After many years making memories and growing a family in their 2-story colonial home, Mike and Susan sought to enjoy the relaxed lifestyle of a simpler floorplan in a home nestled in the tranquil scenery of Lake Latonka. After spending months looking to buy and eventually starting the custom home building process with another builder, Mike and Susan turned a challenging housing market and several false starts into the opportunity to build the custom home of their dreams by deciding to go with Schumacher Homes.
“Schumacher was not our first choice,” says Mike. “We went through the design process with a different custom home builder, but we were not comfortable with some aspects of their process and product. We decided to go to Schumacher and see what they had to offer.”
Early in 2020, Mike and Susan visited Schumacher’s Columbus North Design Studio following a recommendation from a friend. As with every customer who comes in to any one of our conveniently located design centers, Mike and Susan entered the door equipped with tough questions to ensure they’d find the right floorplan to meet all their needs.
“We were very pleased with the sales team, the home selections, the design latitude, the Construction Manager assigned to the job, there was no pressure,” says Susan about the Schumacher process.
Because of their choice to build custom, Mike and Susan were able to pinpoint precisely what they wanted out of their new home’s design:
To their surprise, Mike and Susan’s desire for a simplified floorplan did not have to be contained to a single story. “We wanted one floor living. There were many models to choose from. We selected the Madison because it gave us the most space on the first floor as possible with an open floor plan and had two bedrooms and a bath upstairs for when our kids visit.”
Although they loved the Madison plan’s large kitchen and first floor owner's retreat, the couple wanted to take full advantage of designing and building their own home from the ground up with a few significant modifications. Working with Schumacher’s design team, Mike and Susan explored several ideas that put extra space in the rooms they knew they’d be spending the most time in and reworked the traffic pattern throughout the main floor. Some of the customizations they implemented throughout the Madison’s classic craftsman design:
We don’t call these add on's or extras at Schumacher, we see these customizations no matter how big or small as simply part of making every home custom built for life.
Any new home construction has potential complications inherent to its process, Mike and Susan’s situation presented challenges unique to them. Pile on the Covid-19 Pandemic and the fact that they weren’t even living in the same state their new home was being built.
Looking back, Mike said what stood out most about the build. “That we were able to live in Florida while the home was being built and not have to micro-manage the build. We trusted the Construction Manager [...] we were given good updates and pictures and videos of the build in progress.”
Many of our customers tell us about the moment they realized building a custom home was the right choice. For Susan and Mike, that moment was the decision to work with Schumacher. Their vision to live in a simplified and easy to access floorplan with enough room to entertain and accommodate visitors was always in the picture, they just weren’t sure how it would all come together. After considering purchasing an existing home and comparing against other custom home builders, the choice became clear.
Today, Mike and Susan are loving their single floor lifestyle by the lake. When we asked them the biggest take-away from their custom homebuilding experience, it didn’t take long to get a response:
“Compare custom builders. We did and we chose Schumacher. We are glad we did.”
At Schumacher, we don’t just design and build, we help you connect the dots.
We transform imaginative "what if's" into tangible "to do’s." If you’re looking to simplify, expand, or upgrade, come visit us and see for yourself!
About Schumacher Homes
Schumacher Homes, based in Canton, Ohio, is America’s largest custom homebuilder, with operations in 32 markets in 14 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. Stop in today, be inspired and receive your no obligation price quote.
