Couple Adds Livable Space

3/2/2009

Couple adds livable space

By Jenny Callison • Enquirer contributor • February 28, 2009

When David and Susan Voyles purchased their home in Monroe three years ago, they deliberately downsized with a view toward retirement. They no longer needed all the space of their home in Middletown, with their two sons in college, heading toward careers and independence. They also wanted a place that required minimal exterior maintenance, so they could travel more as they had the time.

The Voyles purchased a single-story house whose living area features partial walls to define, but not close off, the living room, dining room, and kitchen/ breakfast eating area. The home, built in 2001 in an upscale development, needed some redecoration to match the couple's traditional furniture.

"We installed hardwood floors and new carpeting, and we completely repainted," David says, indicating the light gold and muted green wall colors and contrasting white trim.

The angled corner fireplace also got a new look, with brown tiles on the surround and the hearth.

But the Voyles were left with one small problem: Sons Greg and Phillip were still very much around and needed a place to call home in the near term. Their parents also looked ahead to what the future might hold.

"We wanted them to have room to come back and visit with their families," Susan says.

The new house had a full unfinished basement that could house a suite of rooms. After some research, the couple contracted with Champion to install a basement system to give them a family room, two bedrooms, a full bathroom, a workshop and some storage. Son Greg, a microbiology major at Miami University, developed the design, with input from Champion.

Once the floor plan was designed, Champion framed in the walls with metal two-by-fours and a metal track along the ceiling and floor levels. Into these tracks fit insulated panels. There were choices of wall color, woodwork finish, and treatment for the support poles: the Voyles picked a soft gray for the panels, complemented by light woodwork and wood-paneled square supports.

"The basement is sound insulated," David says. "There are seven speakers in the sound system down here, and once in a while we might hear something, but not very often."

After that project was finished - about six months after the Voyles had moved into their new home - Susan found herself looking at ads for patio rooms.

Because they were so pleased with Champion's work on their basement, the Voyles decided to install an all-season room atop their existing deck. They opted to have the room's roof tied into the house so it looks like part of the original structure.

"Utility was a key factor," recalls Jeff Alispones, the Champion sales representative who worked with the Voyles. "They wanted to be able to spend much of their time in this room, regardless of what was happening outside. But they wanted the room to be energy efficient."

By increasing the deck supports, the Champion crew was able to build on top of the existing surface. Glass double doors open into the new room from the breakfast room. Three walls of windows offer a panoramic view and the gabled roof adds architectural interest to the room's interior. Ceiling and wall surfaces are off-white and the carpeting is a light neutral.

"My vision was to be able to sit here with a book and watch it snow," Susan says.

Alispones says that, like many of his clients, David and Susan Voyles began the project thinking small, but changed their minds before construction started, opting for a full-size, rather than half-size room.

"In my six years in this business, I've never had anyone tell me 'We love our new room but we wish we had made it smaller," he says with a laugh.