CUMBERLAND – All big families have challenges, and organization is often one of them. People’s busy lives can’t be tidily segmented into boxes, after all.
But their “stuff” can be. Here’s an example of a house whose attractive custom built-ins, which were designed by Laurie Griswold and crafted by Jay Snow Construction of Naples, go a long way towards making everybody’s lives easier.
This domestic truism is apparent as soon as you step into the side foyer, where there’s a half-bath on one side, and on the other, a handsome dark-pine cubbyfest that is 62 inches wide by 7 1-2 feet high, and can hold tons of footwear, athletic gear, backpacks and more. Pegs in the middle and decorative hooks on the edges are for hanging multiple coat and jackets.
While the home, built in 1995 and later expanded, is extraordinary at almost 6,000 square, three of the five bedrooms, which are finished as children’s rooms, are nothing special in terms of sheer size. Rather they are notable for their use of available space, thanks largely to their built-ins, which are individualized to each room.
Take the boys’ bedroom, painted a soft blue. Here there’s a wall of shelving/cabinetry for toys, books and more (it’s a nice touch that each child’s bedroom can hold a fine personal library); and two interlocking trundle beds, one upper one lower as with bunk beds, but in an L shape, with lots of contrasting-color drawers.
Down the hall, a girl’s bedroom’s trundle is framed by built-ins extending from floor to ceiling (just short of 8 feet) and from side to side just short of 10 feet. And that’s in addition to the deep double closet’s drawers and shelves.
Not to play favorites, but the third bedroom is one to win any girl’s heart. Here the 8-foot bed is built up into a 5-foot-deep, stage-like enclosure, with two steps to climb up on, and privacy curtains to be drawn across the arched opening. A double closet like that in the other girl’s bedroom provides storage; in addition to which, the space beneath the bed is a little “Harry Potter” closet accessed by a child-size door.
While the bedrooms’ storage might be the home’s most ingenious, there are other notable examples. The second-floor, daylight laundry room is 10 feet long, and galley-style, but a model of organization, with washer and dryer framed by built-ins. In less workaday fashion, one end wall of the living room is taken up entirely by built-in shelving and cabinetry, a library unto itself.
And on the top, third level, a carpeted bonus room has at each end a deep window seat with hatch top for storing blankets, etc., within. Typifying the home’s high degree of detail, the window seats’ interiors are finished, with beadboard accents.
The home at 215 Tuttle Road, Cumberland, is listed for sale at $949,000 by David Jones of F.O. Bailey Real Estate in Falmouth, and was recently featured as the Home of the Week in the Maine Sunday Telegram.
For more information on the property, please contact David at 650-3455, 781-1111 or at David@FOBailey.com.
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