Email
Print
del.icio.us
digg
CommentsForm and Function
Classic comfort meets modern amenities
By Suzy Frisch
Photo by Jon Huelskamp, Landmark Photography
For instance, Porter notes that the lower-level walkout features what he calls a crossover room rather than a fully enclosed home theater. The 110-inch projection screen is here, as are the comfortable seats and surround-sound audio system, but the viewing area is open to the adjacent pub-style bar. “Better for Superbowl parties,” he explains.
Similarly, the main level has a spacious open deck in back and a covered screen porch. Buyers will use the deck for grilling and sunbathing, “but they’ll actually spend most of their time in here,” Porter says, noting the screen porch’s cedar walls, vaulted ceiling, and handsome, wood-burning stone fireplace.
The home’s formal areas are more traditional. The front living/piano room, with its wainscoting, three-piece crown molding, antique chandelier and sconces, and 10-foot ceiling is coolly elegant. The dining room is also wainscoted, with corner columns rising to a tray-vault ceiling. It is served by a butler’s pantry outfitted with rich cherry cabinets.
Photo by Jon Huelskamp
Landmark Photography
An extra spigot in the sink offers reverse-osmosis-filtered water, an amenity also available in the owner’s bath upstairs. An extra full-size refrigerator is a handy surprise in the main-floor laundry room. The mudroom area just off the kitchen offers a second staircase to the upper level.
Beyond the great room in the office/study, formality returns in the three-quarter-high stained wainscoting, box-beam ceiling, and granite fireplace. The main floor also features an elegant powder room with marble floor and tray-vault ceiling.
Upstairs, the owner’s suite testifies to Porter’s belief that “people now realize the [owner’s] bath and big [owner’s] closets are among the most important rooms in the house.” The enormous bath, with limestone floors and granite counters, offers a double-headed rain shower, as well as a big soaking tub facing a built-in plasma TV. The bedroom features a separate sink, coffee bar, and mini-refrigerator.
The second and third bedrooms share a Jack-and-Jill bath, but with two private vanities and window seats. A fourth bedroom, served by its own bath, could be used as a guest suite. The upper level also accommodates a separate study area for the kids, as well as a sizeable, hip-ceilinged bonus room above the garage.
On the lower level, the crossover TV room has a full wet bar, built to seat five comfortably. With knotty alder cabinetry and a tin ceiling, the bar area has a rustic pub feel that extends into the 1,000-bottle wine cellar behind it. Also on the lower level is a large fifth bedroom (or exercise room) with a three-quarter bath.
The right family will prize the formal dining and piano rooms for special occasions, Porter says. And any family would quickly make itself very comfortable in this lavish home.
Jack Gordon is an Eden Prairie freelance writer.
Builder
JMS Custom Homes
Home location
Eden Prairie
Suppliers
Haferman Water Conditioning, Inc.
Harmony Melamine Creations
Hedberg Landscape & Masonry Supplies
IDC Doors
Minneapolis Glass Company
Orion Home Systems
Peters Billiards
11 ISSUES (1 YEAR)
Comments may be edited for length, clarity, or appropriateness.