Photos courtesy of Kresage Contracting, Inc.
Genia and Dennis in the storage room connecting the main area to the wood shop.
When Dennis and Genia DeVendra were aiming to move from their German Village home in 2017, they had a couple of unique priorities.
They worked with Kresge Contracting, Inc. to renovate the home they were buying in Windsor Village, and after a three-month remodeling process, the house’s lower level finally has those crucial elements. It’s anchored by a bar and gathering area with a sizable kitchen island, off of which are two less common features: a wood shop and a music room.
The project included a substantial addition, and a complete transformation of the lower level, which no longer bears any resemblance to the way it looked before.
The central area for entertaining was Genia’s idea. Getting to the wood shop from the main room means going through a bathroom and an anteroom with shelves containing Dennis’s creations. The separation was deliberate, as the lath is loud and dusty.
The wood shop and music room were Dennis’ priorities – the former because of his decade-plus penchant for woodturning, the latter for his more recent banjo interest.
Dennis has been turning wood for 12 or 13 years, he says, inspired by a longtime interest. He worked with Westerville-based Woodworkers of Central Ohio to train – an arduous process, as Dennis is blind and had to ask Genia to watch the training videos and describe them to him. He now primarily makes bowls, but has made a wide variety of objects over time, including gilded boxes, vessels, vases, goblets, Christmas ornaments and even funereal urns for both of his parents.
Before recently picking it up again, Dennis played the banjo for about six years three decades ago, inspired by a PBS special on comedian Steve Martin, an accomplished banjo player himself.
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Kresge used Cambria quartz for the island countertops, replacing an old island with a marked-up laminate countertop. The company also added a water connection and cabinets. The floors in the main area are made of premium plank vinyl.
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The music room is heavily insulated with acoustic paneling – partly so Dennis and any friends playing with him aren’t distracted by outside noises, partly so their noises don’t disturb anyone outside. The banjo, Dennis says, is a very loud instrument; “basically a drum with strings.”
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“When I was playing downstairs (before the room was built), it would resonate through the rest of the house,” he says.
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Dennis, who is blind, generally turns on the lath in the dark.“It’s usually pitch black in here when I’m turning,” he says.
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Garth Bishop is managing editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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