Ernst | Plumb Line - No.4

BUILDER’S BUILDER UNVEILS THE ULTIMATE FAMILY HOME

DESIGN DRAWS FROM COUNTRY FARMHOUSE AESTHETIC MAKING A ‘FOREVER HOME’ WORK FOR ALL TIME

When we stepped back and examined this issue’s impressive featured project, a few Ernst Brothers “firsts” became clear. The initial and most notable: We were chosen by another builder, with whom we’d cooperated on some joint ventures, to bring to life the dream home he and his wife had envisioned for their young family. Yes, we know what you’re thinking. But the pressure you’re imagining for us as “the builder’s builder” never materialized. It was a pleasure to work with the homeowners and their prestigious design team: Richard Buchanan of Archer & Buchanan Architecture and interior designer Alexii Friedman of Studio Friedman. We like to think the collaboration was as rewarding for them as it was for us.

Our team at Ernst was headed up by an amazing, affable and experienced team: Joe Kelly, project manager, and Mark Townsend, field manager. Joe could immediately answer any question, whether from a trade partner, municipal official or the homeowner. And Mark, who had worked with Richard Buchanan in the past, was a genius at comprehending and carrying out simple and complex design changes and solutions to any challenges that cropped up.

This was also our first luxury new-build for a young family.

The owners’ emphasis on creating a “forever home” now, while they and their kids, 8 and 10, can enjoy it to its fullest, meant they had different priorities than what we’re accustomed to—and honestly, that made it more fun for us. As many of you know, the Ernst team is family . So building this lovely and much desired home—for a young family, by our family—seemed especially rewarding. The project was an opportunity to remind us how fortunate we are to do what we love and to work with folks we appreciate and truly care about.

Stay in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

Joe Ernst, Principal Owner

The impressive size of this 10Ksf gabled and stone-faced home in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, suggests that its dimensions were a key factor in the homeowners’ vision for their luxury new-build. However, while the size and some features are undeniably deluxe, its owners always had a simpler, more modest request: design and build us a home for kids and crowds that is the last home we buy—oh, and give us a swimming pool.

This Ernst Brothers, Archer & Buchanan Architecture (A&B) and Studio Friedman collaboration delivered a beautiful yet hard-working residence whose every room, including the pool deck, is used to its fullest today, tomorrow and well into the future. And because so many of its rooms are lovely but not overdone, there’s great potential for this home to grow into its family—and vice versa—over the decades to come.

ON THE COVER

Professional home photography: Jenny Ham

Styling: Studio Friedman and Ernst Brothers

Art installation? “Stairway to Heaven”? This spectacular example of the very finest in luxury design, engineering and artisan construction speaks for itself. It’s as gorgeous as it is functional, enticing visitors from the front entry to the pool and back yard, linking three levels of family living, separating kids’ and adults’ wings on the upper level and delineating guest spaces from family rooms. Clearly, the entire home performs in relation to this airy, light-filled stair tower.

THE HOME

The peaks and valleys that top silver-gray ashlar stone and white boral siding also create interesting ceiling features in the upper-level rooms, as you’ll see in the upcoming pages. While these gables draw the eye upward and to the right, the asphalt shingles covering the hip roof on the left downplay the three-car garage.

Inside, five bedrooms, six full baths and two powder rooms seem like a lot for this new home’s young family of four, but their extremely active lives mean those rooms are often filled with people. The kids. The grownups. The kids’ friends and grownups’ friends. The parents of the kids’ friends and relatives of everybody…you get the picture. This home is busy virtually all the time. And that’s exactly the way the owners want it to be.

Helping to “bear the burden” of guests, as well as extended family members who can hardly be counted as visitors, are a tree-shaded yard, the pool out back—spa and pavilion included—and the adjacent golf course. Year-round, the lower level’s atmospheric bar-lounge and movie roomslash-playroom show that this is a home designed to be kidfriendly and Party Central.

FRONT ENTRY

The front porch’s double stone arch, which echoes the arched window of the dining room, presented a difficult engineering and construction challenge that, once solved, defined this classical entry. A glimpse through the foyer’s sculptural central staircase to the pool hints at the warm welcome that awaits.

Picture the door opening to a parade of friends and family members loaded down with towels and pool noodles, party beverages and game-day snacks, holiday gifts and overnight bags, soccer balls and duffels packed with gear.

FAMILY

Ernst Brothers connected with the homeowners at the family level, having recognized our shared priorities of making life good for those we care about most. Here, Ernst folks gather with the owners during a big, post-framing party hosted by Ernie, our traveling bar and grill. (That’s Ernie, posing in the photo below.) We love to capture the enthusiasm of a project—new build like this or renovation, residential as well as commercial—and Ernie helps us do that in a deluxe, delicious and delightful way. Fancy beverages as well as party standards; tasty, themed offerings grilled and prepared by our chef; and just a heckuva lot of fun for everyone. Marking one of the early stages of this new home are, from left, Tim Ernst, Principal Owner and Principal Project Manager for this build; Mark Townsend, Field Manager; Joe Kelly, Project Manager; the homeowners; Principal Owner, Joe Ernst; Teri D’Alonzo, VP of Business Development; and Jake Taylor, CFO and Managing Partner.

STAIR SYSTEM

The bare statistics for this dramatic, artistic floating staircase don’t really tell you how amazing it is. In fact, the images here, on the cover and on page 32 can only begin to capture its engineering and architectural magnificence. If we’re gushing, it’s because this delicate soaring beauty deserves it.

In its starring role, the airy structure provides contrast to the hardworking interior and back yard, welcomes guests from first view through the front entry to the granite steps leading directly to the back yard, and links the “private” family rooms on the upper and main levels.

To execute Richard’s design intent, the stair system was built to Ernst specifications by Select Stairs & Millwork with black steel railings fabricated by Anderson Iron Works. Working with the stair contractors, Ernst provided samples of treads, railings and other features so the homeowners could select what they wanted.

The stairs are constructed of glued laminated timber, an innovative material that, pound for pound, is stronger than steel. “Glulam” has greater strength and stiffness than comparably sized dimensional lumber—critical characteristics for this application. Attached to the house structure in only three places—two side walls and the rear wall at the window—the extremely robust system has no connections at the interior of its axis and is fully selfsupporting. Its dramatic run from the lower “party and play” level to the top floor bedroom wings spans 22 feet, visually enhanced by the extended reach to the ceiling’s peak. The treads and two landings match the home’s primary flooring material, 5.5inch oiled white oak.

Designed by Studio Friedman, the kitchen makes use of the clean lines of Shaker-style cabinetry for the island, range wall and to conceal storage and refrigeration at the right. Facing the family room and breakfast nook, this combined bright, spacious, open-concept set up is the only living room or family space on this level. It’s the core of the home where the family gathers most often. The six seats pulled up to the long, Caesarstone island give you an idea of how frequently this family of four expects guests.

A golden faucet imparts a touch of glam without being fussy. Shining evidence of the owner’s appreciation for gold accents, the color makes an impact in small instances of metal and painted finishes in nearly every room.

The home’s predominantly white and black color scheme merges several distinct zones—“family public” and “family private,” for example—and simplifies the background against which the family pursues its many individual and shared activities.

KITCHEN (CONT’D)

Though beautiful, this simple, efficient kitchen will see its share of homework assignments, quiet early morning coffee times, after-school snacking and weekend sandwich platters as well as lively catered events and regular family dinner preparations.

BREAKFAST NOOK

(RIGHT) To take greatest advantage of the abundant sunlight, the breakfast nook juts out onto the back upper deck so that even on the deepest days of winter you have a light-filled seat outside—almost. Richard, who is particularly pleased with the “sun-drenched breakfast bay,” says “it gets the seating out beyond the face of the building, with tall glass giving 180-degree views.”

(LEFT) Precision guaranteed. That’s what these images of millwork installations demonstrate. We love the superb fit of the white oak post and integrated white oak floor registers.

FAMILY ROOM

Opposite the kitchen, this serene family living room is a restful place to read or chat with the cook while you await the dinner bell. Or it’s a spectacular spot to mingle during a family gathering or party. Making it cozy is one of the home’s three woodburning fireplaces. The ashlar stone surround matches the exterior’s stone veneer; lots of glass leads outside so a crowd can spill out onto the deck and down to the pool.

Alexii loves the layering effect of the white oak floor, clean and airy furniture—those gold legs!—and decorative white oak beams above.

The window to the left of the fireplace wasn’t in the original design, Joe Kelly explains, but the owners saw a need for more light in that corner. During installation of the new window, already constructed sections limited the Ernst team’s ability to exactly match the right-hand window’s distance from the fireplace. In the end, however, the imbalance is negligible.

DINING ROOM

The owner requested a room that would be more versatile than most traditional dining rooms, which she knew from experience aren’t used nearly as often as we expect them to be. In fact, she generally dislikes formal dining rooms. However, she did wish for a “quiet spot to catch up at the end of the day.”

Enter Alexii. The “flex space” she designed gives the owners a room away from normal family traffic where they can sit with a drink and talk about their day—and a formal dining room for those rare occasions when they want a setting for an extended-family gathering or a fancy dinner with grownups.

Most of the time, four club chairs circle a low table in front of the wet bar, creating a quiet lounge near entry points from the kitchen and foyer; out of the way in front of the large arched window are the dining table and its comfortable upholstered chairs.

But move the club chairs, turn the table 90 degrees, drop in a few leaves, bring out the good china and crystal, and they have a formal setting for an elaborate dinner under those gorgeous chandeliers and dramatic barrel-vault ceiling.

Speaking of that ceiling: Ernst coordinated with A&B to construct the barrel vault, whose grand half-cylinder arch is possibly the second-most dramatic feature of the house.

Ernst’s

also

carpenters

installed the hand-built black wainscoting as well as the other trim to complement the elegant wet bar, whose glittering glass tile dresses up the room.

Through a pocket door off the foyer is the den. A masculine room with dark walls and furniture, it serves as the owner’s home office and retreat. The wood-burning fireplace with a gas insert is handsome with a classical surround and hearth in richly veined granite.

This wing includes the primary suite on the level just above the den, then the bar and lounge on the level just below: this is, loosely speaking, the grown-ups’ side of the house.

room’s security relies on the fact that entry is limited to a single door into the rest of the house and one door to the outside via a private, covered side porch.

The

DEN (CONT’D)

One request for the owner’s home office was a view of the pool so he could stay connected with his kids and their outside activities. While the windows behind his desk let him see the circular drive, and thus any visitors, the trio of windows on the opposite wall overlook the pool, spa, yard, deck and pavilion.

There’s something so appealing about a curved wall, don’t you think? This mighty cool radius corner is shared by the office and the powder room just off the foyer. The powder room is accessible from the den as well the entry.

OUTDOOR LIVING

In contrast to the stone-faced front with its lower profile and almost whimsical parade of roof gables, the back elevation is bold, uncompromising and wide open. Here you can see some examples of symmetry and asymmetry that the designers teach us to appreciate, including a look at how the exacting balance Richard planned for the stair tower portion of the house plays out. In design by Richard and execution by Ernst, the exact center of the front door lines up with the precise center line of the staircase, the back wall windows, the stairs to the pool deck and the 40x20ft pool itself.

The grownups’ wing on the left, with its stack of private and party rooms, seems to merge with the stair tower section to nearly balance out the family side of the house. In both images here, the breakfast bay owns its spot on the spacious upper deck in front of the kitchen and family room. Above this, the kids’ bedrooms; below, the movie room-playroom and guest suite. The way the home is built into the rise of land provides enviable views from every level.

Ahhh. Here’s what this project is really about: the view, the location, the ultimate outdoor entertainment venue for family and guests.

PAVILION

A delightfully whimsical “twin peaks” roof of standing-seam metal tops up the enclosed grilling kitchen, wood-burning fireplace and spacious party space next to the pool. Fold-away glass doors open to the deck, where artificial turf grows not at all between marble slabs, allowing water to drain and keeping the site much cleaner and prettier than live turf ever could.

Flipping our attention to the underside of the two gables on the pavilion roof, above, you can see what it means for the folks constructing those gables and the ceiling beneath it. The paneled ceiling reaches right up into the peaks and valleys of the intricate roof joists, requiring complex calculations and cuts to execute Richard’s design for the open ceiling. All those angles! Joe Kelly, Mark Townsend and their team came through, of course.

LOUNGE

The owners’ vision included the kind of party room that feels like a fancy cocktail lounge, with comfy seating, full-service bar including beer taps— and décor that pays homage to their love of rock & roll, concerts and the artists they most admire. Dark colors, a slate floor, unfussy fixtures and that leather chesterfield give the lounge the understated, low-light feel of a favorite smokey tavern, while glass doors open to invite the party to move outside, up to the main level’s deck or into the pool pavilion.

Alexii’s search for rock & roll memorabilia landed several notable pieces at auction—among them, Eddie Vetter’s signed guitar and framed photo outtakes from Nirvana’s famous Nevermind album cover shoot.

MOVIE ROOM

Alexii: “This is an area that was programmed to be kid-centric, but also a lounge area for movies for the whole family. We wanted it to be playful but not immature. Adding that sensibility through wallpaper— but on the ceiling—helped to create a surprise moment that is playful without being overwhelming.”

But there’s also an alcove for board games or crafts nearby, if watching the game or movie isn’t doing it for you but you still want to join the rest of the group.

The home’s dedicated guest suite is through the door to the left— convenient to family but set off by itself for privacy.

Note: That tray ceiling, like others on this new build and most ceilings in today’s homes, is more than just a pretty face. Planning and installing this style, the barrel vault and the primary suite’s cathedral, for instance, required our conscientious coordination with not just the architect and our crews but also the trade contractors: the cavities created by the dropped sections frequently must carry the home’s essential MEP—mechanical, electric and plumbing—that keep the home humming.

The staircase that airily leads from Party Central below to the private family suites on the third level also divides the bedrooms into grown-ups’ and kids’ domains. Joe Kelly assures us that this incredibly substantial stair system won’t shift even when a team of young soccer players gallops up and down. The only “movement” is from the graceful undulation of steel railing that winds its

way down curving steps and wraps around landings from the top of the home to the bottom. This image is also a favorite for its view of the pool, pavilion and back yard at every point.

PRIMARY BEDROOM

The spacious main bedroom has been situated to take advantage of every sunrise and full moon, its windows overlooking the back yard providing an unobstructed vista.

The photos below and at right show how Ernst used the house’s gabled roofline to build angles and edges that attract notice: overhead in the decorative white oak beams and in the corner where subtle details create a cozy nook for reading or quiet chats.

This suite, like the rest of the house, is refreshingly understated for a luxury home— or “lovely without being lavish,” as Richard says. He points out that the owners didn’t focus on, say, an opulent interior with a spa in the primary bath. Instead, “their spa experience is the pool outside.”

PRIMARY BATH

His and hers sinks, separated by a dressing table, epitomize the simple, clean, fresh design of the bathroom. The owner’s signature gold appears as cabinet hardware and frames the mirrors. The left mirror allows a glimpse of the soaking tub that sits under the double window.

The privacy-glass door of the toilet closet opens to expose the room’s flushreveal baseboard. This streamlined replacement for traditional baseboard is especially popular in bathrooms because it takes up no floor space and is easy to keep clean. Oh, and it really looks great, doesn’t it?

The owners’ vision for their forever home accommodates the young people of the family with an extraordinary wing. The bedrooms’ delightfully un-kid-like styling sets no age limitations. Each room will be as pleasing to a grown child returning for a visit as it is right now to the pre-teen youngster who inhabits it today.

Spacious, abundant with natural light, versatile in dimensions and layout, the four bedrooms and four baths on the upper level provide plenty of options for sleepovers, dedicated guest rooms, project rooms as the kids and their interests grow and change, and potential for morphing into a yoga escape or hobby central in the future.

The contemporary farmhouse that sits gracefully on its parcel of land and fills these pages with appealing images is one in a long line of interpretations of the 18th century stone farmhouse that southeastern Pennsylvanians know so well.

Richard Buchanan, AIA, a partner with Archer & Buchanan Architecture (A&B) and our featured home’s designer, could be said to have the Pennsylvania farmhouse tradition in his bones. More specifically, the farmhouse as it was influenced by American architect R. Brognard Okie—since he grew up in an Okie home in Chester County where he was taught that “a house designed by Brognard Okie was good and anything else was not.”

Okie’s work in the first half of the 20th century drew from the farmhouse aesthetic but was then influenced by Arts & Crafts materials and details. He is remembered for his Colonial-Revival houses and sensitive restorations of historic buildings.

It would be difficult to shake that early influence, especially if you were inclined to embrace it. As it was, after grad school in British Columbia, Richard returned to this area “because it’s about old buildings. And creating new buildings that draw on old buildings.”

The current enthusiasm for contemporary farmhouse design, he says, also owes to the influence of an Okie contemporary across the pond, Sir Edward L. Lutyens—Brits pronounce it LUTCHens—who imaginatively adapted a variety of traditional styles for his prolific catalogue of English country houses, war memorials and public buildings. Lutyens and Okie, Richard tells us, were serving similar clientele around the same time. “Their work had a creativity and modernity about it that was detailed in ways that drew on history.”

Themes from Lutyens’s work, such as his emphasis on creating drama between the front and rear of a home and capitalizing on elements of symmetry and asymmetry, are evident in this home. Richard points to the “rhythm and pattern of the multiple gables” that show so attractively in our spread on pages 4-5.

DRAWING ON THE PAST

Richard Buchanan,

“Symmetry can be deadening…so we want to be artful in our application of it to give the design much greater vitality,” he says.

Richard believes it was his and A&B’s “enthusiasm for mirroring clients’ goals” that won them the job when the homeowners went shopping for an architect. And knowing how important the swimming pool was to his overall design, in the end “the house supports the pool.”

Also, with the owners’ permission to make some spaces more generous than usual, “we didn’t design to minimum dimensions” but for “fewer, better rooms.”

“That goes a long way to make your guests and family feel comfortable and gives an easy, open feeling rather than the density of a typical urban house.”

Richard doesn’t hesitate to give credit to the Ernst team: The owners’ “best decision, after hiring A&B of course, was to hire Ernst Brothers.”

“I’d worked with Mark Townsend on the very first house he ever built, so our ease of dialog meant we got a lot done with the minimum amount of effort.” He gave an example: “I could make a sketch in my car and take a snapshot of it with my phone and he was able to work with that efficiently.” Comprehension at a high level of detail with a minimum of back and forth—which seems to be a hallmark of an Ernst project.

“They really make us look good,” Richard quipped. “We cherish that relationship.”

AIA Partner, Archer & Buchanan Architecture

ERNST’ S PARTNER

DESIGNING DIFFERENTLY FOR ONE FAMILY

Alexii Friedman

Alexii Friedman, founder and lead designer for Studio Friedman in New York City and Philadelphia, was as aware as the rest of the team of the subtle but significant differences in how this family would use their home. She’d worked with the owners in the past on both commercial and residential projects, she already had a sense of their taste… and she knew this was to be their forever home.

That information gave her advantages as she planned the interior spaces to function smoothly for this young family with their uncommon priorities.

“They’re a vivacious couple, a lot of fun,” she says. “They wanted their home to be a hub for the people in their lives.” With traditional elements modernized by a more contemporary color palette, new materials, texture and clean lines, the transitional style suits their busy lifestyle and their deep desire to bring together family and friends under their roof.

“And it was absolutely designed that way. Entertainment space on the lower level with a guest suite that can be separated from the rest of the house—that’s where I think A&B did an absolutely fabulous job with the layout.”

She greatly values the collaborative aspect of the architectdesigner-builder relationship and how it influences the delivery of a client’s vision. On this new build, she says, she saw none of the fragmentation that can occur with a project of this size.

“It’s important we’re being respectful of the architect’s goals, even though we weren’t always working side-byside,” she notes. “This all flowed—and the collaboration shows in the end. Ernst’s team was quite a pleasure to work with, sensitive to everything their colleagues were doing even if they weren’t working hand-in-hand. That’s rare to find someone who really cares about the product they’re putting out there.”

Alexii developed her appreciation for the talents architects and other designers bring to a project at the onset of her

career 16 years ago in New York City. It was while working with Steven Harris Architects and Rees Roberts & Partners that she cultivated her design experience and love for residential interiors.

“I took a lot of their thoughtful, polished principles—such as starting with conceptual space planning—into my own projects” when she launched Studio Friedman in 2014.

Not surprisingly, Alexii’s favorite room in this home is the dining room, where her creativity and space-planning experience led to this stunning “flex space.” The room answers all the owner’s needs and is “multi-functional without feeling strange.” When the club chairs are in place and the table is reduced in importance, “You walk in and think, this is like stepping into the lounge of a beautiful boutique hotel.” (Expect flex dining rooms to be trending!)

“One of the most successful parts to this project is that the home is a reflection of the owner: calm, inviting, warm, and glam.”

Founder and Lead Designer, Studio Friedman

ERNST’ S PARTNER

Joe Kelly

Estimator & Project Manager