Lincoln
A ranch with a walkout lower level, stone and siding exterior, and an open main floor anchored by a stone fireplace and dark-stained island.
The front door trim detail is where this home starts telling you what it's about. We ran the stone veneer tight to the door casing — no filler trim, no cover piece — which means the masons had to cut each stone to fit the profile exactly. The sidelights flanking the entry pull natural light into the foyer without making the front of the house feel like a glass wall. Gray horizontal siding butts clean against the stone, and the joint between those two materials is tighter than most people would ever notice.
Thirteen-foot ceilings in the great room meant we couldn't just drywall it flat and call it done. The coffered ceiling grid was framed with built-up two-by material, and then the trim crew wrapped each beam with a three-piece assembly — a flat stock center with cap and base molding — so the proportions hold at that height. Stacked stone on the fireplace surround runs floor to ceiling between two generously sized windows. Hardwood flooring extends continuous from the foyer, and from my perspective that single unbroken plane is what makes the main level feel like twenty-nine hundred square feet instead of a series of rooms.
Where the island meets the perimeter cabinets, there's a finish choice worth talking about. Dark stained base on the island, white painted uppers and perimeter lowers, and the granite countertop bridges both without making it feel like two different kitchens. The pendant lights hang at a height that actually works for standing and prepping, not just for photographs. That back window over the sink is oversized on purpose — it frames the covered deck and the yard beyond, so you're cooking facing daylight instead of a backsplash.
The shower tile layout in the primary bath was one of those things where the installer had to slow down and be precise. Gray large-format tile runs floor to ceiling, but the hexagonal accent band cuts horizontally across the wall at about chest height, and getting that band level across three walls while keeping the grout joints aligned on both sides took real planning. Recessed niches are framed into the stud wall before tile goes up — not surface-mounted aftermarket pieces. Dual shower heads, stainless fixtures, clean lines. The whole wet area functions like a room within a room.
Down in the basement, the wet bar cabinetry is the same dark wood species and stain as the kitchen island upstairs, which ties the two levels together in a way that feels intentional rather than matchy. The countertop overhangs enough for stools. Carpet transitions to hard surface right at the bar threshold — a metal transition strip set flush so you don't catch a toe on it. The staircase comes down into the family room with enough clearance that the space doesn't feel like a basement, and that large egress window pulls in more natural light than most people expect below grade.