Trophy case
When Jennifer Zipfel and Faith Herring, designers at Dave Fox Design Build Remodelers, took on a job for clients who wistfully spoke of a Texas dream home, they had no idea what kind of rodeo they were getting into.
These particular homeowners loved the location and the land their house rested on, but with eight dogs, six horses and two Texas longhorns, they were looking for something bigger.
“They didn’t really think they wanted to do the Western style at first,” Zipfel says. “But then as we went through the design process, they realized their true tastes.”
Approaching the Vargo family house, the driveway is flanked by long pastures on each side, where you’re greeted with massive Texas longhorns, grazing and lumbering along the fence.
“We call them pasture art,” homeowner Mike Vargo says.
The Longhorns, along with their history of owning horses, are some symbols of Texas that the family keeps close, as Sandy Vargo once lived in the Lone Star State training horses before moving to Ohio. Each of their names is inspired by The Ohio State University.
The family has also owned up to seven border collies at once – now enjoying the company of a rottweiler, two Chihuahuas and two professionally trained German shepherds.
Dave Fox Design Build Remodelers began its 2019 season with a flourish of awards. The company was given the NARI Contractor of the Year Award – Regional; Best of Houzz – Service, Best of Houzz, Design; and Guild Quality – Guildmaster Award.
Kitchen
The homeowners wanted updated appliances and a lot of them. While fancy kitchenware makes for a mean dinner menu, it can be hard to make big, bulky machines look like, well, not big, bulky machines.
“The client didn’t want to see the appliances, they wanted them hidden,” Herring says. “We made sure the freezer, the fridge and the dishwasher were all made to look like cabinetry.”
The kitchen’s original island was too small, so the designers expanded it to allow more seating and gathering space. Perhaps the most recognizable in the space, however, is the alluring copper in the backsplash, custom range hood and accents.
“It started with the hammered copper sink,” Herring says of the color scheme. “They wanted warmth. From there, I found the backsplash tile and I thought it would look great with the copper hood and black strapping.”
Mudroom
How do you take a mudroom from exactly how dull the name sounds to something you’re not embarrassed to walk your guests through?
Even when shrinking the overall volume of the space, by adding functional storage the room was turned from cluttered and squished to reasonable and organized.
“Knowing what the homeowners wanted to store was key,” Zipfel says. “Then with the high ceilings, we added baskets and cubbies.”
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Master bathroom
Living room/trophy case
The living room centered on a massive collection of trophies, as the homeowner’s daughter is a world-renowned quarter horse equestrian competitor. Rather than stow them away in a garage or closet, the designers were asked to create a custom-built display.
“Right from the start, that was important to the homeowners,” Zipfel says. “We just needed to design the cabinets and measure the trophies to make sure they would all fit – it worked out great.”
Recreation Room
The recreation room required an update and a place for teenagers and OSU fans alike to hang out. A massive remote-controlled projector screen was installed in the ceiling and the room was custom wainscoting was added wall to wall. However, there was a minor bump in the road when Zipfel and Herring realized the pool table and homeowner’s 800-pound gun safe were far too heavy for the floor.
So, Zipfel and Herring had to get creative. The flooring had to be run up to the gun safe and the carpet was inlayed.
“We cut out the trim around it so it lays flat against the wall,” Zipfel says. “We just left out the flooring underneath the safe, so it’s really built into the house.”
Crisis averted.
Overall, the house is straight out of a Western dream.
“We call it our piece of Texas in the middle of Ohio,” says Herring, laughing.
Mallory Arnold is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at marnold@cityscenemediagroup.com.
