Timeless Design

We all think of our homes as our own, but Ed and Natalie Taylor have a much deeper connection than most of us. She had a hand in every single aspect of the design and building of her new home, from the size of the rooms to the custom-made furnishings to the baseboards to every single piece of molding in the 10,000-square-foot home.

“I had a vision that this would be our ‘forever’ house, one we would never outgrow,” she says. “That’s why I wanted it to be big. Every dining room I’ve ever had seemed plenty big when we moved in but ended up being too small. I didn’t want that to happen here.”

The lot itself is the size of a football field, but surrounding homes were not huge, which posed a challenge for architect Gerald Janssen with Elswood Smith Carlson Architects.

“We needed to maximize the lot without overpowering the neighborhood,” he explains. “The Taylors wanted large rooms, so we went deeper into the lot to include all the spaces they wanted in the house. The facade of the house is more narrow than the back.”

A great deal of cottonwood limestone native to Kansas, quarried in St. Mary’s just west of Topeka, was used on the front and sides of the home.

“This home blends in very well with the streetscape,” adds builder Rick Standard of R.M. Standard & Co. “When you drive down the street, it feels like part of the original Mission Hills. The cut columns and exterior trim make this a pretty unique house.”

Taylor had been brainstorming ideas for this home before giving Janssen her requirements.

“She wanted an open living space between the kitchen and the living room,” Janssen notes. “The formal dining room is set apart but has a good flow with the kitchen through the butler’s pantry. This is a great home for entertaining.”

Travertine tile, some shipped from Portugal, winds itself through the house, at times making a rug pattern on the floor, other times an intricate basket weave, as in the upstairs master bathroom. The bullnose sheetrock walls are soothing earth tones, with ceilings the same colors with 20 percent white paint added. Arched doorways add to the spacious feeling.

“I wanted a blank slate that could become anything,” Taylor says. “I like clean, modern lines. I’m not foofy.”

She likes to display art with no distractions. Many of her paintings come from Blue Gallery, but just as many were created by local artist Jennifer Isom. She also turned to local talent for the window coverings, mostly linen, which were made by Angela Nascimento Textiles in Lawrence.

Nearly every door, cabinet, vanity and table in the entire house was custom-built by Dave Polivka in the River Market, including the 11-foot-long hickory kitchen island.

“Dave and I went through the whole house and designed everything, including the baseboards and the molding,” Taylor recalls. “I needed an oversized bureau in one of the bathrooms, and I wanted it to have a slight Asian flair, and Dave built it. He really is amazing.”

The living room fireplace was ordered in China then shipped here and assembled. The adjoining family room has a fireplace as well but with a completely different look. Taylor designed it herself with a  patina bronze that creates a warm, inviting mood. Most of the light  fixtures — some wood, some metal — were custom-made by Fine Art Lamps, including a colorfully beaded hanging lamp that caused Taylor to say ‘wow’ when she spotted it.

Taylor knew exactly what she wanted, which made her a delight to work with, according to Standard.

“She made the entire custom-building game easy on everybody,” he says. “When she ran into roadblocks, it never got under her skin. She would just move forward. It’s really important to do your homework before you start a project like this. So many times we get halfway through and people say, oh, I never thought about that. Then we have to go backward. Natalie was extremely organized.”

Janssen has equal praise for Taylor.

“The interior is very refreshing, and that’s all Natalie,” he says. “It’s clean and contemporary. The outside is more formal, and the inside is fun.”

Taylor thought of every detail to make life easier, including the installation of French drains in the garage to make car-washing simpler. She scoured magazines and the Internet to find photos she found appealing then tweaked them to make them hers.

“My goal was to build something you don’t normally see here,”  Taylor says. “I wanted something timeless, something we would never outgrow. My vision was that my kids would grow up here and someday it would be theirs. This really is a forever house.”

Resources
Architect: Elswood Smith Carlson    •     Builder: R.M. Standard & Co.   •    Home staging: Tracy Design   •   Bath towels and outdoor furniture: Scandia Down    •    Upright branches in master bath: Black Bamboo    •    Accessories: Z Gallerie, World Market  •  Flowers: Studio Dan Meiners    •    Dining room place setting: Halls    •    Kimono table runner: MLB Designs  •  Art: Blue Gallery   •   Cabinets and custom woodwork: Polivka Studio    •    Light Fixtures: Fine Art Lamps