Every year, Housetrends features dozens of beautiful homes that each have something special to offer our readers. Gracious homeowners, all with their own unique story, invite us in to see the most sacred of spaces, allowing us to catch a snapshot of their lives. In NFL wide receiver Mike Furrey and his wife Koren’s case, the snapshot is the best part of the story. Their West Jefferson home is amazing, but going beyond just the aesthetics—to their motivations and journey—is well worth the trip. For the Furreys, who both grew up in Hilliard and met in the second grade, building this home was the culmination of a lifetime of hard work mixed with, in Mike’s words, “a lot of dreaming.”
From the time he was young, Mike had a goal. Like many boys, he wanted to be a professional athlete some day, and like so few, he actually became one, even if he did take the long route. For Mike, success was not overnight. In fact, he spent years bouncing from one team to another, facing tryouts, cuts and little recognition. This meant a lot of sacrifice and moving around for the family. All the while, Koren was by his side. “I remember when we lived in other cities, we would drive around and look at homes. I would see these nice houses and think, ‘I wonder who lives there. I wonder what they do,’” Koren recalls.
Eventually, Mike’s dedication paid off, and he had a breakout season with the Detroit Lions in 2006. That off-season, he landed the first extended deal of his career, a three-year contract with the Lions. Early this year, Mike signed with the Cleveland Browns, which will mean that the family, which has grown to include their daughter Makayla and sons Stone and Kanon, will set up roots in both Columbus and Cleveland. After moving into their newly-built home, which happens to be just two houses down from Koren’s parents, they call Central Ohio home during the off-season.
“Being able to build this house was another dream-come-true for me,” Mike explains. “When I was playing in the arena league, I would come home in the summer and frame houses to make money. That gave me a lot of ideas to incorporate into this house.”
Interior decorator Melinda Peters Elliott of Fine Designs and Interiors, Ltd. says Mike did more than just “incorporate ideas” into the home’s blueprint. “Mike had a lot to do with the design of the house. It was something he had been planning since he was little, and he drew up the plans himself,” she says.
Koren agrees, as she teases Mike about going “wild” when he was planning their backyard pool, which is reminiscent of an exotic Caribbean resort. “I wanted it to be a simple zero-entry pool. You know, one that’s safer for kids. Then, Mike took over. Now, we have a bridge, a grotto, a tunnel. You name it. It’s there. I feel like we can’t take vacations because we have a resort in our back yard.”
Mike designed a house that was made to entertain, and that’s just the way he and Koren wanted it. Their great room, which includes their living room, dining area and kitchen, and leads out to the back yard, is the perfect spot for all their entertaining.
On the inside, Mike says he wanted a lot of open space to create a kind of old-world, “castle-like” style. Peters Elliott explains that Mike and Koren went with rich but simple colors and fabrics that give the space a masculine feeling. In the master bedroom, faux painting on the ceiling looks like a sheet of brown leather stretched across the room and offsets the elegant, velvet drapes handmade by Peters Elliott. Most telling about the couple’s style, however, is a black and white photograph of their children’s tiny feet that hangs above their bed, always reminding them of the importance of their family.
“We love to open up our home to guests,” Mike says. “There is rarely an empty seat at the table. We spend a lot of time with friends and family.” Their extended family also includes four young men from the Columbus community that move in with them each summer as Mike mentors them. “What’s the point in all this space if there is no one to share it with?” Mike says.
The Furreys wanted their home to be a place where their kids could grow and play with all their friends. “We don’t want our kids to have to go elsewhere to have a good time,” Koren explains. “We want this to be the house where everyone wants to be.”
Stone helps Mom show off the upstairs of his house, which includes their playroom and all of the kids’ bedrooms. Stone’s room has all the charm of an old high school football stadium, complete with a life-size mural of the gridiron, a scoreboard and a tiger mascot.
His baby brother Kanon’s room is the home of the bulldogs, a basketball court complete with hoop and scoreboard.
Big sister Makayla’s whimsical bedroom is enough to make even the most unruly of children content. Her lofted bed sits on top of a built-in playhouse with a kitchen just like Mom’s. If their goal is to keep their kids happy in their own home, Mike and Koren are definitely headed in the right direction.
“Mike’s accomplishments allowed us to provide our children with a great life,” Koren says, “But we never forget the hard work it took.”
Mike saves the basement for last on the Housetrends tour. He may not have done it on purpose, but it seems very fitting. Surrounding the entrance to his home theatre, which Mike says is always packed whenever they “get the screen going,” is his trophy case filled with the helmets of all the teams he’s played for in his career.
Also hanging on the walls are jerseys of just some of the talented people he’s gone head-to-head with, including the likes of Kurt Warner, Roy Williams and Isaac Bruce. “I got to play with these guys, most of them future hall-of-famers,” Mike says. “It just really puts my life into perspective. I’m so lucky.”
This attitude is what carries Mike and Koren through their most important work: their charity. They established the Mike Furrey Foundation, which allows them to sponsor and participate in programs to help the underprivileged, especially children. They are very active in both the Columbus and Detroit areas, and as Koren explains, could not do it without the help of the community in which they grew up and still call home. “Columbus has always been good to us. People here have embraced our vision. No one ever says no to donating to a fundraiser or attending our charity golf tournament. It’s that kind of hospitality that made us want to call this place home.”
Mike and Koren have reached what many consider the pinnacle of professional success, and they have a beautiful home to show for it. However, they will be the first to tell you that everything they have, including their home, is a platform to discuss their ministry to serve those in need. Koren reminds us of when she used to ask Mike, “I wonder who lives in that house?” as they explored different cities. Now, she says she hopes people who drive by her house, know that she and Mike keep their door open to those individuals who could use a helping hand.
“Last year we took a family on a trip through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We went so we could watch the child while the parents went out to dinner. It was the first time they had been out together alone in seven years,” Koren recalls. It’s times like that, Koren says, that put life into perspective for her and her family. “We are blessed.”
Resources: Builder: Justus Creations Ltd. Custom Builders; Interior decorating: Melinda Peters Elliott, Fine Designs and Interiors, Ltd.; Kitchen cabinetry: Miller Cabinets; Appliances: Jack’s Appliance; Painting: The Painted Room; Furniture: Restoration Hardware, Easton Town Center; Window treatments: Melinda Peters Elliott, Fine Designs and Interiors, Ltd.; Children’s rooms and home theatre décor: Mother Nursery; Audio/visual: Best Buy; Touch screens: Custom Automation Technologies; Pool: Mallory Pools; Landscaping: Darby Creek Nursery