This year we’ve got 12 amazing homes—yes, 12!—on our Traverse City Area Home Tour. Here’s a sneak peek inside Home #7 in Lake Leelanau. See more on Saturday, October 19.
Several years ago Chris and Paul Yezbak joined some friends on a tour of Mid-Century Modern architecture. They loved the style and had collected furniture from the period for years. They got back home to their humble bi-level in Traverse City—their first home together and one that had served them well—and thought. It’s time to build our dream home.
The couple started property hunting around Traverse City, but look as they did, they couldn’t find a site that suited both them and their budget. So they widened their search radius to include Leelanau County, and one day came upon a development just outside the village of Lake Leelanau. They simply couldn’t believe their eyes when they parked and strolled up the windy knoll to the property that was for sale. It was late fall, the leaves were off the trees and the view of Lake Leelanau across the horizon stunned them. With the site solved, they scoured the internet for a home plan that would capture their vision for a Mid-Century Modern-style home. First, however, Paul sent his drone up to find out how high they needed to build to capture the best water views!
When they found the plan they liked, the couple took it to Corey Flaska of Leelanau Construction. Corey took their plan and tweaked it to meet both the Leelanau building code and the Northern Michigan weather conditions. That was the beginning of a flawless contractor/client relationship that the couple couldn’t be happier with. “He is conscientious, great on Mid-Century communication, has a good price point, has great follow-up and any problems are addressed right away. It’s been our first build and wonderful,” Paul says.
No doubt, it is a home they can all be proud of. Clad in charcoal-colored brick and LP board-and-batten siding, and outfitted with deep eaves and black garage doors with modern-style windows, the home is a fresh take on Mid-Century Modern. Steps inside the 8-foot-tall front door, the great room rises to airy 12-foot ceilings. More light comes through a wall-sized bank of windows that offers a wide-open view of the serene rolling landscape beyond—as well as the gemlike swimming pool on the terrace.
The interior is monochromatic walnut cortex floors, white walls and ceiling, black window casings and a mix of cream-and-walnut cabinetry. A gold glitter in the white sands quartz waterfall-edge countertop and silver glitter grout in the octagonal-tile backsplash add just the right touch of glam in this otherwise clean, fresh space.
Sneak Peek! Home #6 on the Traverse City Area Home Tour is a Natural Gem
A yoga room off the great room looks out onto the pool, and the upstairs master bedroom has summertime peeks of Lake Leelanau and Lake Michigan. Come winter, the water panorama is full blown.
Paul and Chris point to the small-but-perfect deck off their master bedroom as a spot-on example of how helpful Corey was in the building process. They knew they wanted a deck but didn’t want to have the cost or sight-line interruptions of load-bearing posts descending to the ground. Corey solved the issue by designing a balcony that is large enough for morning coffee but small enough to obviate the need for supports. He used a glass railing to open up views of the lake on the horizon, the rolling hills in the foreground and their pool and terrace below—the final, heavenly touch on the Yezbaks’ bit of bliss.
Get your Traverse Area Home Tour tickets on MyNorthTickets.com.