New wall and ceiling surfaces. Overhauled landscaping and exterior elements. New exercise and steam rooms. Two top-to-bottom kitchen remodels, with one of the original kitchens relocated to the basement.
When you’re doing a comprehensive renovation of an 8,000-square-foot home, you’re going to have a lot of highlights to choose from, and that’s certainly the case with this expansive Jefferson Township home.
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The six-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom house – located on a double lot overlooking the Jefferson Country Club golf course – is designed in the modern French country house style. The seven-month remodel project, completed by Nth Degree, was finished this past May.
“We call this our inspiration house,” says Tina Trombley, marketing manager for Nth Degree. “We try to do one per year.”
Built in 1990, the house has a great floor plan, structure and location, says Neal Hauschild, owner of Nth Degree. It had been maintained well, but never updated. And its sheer size meant that the updates had to be extensive.
“The house just needed to be brought back to life. It had a lot of potential,” Hauschild says. “We decided to keep the basic country French feel, but add modern elements: modern light fixtures, countertops, tile selections.”
Kitchens
For someone walking through the new and improved house, the first area to grab their attention would likely be the kitchen, Hauschild says. Previously, it was very dark and closed off, but now, a reconfigured floor plan has opened it up to the rest of the house, including the dining area and family room. New tile and countertop selections brightened up the space significantly, he says.
Perhaps the most immediately visible addition is the new kitchen island, featuring a quartz countertop with a waterfall edge containing a wormy maple inlay. The wood choice plays into the house’s emphasis on original woodwork, including old, hand-hewn barn beams for structural support and visual appeal. Nth Degree maintained all the existing doors, which were made of natural wormy chestnut.
“The countertop with the wood piece flowing off the side is something that everyone comments on,” say homeowners Bill and Trish Jordan. “It’s totally unique.”
Other highlights of the new kitchen include:
- A custom range hood with brushed gold details, which are used throughout the kitchen
- Oversized cabinet handles
- All-new appliances
- A new AGA range
- Old-world vintage light fixtures
- New tiling
“The tile is actually a natural marble, and then it has inlaid brass … pieces in it,” says Hauschild. “It gave it a modern feel, but with old-world materials: natural marble, natural brass.”
Connected to the main kitchen is a messy kitchen, frequently used by caterers, that incorporates the pantry as well as a laundry room. A full washer and dryer are hidden behind cabinet doors, and the large kitchen island can double as a folding table. The space also sports a full-size oven and microwave, and oversized refrigerator and freezer and an additional dishwasher.
Lower level
Though the main kitchen looks brand new, the old kitchen is still in the house; it’s just moved. Nth Degree relocated many of the original kitchen elements to the house’s lower level, adding new countertops but keeping most of the cabinets. The original cabinets are made of wormy chestnut, a material that’s considerably rarer today than it was in the early 1990s, and it was well worth the effort to hold onto them, Hauschild says.
“We reconfigured the space down in the lower level, so it’s not the same layout,” he says.
Adjacent to the downstairs kitchen is a sitting area highlighted by a 14-foot wine wall that can hold up to 1,000 bottles, as well as a colossal set of bookshelves clocking in at about 20 linear feet. That’s in addition to a reading nook and an 85-inch mounted TV.
“That whole space was built for entertaining,” Hauschild says.
The flooring in the sitting area is engineered hardwood in a herringbone pattern. Remodelers generally advise against wood flooring in basements, Hauschild says, but the company used a specialized mastic adhesive to form a waterproof barrier, which will prevent damage from moisture.
As part of the renovation, Nth Degree utilized some of the basement’s unfinished space to add an exercise room and a full bathroom including a steam room. The walls and floors in the steam room are 4-foot-by-4-foot 3D printed tile in a striking visual pattern.
“It was a dramatic teal and natural-looking onyx-type material, but it was porcelain tile,” says Hauschild.
More interior work
Another big change is visible all throughout the house: the new(ish) walls. It was built with stucco walls, keeping with the country French feel of plaster walls as opposed to drywall, and the company wanted to keep that feel. So, to improve the look – as the heavily textured stucco had absorbed decades of dust and dirt – the company added a thin coat of plaster over it to smooth the walls out.
All the house’s bedrooms and bathrooms saw changes as well.
In the master suite, the company reduced the size of the bathroom to dedicate more space to the closet. A system of hydraulic pull-downs makes it easy to access everything.
“Because there were high ceilings in that closet, we were able to get three levels of hanging,” Hauschild says.
For the shower walls and the flooring around the tub, the bathroom incorporates the same type of 3D-printed tiles as in the steam room, with laser-cut natural marble for the flooring. The whole space utilizes universal design for accessibility.
Also in the newly renovated upstairs are:
- An in-law suite with a connected bathroom, a sitting area a few stairs down from the bed and a huge round chandelier
- Custom window treatments to fit the arched doors and windows
- Light fixtures equipped with hidden fans in multiple bedrooms
“The light fixtures really make the house,” say the Jordans. “They are all unique and make a statement.”
Exterior
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Nth Degree didn’t just freshen up the interior of the house. The exterior, Hauschild says, was still sporting early 1990s color palettes – think shades of yellow and sea foam green – so his team gave it a finish that’s closer to taupe or beige, with dark espresso trim.
The house’s existing patios underwent facelifts as well. The patios were releveled and overlaid with new, lower-maintenance materials. Nth Degree added a sizable grill as well, but maintained the existing perennial gardens, as the look of the gardens is consistent with the home’s style.
Concrete pavers were deteriorating, with weeds growing through them, so Nth Degree replaced them with porcelain tile designed to look like natural travertine. The company then added artificial turf to create a checkerboard pattern.
The company also updated the wood siding on the screened porch, adding old barn wood and restaining it. A gas fireplace and a mounted TV were added for functionality.
The house appeared on the NARI of Central Ohio Tour of Remodeled Homes this past August.
Garth Bishop is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
