I visited Ed and Susan's dream home in progress yesterday to get a look at the much anticipated staircase. When we were working with the team at Gaffney Homes developing the floor plan, Susan was very sure that she did not want the front foyer of the home to feature a large dominating staircase. The solution we arrived at was to place the stairwell is a side foyer or "stair hall", adjacent to the entry hall, creating a unique interior courtyard or gallery with a flowing open staircase tying all three levels of the home together. This design feature is truly wonderful, elegant and unusual. It has created some wonderful spaces for artwork to hang as well. You can read Susan's take on the stairs on her Dream House Blog.
In addition, I got a glance of several other great details of the home coming together: the window seat in one of the family bedrooms; the open loft on the upper floor which will be a study/play space for the kids, open to the stairs yet still private; the wonderful brick fireplace in the basement and the beginnings of the gas fireplace for the screened porch. A delightful bonus space has turned up in the unfinished attic: the high coffered ceiling in the great room below has resulted in a perfect raised "stage" in the attic and I can already envision the musicals, plays and productions to come!
It was also interesting to really be able to study the exterior of the home from angles one cannot see "on paper" and to see how nicely the roofline harmonizes!
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