The paradox with this house is that it was designed to be large house (~5000 sqft) but it had to have the restraint and visual lightness of University Park's older homes. The house was to have a distinctive look but it had to fit in well with the area's collective charm and character. 

The house is geared for modern living (open floor plan, lots of storage, modern amenities, no asbestos/lead paint) yet it seems like an older construction.

The half brick half shingle Colonial Revival style we went with met our conflicting requirements with a homey understated elegance, reminiscent of 1930's New England. We get a lot of compliments on the house but the ones I enjoy most is when visitors mistakenly think we saved a grand old house. 

Functionally, the house is packed with amenities for good living. The central vacuum (which exhausts to the outside) and the central humidifier (for dry winter days) have been godsend for my allergies. The porte cochere is great for getting in and out of the house in bad weather. 

My wife's favorite is the Thermador kitchen that looks great and works even better. The interior layout reflects a modern family's needs for ample communal spaces as well as private spaces. As you visit this house, you'll see how the spaces are well suited for large-crowd entertaining as well as daily family living.

The first floor has no dead-end rooms for mingling guests to roam from room to room, while the rear-facing family room and kitchen are private (no curtains needed) for everyday living. Young kids have a playroom upstairs to call their own to make all the mess they want. The master suite has a large sitting room with enough space for both an infant crib and adult work spaces.

Long-term House

What really distinguishes this house as a long term home are the expansion potential and  the multi-use guest house. For future expansion, there is 1000+ sqft of pre-framed spaces ready to become more living spaces with little work. The main house's third floor is pre-plumbed for a full bath and pre-framed for a large media/game room (or 1-2 more bedrooms). The guest house's unfinished second floor can be a large studio or be divided as a bedroom and storage room combo.

And speaking of the guest house, it provides all kinds of flexibility. It'd be great for a home-based business (being on Lovers Lane), a pool cabana, a workout space, etc.  What we like best about the guest house is how its tall roof blocks out the rear neighbors to give us added privacy (especially in the master suite), and how the guest house improves the looks of the rear yard. We just don't get tired of looking at it.

Building this house was a labor of love for us. We spent over a year designing this house in order to incorporate the many functional and aesthetic requirements we had. We went way over our original budget to make this a fine house through and through. You should compare the specs/features of this house with others to see that we fortified the house with quality throughout. The resulting house exceeded our expectations. The only regret we have was not putting in a swimming pool during construction to enjoy the guest house even more. This is a house you'll really enjoy.