The red-brick, ranch-style home on Churchill Road almost didn’t get built at all. The events of World War II forced Churchill Borough officials to implement a home building moratorium. The day before the work stoppage was set to begin, the owner of the empty lot began digging the foundation. This meant work could continue to completion.

“There have been four renovations since then,” said the daughter-in-law of the original owner. “We’re the fourth.” The home has remained in family hands since construction.

If you drive along Churchill Road, chances are you won’t notice the non-descript, well-cared-for brick house that sits in front of the fourth hole of the Edgewood Country Club. Inside, however, is a different story thanks to the combined efforts of the owners, a pair of empty nesters with an artistic flair and Diane Laskoski, senior designer and co-owner of The Blind Side, a Verona-based interior design firm.

The Challenge
The call from the owners of the Churchill Road home was unexpected recalled Diane, even though she and her husband, Jerry, have known the couple for 20 years and had worked with them before.

“They wanted to downsize and move into his mother’s home, where he had grown up,” said Diane, who was already familiar with the house as she had helped the husband’s mother redesign its interior years earlier.

Diane, who began working with the couple in September 2006, said the house was dated and “a bit closet challenged.” Further complicating the task for Diane was the fact the couple had already sold their own house and most of their furniture with it. In essence, Diane was given a blank slate not only to redesign the home, but to influence the décor as well.

“We wanted a smaller yard and a home with less maintenance,” said the wife, the mother of two grown sons. “It was also important to us to be on one floor.”

During the 18 months that it took for the $200,000-plus renovation to be completed, the couple lived in the house’s second floor, the same rooms that the husband inhabited as a boy. The very rooms where he proposed to his wife 38 years earlier. “I love the history of this place,” she said.

Making the Changes
The house’s entire first floor was remodeled, with the exception of the galley kitchen, where the existing cabinets and original granite countertop were kept. Diane helped the couple choose an Aga, a high-end British-made stove to replace the original stove, which was outdated. For the floor, Diane and her clients selected a mosaic pattern, in the shape of a small oval area rug, as an inset for the center of the oak floor. A creative solution for the clients’ desire to “have the look of a rug but not a rug,” Diane said.

The original house ended with the kitchen window looking out onto the golf course. The couple, who enjoy frequent casual entertaining, added a great room, a large master bedroom suite and a two-car attached garage onto the back and right side of the house, adding roughly 1,000 square feet to the original home. To create flow between rooms, all of the thresholds were removed. The new oak floors were raised to meet the old floors and the former kitchen window became an open archway now looking into the great room.

To join it all together, a new, larger and more formal entry way was created. The notable feature here is the domed ceiling created by Focal Point Architectural Products, a North Carolina manufacturer of polyurethane molding and trim. Domed ceilings have become a signature of Diane and The Blind Side’s work.

The hallway runs the depth of the house. To the right is the new master suite, to the left, the great room and the original section of the house. At the end of the hallway, French doors open onto a back patio that features a fountain and fire pit. With a little personal magic, the couple transforms the fountain into a Christmas tree for the holidays.

The Great Room
Visitors who enter the sunken great room through either the original portion of the house or the new entry hall are treated to a wonderful, unobstructed view out over the golf course. The striking feature of this room is the vaulted 16 and a half-foot ceiling with hand-cut maple beams that Diane found in Vermont. Each pieced beam section weighs 1,400 pounds and spans the width of the room. The beaming took three days to install. “The beams make this room,” the husband said. As a personal touch, a small, round window that the couple bought during a trip to Hawaii 20 years ago sits at the peak of the great room’s ceiling. The beauty of the ceiling is matched by the unique parquet design of the slate and oak floor. The walls of the great room are painted a rich burgundy color with a mustard yellow accent on the ceiling. Initially, the couple said the walls looked too red and wanted Diane to change the color. “Diane told us we had paint panic and to be patient,” said the wife, adding she is now pleased with how the walls turned out.

On the side of the room closest to the kitchen, the couple built a wet bar with a beaded copper sink and temperature-controlled wine cooler. The furniture, a mix of rich, soft leather and dark wood, is arranged in an
L-shape in front of the floor to ceiling, built-in cabinets and working fireplace, above which sits an armoire hiding
a big-screen television. “Diane doesn’t like televisions to be visible,” the wife said.

Master Bedroom
The master bedroom also features a vaulted ceiling and a sky light. Armoires on either side of an antique-style mirror give the room much needed closet space. The couple is able to watch television in bed by using a remote control which raises a large-screen television from a cabinet seated below the mirror. “That was one of Diane’s ideas to save space.”

His and her bathrooms are situated on either side of the master bedroom. The first bathroom has a faux stone wall that divides it from the bedroom. It features twin sinks, long copper lights hanging from the ceiling and a private toilet area. A glimpse into the second bath reveals a beautiful large, walk-in, glass-enclosed shower with slate and granite finishes. Also featured is a jet air tub for true relaxation. “The jet-air tub is supposed to be better for your circulation than a whirlpool tub,” the wife said.

Dining and Billiards
One of the few things the couple brought from their old home was a billiards table. At Diane’s suggestion, the table was re-covered in burgundy velvet and placed at one end of the large, wood-paneled dining room. On one side of the room sits what appears to be a large oak sideboard, but in reality, it’s the couple’s formal dining room table. During the holidays, the table is moved to the other end of the room by the patio doors and opened up giving the couple ample room to entertain family and friends. Normally this space is occupied by a counter-height wooden card and game table. The homeowner didn’t want a formal dining room.

The room’s curtains belonged to the husband’s mother. The full draperies were cut into panels to keep with the casual atmosphere of the room. “The curtains really work for this room,” the wife said.

Other Inside Changes
To give their home flow, the couple re-plastered all the common areas of the first floor in a distressed, warm, ochre-colored plaster.

The first floor guest bedroom features lovely handwork by the husband’s grandmother. On the double bed is a lacey-white crocheted bedspread. Above the bed hangs an array of delicate lacework framed with his grandmother’s photograph. “We found all of this lace that she had made,” the wife said. “It was Diane’s idea to have it framed like this.” A second bedroom has been transformed into an office featuring a large partners desk.

Outside Wall
To shore up the backyard, which abuts the golf course, the couple built a 150-foot retaining wall with stone that was once the foundation of an old barn. The husband had a seat installed in the wall so he can sit and talk with the golfers. “Sometimes he will sit out there with water, or milk and cookies if he knows someone is coming by. We’ve been told we should put a keg out there.”

While the couple has no regrets about renovating their house, which they call “eclectically comfortable,” they do have some advice for future home renovators. It will take longer than expected, don’t move in until it’s done and be aware of cost overruns.”Even though they chose to live beside a golf course, the couple admits there are some drawbacks. They keep an extra set of pre-cut glass for the windows facing the golf course stored in the basement for errant golf ball strikes. The wife says anywhere from “50 to 60 golf balls” make it onto their property each year, but so far not through the windows!

“We keep the good ones and throw the others away,” she laughed. NH