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.