This year we’ve got 12 amazing homes—yes, 12!—on our Traverse City Area Home Tour. Here’s a sneak peek inside Home #3 on Long Lake. See more on Saturday, October 19.
The deep blues and greens of Long Lake and its surrounding shoreline lend themselves to a similar palette—one with rustic nuances. That is one reason this home is so fabulous. The other is the way it was constructed, from the very first design concepts to finished home. The Ferraro Group, architect Colleen Shannon, interior designer Jamee Hagen and Ferraro president Mike Ferraro collaborated with the homeowners to make this everything a home should be: well built, beautiful and beautifully functioning, right on budget and exactly what the homeowners dreamed of. “We make all the decisions up front during the design process,” Mike Ferraro explains. “That allows us to provide a better representation of cost way up stream. If you have all the answers before the construction you will feel less anxious during the process.”
Sneak Peek! Home #4 on the Traverse City Area Home Tour is a Modern Farmhouse
While gorgeous, the site wasn’t without its challenges. “It had some interesting constraints,” Mike says, adding that the team had to replace six to eight feet of marl with compacted sand before the foundation could be built. From that foundation a contemporary Craftsman rises, clad in stacked stone, shake and pine beams and brackets. Inside the mahogany front door (custom-made by Wooden Hammer LTD of Traverse City) the great room soars to a cathedral ceiling paneled in whitewashed knotty pine and lined with wooden beams stained the color of mahogany. The walnut-toned Cortec floor echoes the beams and matching custom cabinetry. The stacked stone chimney and fireplace, and an interior wall also faced in stacked stone, work to join the home’s interior and exterior. A bank of windows and glass doors across the back of the room brings the lake view inside.
The open kitchen features frameless pale-gray stained red oak cabinets by Wolverine Cabinet Company. The island mirrors the same mahogany-stained wood used in the custom cabinetry across the room and is topped with a stunning slab of granite that ripples in shades of green and blues like the lake out the window. A backsplash of pale green glass subway tile embossed with a ribbed texture continues the watery theme. And the want-want? A set of beer taps mounted right into the island.
This home is as energy efficient as it is handsome, registering 1.4 on the blower test, which is exceptional relative to the much higher scores seen in Grand Traverse County—but a score that is typical in Ferraro homes. “It’s all about understanding how to minimize air leaks,” Mike explains. “From the foundation up, we use construction techniques and materials that make your house tight and extremely energy efficient.” Care like that combined with the home’s timeless architecture makes this a true legacy home.
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