Photography by Donovan Roberts Witmer
As a child growing up in the 1960s and 70s, Brad Wevodau always loved the homes situated along the Conodoguinet Creek in Cumberland County. He recalls driving the winding roads with his family, staring with wonder at the Christmas lights that lit up the picturesque area. Wevodau knew that he would one day make his way back to the area to purchase a home for himself. It was in 2008 that he finally snatched up a property, a mid-century modern home that backed up right onto the creek.
“I always liked ranches, and from outside I loved everything about it,” he says. “Especially the view out the back. It’s like a moving picture; it’s something you never get tired of.”
But the home was dated and in dire need of an interior remodel. The 1962 house boasted thick shag carpeting, heavy draperies and grass cloth wallpaper, a sharp contrast to Wevodau’s modern, art deco tastes. Both Wevodau and his new wife, Myong, wanted to showcase the exquisite natural views and bring the outside in. Ceiling to floor glass windows and sliding doors provided the perfect solution. The view of the expansive lawn, gnarled trees and meandering creek from the wide foyer immediately became striking. The Wevodaus then moved on with the remodel, starting from ends of the ranch home and moving inward. Their four-bedroom house became a three-bedroom, as the couple knocked down walls to enlarge spaces and create a more open floor plan. But they would need the help of a few professionals to turn their design dreams into reality.
KITCHEN
For the kitchen, Wevodau called upon an old friend, John Petrie, a longtime kitchen and bath designer for Mother Hubbard’s Custom Cabinetry (www.mhcustom.com). The two had worked together on countless projects in the past, combining Petrie’s design prowess with Wevodau’s experience with Classic Rock custom stone fabrication.
Petrie remembers when he first walked into the Wevodaus’ kitchen to assess the project several years ago. He described the space as dark, V-shaped with spindles, reminiscent of the Brady Bunch’s kitchen. Stuck in the 1960s, in no way did it embody the clean lines and modern design that the homeowners coveted. Petrie knew he could add levity and a contemporary feel to the space by first taking out the dividing wall that separated the kitchen and dining room, then moving onto finishes and appliances.
Working from a color palette of airy neutrals, Petrie installed solid laminated glass behind the cooktop; stainless steel “subway-look” tiles to provide texture; and lift-up door cabinets with frosted glass, lit from within. Other cabinets in the space reflect the modern design: full access and frameless, they provide the Wevodaus with more usable space and hide unsightly hinges. The sleek, oversized hardware complements the industrial-style stainless steel appliances. But not every appliance is within plain sight: Petrie cleverly hid the microwave within a frameless cabinet in order to maintain the clean lines of the panel configuration and keep symmetry.
In the center of the kitchen, three pendant lamps hang over the island, which houses a swiveling detachable faucet, deep sink with lowered divider, and built-in dishwasher. Cambria quartz, an engineered stone, was added to the angular island, turning it into a social space: a modern breakfast bar perfect for morning tea or evening cocktails.
“I love my kitchen. Every time I walk in, it’s always, ‘wow’,” says Wevodau. “I love the clean lines, the way it’s laid out ergonomically. It’s so convenient.”
DINING ROOM AND FORMAL LIVING ROOM
Several years ago while on a stroll through Baltimore’s Fells Point, Wevodau and his wife dropped into a furniture store and instantly fell in love with a fabulous piece: a dining room table with crackled glass. They snapped a cell phone photo and dreamed of one day incorporating such a piece into their soon-to-be remodeled home. Two years later, Wevodau stumbled upon the very same table in Interiors Furniture and Design (www.interiors-furniture.com) in Harrisburg; it was there that he met design guru, Tim Weishaar. As Wevodau described his mid-century modern remodel, Weishaar quickly began throwing ideas and concepts at the homeowner. It was a match made in design heaven.
Weishaar visited the couple’s home after Petrie’s kitchen remodel was complete. Yet the rest of the house was raw space, sans the row of commercial-grade windows that stretched along the back wall.
“I was blown away by the view,” says Weishaar, “and I wanted to keep everything low slung, so your eyes would travel out to the view.” And so Weishaar began to carefully select pieces less than 32 inches high for the formal living room and dining room. While his selections are dwarfed in comparison to the super-sized pieces of many of today’s homes, the lower-profile furniture is appropriate for the 8-foot ceilings. It also jibes perfectly with the Wevodaus’ vision for their creekside abode: an ultra modern space filled with clean lines, pops of color and artwork. Most of the furniture comes from a young American designer based out of New York City, Michael Weiss. “He takes modern, iconic, mid-century pieces and reworks them with a fresher attitude,” Weishaar explains.
A custom-designed rug was one of the first pieces Weishaar selected; it is based upon the kitchen’s soft color palette of mink, cream, oatmeal and flannel grey. The Wevodaus’ beloved crackled-glass dining room table sits atop the rug, surrounded by several white leather chairs with stainless steel bases.
In the living room, an upholstered sofa, custom made with chrome and wood, is joined by two charcoal-colored chairs, a white leather chair and a zebra stripe-stenciled cowhide rug. African walnut, polished nickel, stainless steel and glass lacquer are recurring elements of the sleek, low living room pieces.
“We wanted to have an organic feel, so there’s a relationship to the trees, creek and view,” explains Weishaar.
Across the room, a built-in bookshelf is punctuated by colorful artwork hung in front of the shelves to give a floating appearance. Two large, oxblood-colored temple jars flank the fireplace and draw the eye; just above, a metal sculpture catches the light.
“There can’t be a lot of pattern,” says Weishaar. “The story must be told through silhouettes. We wanted the inside to be quiet, so the outside and the view had a chance of having a voice.”
Other pieces of abstract artwork fill the room, some copies and others originals. Recessed lighting illuminates the perimeter of the space, lighting artwork and the room’s borders.
CASUAL LIVING ROOM
To get to the exposed lower level of the home, one must pass through the spacious foyer. There, original wrought iron railing painted in a posh platinum color weaves around the stairs, and a sight impossible to miss- a 4-foot wide, gold leafed mirror- is affixed to the wall. “We wanted something dramatic,” says Weishaar of the piece. “We wanted to open this space up, and it’s like a gigantic porthole on a ship. It looks like a huge window.”
The homeowners spend most of their time in the casual living room. They lounge on the textured couch and watch television or strum classical or flamenco music on their “his and hers” guitars. A copper and stainless steel wall sculpture behind the sofa becomes a natural color palette for the space; it’s complemented by two ergonomic leather chairs in a rich cognac color and throw pillows. Three sculptures of petrified wood sit on the low glass coffee table; below, a rug of organic sisal and seagrass covers the floor. Weishaar explains that the rug is a desirable flat weave, chosen for aesthetics more than anything else.
“Sometimes with contemporary design, the clean lines can look sterile,” he says. “We wanted to add some color and texture.”
Juxtaposing the natural elements, a large, Jetsons-like bar towers in the back of the room. The white lacquered wood piece features a frosted and reverse painted glass top. It’s in a nook of sorts, set off by granite countertops and a built-in wine and beer cooler. Behind the bar, two abstract, loopy prints, reminiscent of Cy Twombly or Jackson Pollock, tie in with the color palette and add intrigue.
In the future, the Wevodaus hope to create more modern spaces within their home. They want to add a fitness room, redo their garage and build two decks out back. They even want to fashion an indoor, Asian-inspired garden with a water feature underneath the open staircase. And while the home on the creek is far from complete, they love the work both Petrie and Weishaar have done.
“It’s not until you take it to the professionals that the dream, a starting point, is brought to fruition,” Wevodau explains. “The best part is when you look out the back, I feel like I’m in my vacation home. I have fun thinking and dreaming about it. It’s like our little resort or Shangri La.”
