When searching for a new home for her family of four last year, Wendy Berry fell in love with the striking pool of this home, although the very formal feel didn’t match her lifestyle. Walking through the front door, she wasn’t fond of the series of heavy archways and multiple doors that divided the home into closed off, separate spaces. However, the basic structure…the bones if you will…did impress her. So she went to work to create a home-and particularly a modern kitchen design-more suitable to her family’s lifestyle.
Berry’s ability to see past walls particularly came in handy when she planned the complex great room addition to the house. What was a limited kitchen is now a huge open area, incorporating the kitchen, breakfast nook and family room.
“We pushed this space out, opened up the wall that closed off the staircase and added spindles,” describes Alan Brown, the contractor who worked on this home. The lines of the generously-sized kitchen are drawn in thick brush strokes. Pulling the eye to the tall ceilings, the unusually thick crown molding delineates the room. The massive island is rimmed with plenty of backed barstools. It gives off a sense of presence, not just because of its proportions, but the solidity conveyed by the extra thick honed absolute-granite topping it.
Berry plays with texture on the monochromatic wall of white cabinets, using touches like the custom-carved design on the framed-in hood, mostly white marble countertops, and a unique pillowed subway tile in the backsplash. The island was designed to keep the countertop clutter free, hiding a multitude of appliances, even the paper towel holder. The white of the apron-front inset sink stands out in deep contrast.
Another immense piece of cabinetry stands against the stairs, designed especially to display Berry’s china collection. There is a strength to this side of the great room that is key to balancing the mass of furniture and weight of the stone fireplace across the way.
In addition to showing off Berry’s extraordinary china collection and other collectibles, this set of cabinetry also has a wine cabinet that eases the burden of entertaining.
Berry couldn’t be happier with her new kitchen design. “Every space, indoor or out, feels like it was created just for the people enjoying it,” she says. “It’s like Suster said, ‘It’s a great transformation from a home purchased to a home personalized.’”