Though Old World Homes’ Dream Home is filled with areas dedicated to entertainment, it’s the spaces dedicated to work – office work, kids’ homework, meal preparation – that help distinguish it from other builds.
Located in Galena’s Maple Glen estate community, the house is Old World’s first contribution to the BIA Parade of Homes in central Ohio, though the company has been part of several parades in and around its North Canton base of operations. It only expanded into central Ohio this past year.
The 4,400-square-foot house, with five bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, is valued at $1.5 million.
Function-Focused Open Space
Open concept plans with lots of living space are an old hat to Old World, but in its Dream Home, the company made efforts to clearly define distinct areas to serve different functions within the house. Old World used a combination of rustic and refined styles to create the “ultimate family home,” says April Small, lead architectural designer for the company’s central Ohio office.
“You don’t have to marry yourself to that modern aesthetic or that farmhouse aesthetic,” Small says.
A lounge space just a step down from the entrance is designed for entertaining, but it’s flexible enough to be easily transformed to fit the needs of the homeowners. It leads into the rest of the open first floor, which is framed by multiple archways fitted with custom drywall.
The first floor is anchored by a centralized open kitchen that connects to the great room and dining room. Highlights of the kitchen space include custom cabinets, a rustic ceiling with stained wooden beams and a fully functional, custom-built wood island. The great room is entirely visible from the kitchen island, framed by one of the arches.
“That view from the kitchen island facing back, to me, is just unbelievable,” says Kevin English, general manager for Old World’s central Ohio office. “That’s my favorite part of the house.”
A back kitchen, with an extra sink and dishwasher, is included to add preparation space and make it easier for people to gather in the main kitchen. That room is also built to accommodate pets.
“Pets are a huge part of most families’ lives, so (the room has) dedicated space for storage of their food (and) their bowls,” Small says. “It’s a really great area to house all those extra, messy functions that families need on a daily basis.”
Also not far from the entrance is what English calls the “Zoom room,” a dedicated office space ideal for taking calls and virtual meetings, with a 7-by-7 foot Crystalia glass interior window looking out on the rest of the home. It’s private enough to do work, but still connected to the rest of the living area.
Emphasis on Visibility
Seeking to create a workspace for children as well, Old World incorporated a kids’ study room, with a 12-foot table and convenient outlets for devices, into the design. A window makes the study room visible from the kitchen – just in case the kids need the occasional reminder that they’re supposed to be working – but not audible.
“The kids can be in there, you can see them, but neither one of you can hear each other enough to be distracting,” English says.
And connecting many of the home’s distinct spaces is a custom white oak stairway, complete with custom-fabricated wrought-iron railings, that stretches from the lower level to the second floor. Like the study room, it’s visible from the kitchen through an interior window.
“It’s very dramatic … if you’re looking from the bottom up or the top down,” English says.
Though the home is engineered to allow connections between rooms, the owner’s retreat is consciously separate. That space is home to a vaulted ceiling with wooden beams; a coffee bar; a walk-in closet with plenty of storage space; high transom windows for natural light; and an open bathroom with floating vanities, a floating soaking tub and a walk-in shower with two shower heads and four sprayers.
Other highlights of the home include:
- A clean-lined fireplace surround with custom millwork in the great room
- A mix of natural slate and engineered hardwood flooring, with the different styles taking advantage of different levels of natural light
- A finished space in the lower level, with low-maintenance polished concrete floors, containing a pub and media room
- A wraparound covered porch and an uncovered raised deck
To view the full BIA Parade of Homes Guide for 2022, click here.
Garth Bishop is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
