Note to Jack and Sherry Strause’s adult children: your parents are ready to be grandparents. Any time now. Call it a hunch, but that’s the impression one gets after visiting their spacious new home.
One middle-aged couple plus 6,000 square feet equals a lot of living space. While their St. Albert home is dwarfed by some of the other supersized houses on the many generous lots in this upscale development, it is still large by any standard. Taking in the unobstructed view of a gently rolling landscape outside, one can’t help but think: Most empty nesters downsize. Why so big? “For the grandkids,” Sherry says. “And no, we don’t have any yet!”
“We always wanted to build,” explains Jack. “Our retirement goal is semi-country living. Close to the city, but not on a huge acreage.” They’d toyed with the idea of building their dream home for years, but Jack took the bold step of buying their current lot while Sherry was in Ireland celebrating her 50th birthday. Two years later, Sherry is still in a state of surprise. “I still like the old house,” she says, of their previous 4,000-square-foot bungalow.
They’re a modest couple, adjusting to living large after many years helping others build their dream homes. (Both worked in commercial development; Jack owns Alpine Heating Ltd. where he has worked for nearly 15 years and Sherry is the company’s controller.) “Friends say it looks like our old house, on steroids,” says Sherry. That’s because Sherry is an avid recycler. She reused her favourite elements from their previous home — notably an elegant staircase that spirals down from the central great room to the lower living area — as well as much of its furniture and art. Everything looks fresh in the new setting, but still familiar and comfortable.
That’s the surprise of this house; it’s large, but it doesn’t overwhelm. Like its owners, it’s likeable and unpretentious. Sherry turned to Donna Morrison, principal designer of Edmonton’s D. Morrison Design to bring her elegant yet informal vision to life. “We had worked well together before,” explains Sherry. “Donna knows what I like, but also when to nudge me beyond my comfort zone.”
Departing from the builder’s plan, interpreted elsewhere in the development as a very contemporary show home, the trio made the design their own. Jack’s contribution came primarily during the blueprint phase, as numerous bedrooms were re-purposed to better suit the couple’s lifestyle and plans for retirement. They injected some fun into the space, creating a large exercise room with a tanning bed, a library room, an expansive gaming room with a poker and billiards table, a bar and wine cellar, a steam room and a hobby room (for pursuits yet to be determined). The Strauses also added a theatre room over the multi-car garage, complete with vintage popcorn-making machine. “Our bonus room, to indulge our love of movies,” says Sherry.
For the interior, Sherry and Morrison were drawn to Tuscan influences.
“Everything was starting to feel Tuscan — so we went with it!” says Sherry. The look is inspired by the central Italian territory’s famously bright sun and liberal use of stone as a decorative element. The rustic simplicity of a Tuscan villa is evoked in the cobblestone limestone flooring; a limestone fireplace in the master bedroom; steps made of solid limestone slabs; the bar’s masterfully crafted backsplash of hand-cut slate; and a pebble mosaic on the floor of a bathroom. Their colour choices also reflect a Tuscan influence, with terracotta tones in the sprawling kitchen, earthy hues such as brown and green in the formal dining room, and soft brown walls with unexpected curves. Red tones in the cherry hardwood flooring and cabinetry add richness and warmth. Unusual ceiling treatments mimick burnished copper with a colour-washed technique. Iron accents complete the Tuscan references. The kitchen’s glass tabletop is balanced on a base of intertwined wrought iron, surrounded by metal mirrors and accented by ceiling fans.
No decent Tuscan home would be complete without an outdoor living space, and the Strauses have one any Italian would envy — it is large, seamlessly attached to the kitchen area and usable year round, thanks to a Tyndall fireplace. Originally, this room was the couple’s favourite; now they’re hard-pressed to pick just one. “Each has its own personality,” says Sherry. Now that their children are adults, you could say the couple is experiencing a honeymoon of sorts, minus the anticipated grandkids. They have fallen in love with their new abode. “It’s elegant, warm and inviting,” says Sherry. “We’re comfortable here, and so are our visitors. And when the grandchildren arrive, they’ll have lots of room to roam.”
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