUT A unique Akron house has been home to generations of a family.

M arcia and Ken Harris had planned to downsize from their six-bedroom, five bathroom Northampton Township residence after their four children left by building a smaller house on the property’s 14 acres. That plan was scrapped by a contemporary cedar-sided home they spotted during a 2003 drive in the Merriman

bathroom structure that was an architectural rebel in a neighborhood of early 20th-century Tudors. It was built by local contractor Fred Zumpano 16 years ear lier. Its 3,700 square feet sat on a half-acre with a wooded backyard featur ing a charming arched wooden bridge over a brook that actually bab bled, all accessed from a walkout basement — and it was for sale. “I said, Boom! There’s my house! ” remembers Marcia, a retired reading

specialist at Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts. Architectural Options owner Kevin Bowie oversaw a much-needed kitchen and owner’s bathroom remodel — “The shower was pretty much falling through the garage,” Marcia recalls — and an update of the sunken living room fireplace. Marcia had the kitchen finished in dark granite-topped

Valley area in Akron. Marcia admired the three-bedroom, four

maple cabinetry and an off-white subway tile backsplash.

3 3 O H OM E S s u mm e r 2 0 2 2

| 2 3