Why don’t we possibly build? Sometimes the building journey is spurred by a simple question. For Patti and her family that simple question helped begin their journey to creating their dream home.
With retirement coming up, Patti and her husband knew they wanted to find their forever home. The pair began searching for their next home but couldn’t find a home they liked to purchase. Patti’s husband Tom then asked the magical question “Why don’t we possibility build?”. The pair quickly agreed that was the way to go to ensure their new home would have everything they would need in the future.
After a celebratory dinner on the couple’s 30th wedding anniversary, everything fell into place.
Tom took Patti for a drive and pulled up to the lot that would eventually become their future home and said, “this is where we’re going to build.” Things quickly moved forward and in less than two months the property was officially theirs. “We always liked this area,” Patti remarked “I just never dreamed that we would end up here.”
Why did you choose Schumacher Homes?
“Well, we had looked at different builders and we stopped in at Schumacher, in Bowling Green. And from the minute we walked through the door, everybody was so helpful. We spoke with a woman by the name of Pam and sat down with her and gave her all our ideas. And from there, it just felt like it was right. We did a lot of research … in the end, Schumacher offered us many options that we could change the floor plan.”
With land officially acquired, both Patti and Tom were excited to start designing their dream home. After comparing plans to their wish list of features the couple selected the Halsted Craftsman as their future home. Having a loft was the number one thing the couple wanted. “We chose this particular floor plan because we have a view of the bay” Patti stated. “And from our second floor, we put in a larger loft up there so we could have the beautiful view.”
Once the plan was selected, no time was wasted, and customizing the floorplan to meet their exact needs began, including making the plan a dual owner's retreat. Patti said, “We wanted a first-floor owner’s suite.” Both agreed that since it was their retirement home, there would come a day when they would not want to do stairs. But until that day comes, they wanted to take advantage of the incredible views of Sandusky Bay and create an upstairs owner’s retreat. With the lake views in mind, Patti and Tom also decided to extend the loft and remove a bedroom.
Customizations weren’t limited to the second floor. Having an open concept great room and kitchen was a must-have when it came to choosing a floorplan. To fully take advantage of that, Patti and Tom upgraded kitchen selections such as granite, flooring, and cabinets. In addition to kitchen changes, the pair also moved walls to create a flex room at the front of the house. One last major change to the plan was adding a spacious 15 by 20-foot porch to the exterior of the home.
Designing a home from scratch isn’t always easy for those who are visual learners. “Going into Schumacher with all of the display pieces and being able to move things around really helped with that” Patti stated.
What is your favorite room in the new house? Why is that?
“My favorite room would have to be the screened-in porch. It's just it feels like, you know, you're out in nature. We do live by the water. Bugs are a huge issue here. With it being screened in, we're out here from morning coffee to lunch. Dinner is always out here unless it's raining.”
Construction began that October and Patti and Tom’s dream house quickly began to come to life. During the build, the pair were grateful for their building team. “They would listen to any concerns we had throughout the process,” Patti remarked. “They were more than willing to change things if needed.”
With the building complete, the couple has been able to truly enjoy retired life. “It was such a pinch-me moment because I was like, really this is ours,” said Patti upon seeing the completed house for the first time. “This was everything we’ve dreamed about.” When guests now come over, the coupled noted how they always have compliments.
While building again is not in the future for these happy homeowners, Patti agreed they would do it all over again if anything happened to change. The building process itself may seem overwhelming until you get started, but there’s not a day that goes by where they could not imagine being in their retirement home. “With Schumacher, they have such a wonderful staff that helped us through every step.”
About Schumacher Homes
Schumacher Homes, based in Canton, Ohio, is America’s largest custom homebuilder, with operations in 22 locations in 11 states across the country. The National Housing Quality award winning company has built over 20,000 homes, customized to fit each family’s lifestyle, since its founding by Paul Schumacher in 1992. Schumacher Homes takes each customer’s inspiration and gives it a home. Each Schumacher Homes location includes a one-stop shopping design studio and model homes displaying the latest in architectural and product trends.