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An electric grill that allows you to cook like a pro without any guesswork. |
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A New House With A Lifetime of Memories
Scott and Nancy Morey of Glen Ellyn, IL loved Scott’s childhood home so much, they bought it from Scott’s parents.
But with a growing family of four (the Morey’s have two sons), they needed a little more space, so they sought to add a second story. However, with the new building guidelines in Glen Ellyn and existing floor plan, it became more feasible to raze the existing house and build a new one. While the Morey’s enjoyed the home building process, they still found that it was no easy task. Hours of planning, meetings, shopping, and more meetings take place before one can put out the Welcome mat at the front door. Despite all of that, Nancy says, “The building process went well. We enjoyed being able to watch the vision of our family home unfold. Meeting selection deadlines was sometimes a challenge. Also, dealing with mid-construction design changes was challenging because they, of course, affected our schedule and budget.” The Morey’s worked with Havlicek Builders in Geneva, IL on the design and construction of their new home, including George Havlicek, founder and president, sales representative Sandy Hagen, and design architect Paul Lankenau. Ms. Hagen says, “It was a fun home to build. The largest challenge was the lot is a corner lot, and the Village wanted to impose a 30 foot corner front yard setback, making the build-able width only 60 feet. We explored many options, including a detached garage, which would have had an 18-foot corner front yard setback. In the end, we spent three months in variance proceedings, with the end result that the Village allowed us an 18 foot setback rather than 30 feet.” From start to finish, the 8,129 square foot home took 28 months to build: planning was seven months; then there were three months for the variance and design changes, one month for construction drawings, and three additional months for the permit to be issued. Construction took an additional 14 months. Twenty-eight months can seem even longer when you have to make countless trips to a construction site. Luckily, Scott and Nancy didn’t have too far to travel each morning. “There are only three homes on our block, the one we currently live in, Dana and Karman’s next door [Scott’s brother and sister-in-law], and a third home,” Nancy explains. “We actually were able to rent the third home, so we were two doors down. The people who own it were moving back to Australia and hadn’t sold their home. They took it off the market, rented it to us, and we sold it for them when we were ready to move out. This, of course, was incredibly convenient for us and the builder. We were at the construction site everyday and available at a moment’s notice to meet the builder for anything that needed to be addressed.”
A Cook’s Dream Inside the four-bedroom home are amenities that the Morey family will enjoy for years to come, including a professional-style kitchen, a dining room that seats twelve, several wet bars for entertaining, a three-car heated garage, a curved marble staircase with wrought iron railings, marble flooring, a wine cellar, a workout room, a recreation room, and an outdoor patio area with a fountain and garden. Huge columns, high ceilings, and wrought iron adorn several rooms, including a forged-iron foyer railing with an understated, yet elegant ‘M’ for Morey at the landing, and a forged iron wine cellar door with Scott’s initials, ‘SAM,’ and the year it was forged, creating a work of art that will become a family heirloom.Inside the 476-square-foot kitchen are state-of-the-art professional appliances any chef would love to have. There are two of everything—dishwashers, refrigerators (actually, one large refrigerator and two refrigerator drawers) and two ovens. There’s ample counter space on the granite countertops, and, best of all, room for everyone to move about without getting in the way of the cook. A center island is perfect for preparing foods, setting out appetizers, or a great place for the children to do their homework. An added bonus is a generous window over the kitchen sink and French doors that lead to a patio—both provide plenty of natural light and cross ventilation that opens the house to gentle breezes in the summer and fall.
The kitchen appliances are top of the line, including manufacturers such as Sub-Zero, Thermador, Viking, Dacor, and Bosch. All appliances, except for the double oven and microwave oven, which are stainless-steel, are integrated behind paneling to provide a seamless look. For refrigeration, there are two Sub-Zero 700BR refrigerator drawers in the center island and a Sub-Zero 632 side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. The refrigerator has almost 29 cubic feet of storage space, and plenty of ways to arrange that space with lots of adjustable shelves and compartments. The refrigerator drawers provide almost five cubic feet of storage. Mrs. Morey says, “We knew that we wanted the refrigerator drawers for juice cans, Gatorade, soda, and water. We like being able to store beverages in a separate location from the refrigerator. We liked the Sub-Zero model because it can be fully integrated behind cabinetry. The separate refrigerator we chose because it is large in capacity, has the Sub-Zero cooling system, and could accommodate cabinet fronts and refrigerator pulls.” The kitchen is definitely for cooking, with the Viking cooktop, GE built-in convection microwave oven, a Dacor warming drawer, a Thermador double-oven, and a Best by Broan insert range hood. The Viking 36-inch professional cooktop has six grills and a griddle, perfect for cooking a quick meal, pancakes for breakfast on Saturday morning, or several dishes for a large party. The 30-inch Thermador stainless-steel double-oven, with its curved handles, is next to the warming drawer, with easy access to the center island. It has fast preheat and convection cooking. “We like the sleek, European look of the oven,” Mrs. Morey says. “We also like the digital cooking options, the weight of the doors, and the feel of the handle. But mostly, we were pleased that we could find one in a wider size.” The Dacor warming drawer is integrated into the cabinetry as well. Mrs. Morey says that a Dacor model was chosen, in particular, because it could be integrated. The warming drawer is perfect for keeping dishes warm when family members have different schedules. The Epicure 30-inch model has timer controls concealed behind the drawer panel, and a four-hour, automatic timer. The GE Sensor built-in, stainless-steel microwave oven has convection cooking, sensor cooking controls, and a removable oven rack. There are two Bosch dishwashers on either side of the sink. “They are quiet,” Mrs. Morey says. “You can hardly hear them running.” The Bosch Integra dishwashers have stainless-steel interiors with controls on the upper door rim so you don’t see them. There’s a Glass Care wash cycle for wine glasses, and an Enviro Wash cycle that uses less water.
The walls in the kitchen tell an interesting story. The decorative plasterwork on the kitchen walls was done by Konstantin Chekhovskiy, a talented artist from Russia. They have a Venetian plaster look and feel. That was achieved by using five parts plaster of Paris, one part marble dust, one part emulsifier, and color pigments. Water was added to the first three ingredients to obtain a consistency of cultured cream. When the plaster mixture reaches the correct consistency, color pigments are added. The specific types of paints used are the most stable and resistant to change in the presence of light and steam. The colors are Neopolitan, mixed with Calescaya Earth Royal and Roman Express. An important consideration, Mr. Chekhovskiy says, is that during the drying process the plaster mixture will get considerably lighter in tone and will slightly change color. The work was done in four steps. The prepared plaster is spread on a small area of the wall at one time in the normal manner with a trowel. This first layer serves as the background layer. Large areas of color that begin to create the design are layered on while the background is still wet, so that the layers will meld together. Next, more detailed, smaller areas of color are placed, which differ in color and tone from the previous layer, to enhance the patina. Finally, a brush is used to apply a mixture of the above-mentioned pigments, plaster, marble dust, and wax emulsifier, to create the final, dry surface of the wall. More Editorials |
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