Northern Michigan: A house built by MAC Custom Homes won awards after its debut at the 2012 Parade of Homes in Northern Michiagn. Here are the details on the winning Spyglass Home.
The homeowners of MAC Custom Home’s 2012 Parade of Homes house relocated to Northern Michigan from Chicago, IL. She is a graphic designer and he is a financial advisor for Wells Fargo, so the transfer Up North was smooth and easy. Being a graphic designer, the homeowner has an eye for design, which largely influenced the concept of their new home, known as the Spyglass Home. She came up with the majority of design ideas, finalized all décor items, and selected all materials for the entire home.
The homeowners wanted to transform the master bathroom into their own miniature spa. They accomplished this by adding a bubble jet tub as the main feature. The bubble jet tub sits in the center of the bathroom in front of a full wall of windows over looking the Grand Traverse Bay for a true relaxing space.
Even though the homeowners are not huge cooks, they wanted their kitchen to be functional and top of the line. Most people now-a-days have two ovens to accommodate large family and friend gatherings. The homeowners decided to hide their second oven in their walk-in pantry so that it didn’t take up any cabinetry space. Since their kitchen is on the smaller side, having the extra cabinetry space for storage was important. The kitchen opens up to the dinning and living room which allows the chefs to interact with their guests.
The goal for the floor plan of the house was to keep it open and create a natural flow. The amount of walls are minimal and only placed to block off private areas of the house such as bedrooms. The main floor is opened to the upstairs family room by a custom metal railing system. Along with the open floor plan, there are windows on every wall to invite the beautiful view of Grand Traverse Bay inside the home.
One major site issue: When digging down to build the foundation, MAC Custom Homes hit water. To solve this problem 15 inches of over excavating was done. Piece stone was put in the 15 inches to allow the water to flow under the house below the footing level.
Here are the awards the Spyglass Home won at the 2012 Parade of Homes:
* 1st Place – Exterior Design Award * 1st Place – Judges' Choice
* 1st Place – Master Suite Award
* 1st Place – Interior Design Award
* 1st Place – Kitchen Design Award * 1st Place – Craftsmanship Award
See more of Northern Michigan's finest homes at the first-ever Northern Home & Cottage Tour. Click to learn more and to order your tickets!