ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 26, 1997 TAG: 9701280136
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
IMAGINE a home in which the kitchen plays the starring role. No matter where the activity is, the kitchen is always at center stage. With the living, dining and gathering rooms connected like spokes on a wheel to a hub, the kitchen is the core of the house.
Now imagine this house with an open floor plan that allows family members to engage in individual activities yet always be within earshot of one another and you've envisioned Today's Family Showhome sponsored by Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications, MASCO Corp. and MHI, a Houston-based builder.
Built in Greatwood Estates on suburban Houston's southwest rim, the 4,750-square-foot show house will be featured this month at the 1997 National Association of Home Builders' convention in Houston.
"The spaces in this house are all multipurpose, designed to accommodate a family's changing needs as the family grows," says Linda Kast, editor of Better Homes and Gardens Building Ideas.
Central to the home's main level is an octagon-shaped kitchen with four entryways, allowing direct access from the living, dining and gathering rooms, as well as the foyer, study/guest room and powder room. With two islands - one housing two cooktops for a choice of gas or electric cooking - the kitchen's design encourages family participation at mealtime.
The open-plan connection of the living and dining spaces allows the dining table to function as easily for breakfast, lunch or dinner as for relaxed conversation or studying. The open plan also allows the rooms to do double duty, serving equally well whether full of guests or pleasing a single family. For instance, the living and dining rooms could easily accommodate a crowd of guests at a party or the rooms could function independently with one family member snuggling up with a book on the sofa while another spreads out paperwork on the table.
The only exception to the main level's open floor plan is the master suite. Allocated to its own wing, the self-contained suite features a gas fireplace in the coffered-ceiling bedroom and a master bath with a mirrored wall of medicine cabinets for storing toiletries and a glass-surface vanity with twin chrome sinks.
The two-story gathering room links the main and upper levels. Flanked by the study on one side and the dining area on the other, the gathering room offers a smooth transition space to the outdoors during an evening of entertaining. Its proximity to the kitchen and a second-level balcony invites family interaction.
The second-level media room - a playground-in-the-round - is much like the kitchen downstairs with the traffic pattern flowing around its perimeter. Built-in cabinet storage, a wet bar with refrigerator, a large-screen television and a surround-sound stereo system furnish this playroom for any generation. Three coffered-ceiling bedrooms and two full baths - one shared jointly by two of the bedrooms - radiate from the media room.
Because "active families have busy schedules," Kast says, "creating a house that caters to those needs means delivering a house like this one where a family can live in harmony, find time together and still carve out private spaces."
The house is featured in the spring issue of Better Homes and Gardens Building Ideas.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. The model home is an updated version of theby CNBtraditional Palladian Georgian style in Texas red bricks. 2. Central
to the home's main level is an octogon-shaped kitchen (below) that
has four entryways, allowing direct access from the living, dining
and gathering rooms as well as the foyer, study/guest room and
powder room. 3. A snack-bar seating area connects the gathering room
and the kitchen. The bar follows the curve of the upper-level
balcony. French doors open unto a Juliet balcony from the media
room. 4. The open plan connects living and dining spaces (above). 5.
The master suite (right) provides a perfect place for privacy.
color.