First You Wish, Then A Plan and Teamwork: Homeowners See Dreams Come True in Custom Home By McCamy
Thursday, July 30th, 2020
Building a custom home can be an intimidating undertaking. That’s why these featured homeowners were so happy to find a guide in Grant McMahan and Ashley Jones when it came time to build their Lowes Ferry home.
“We had a very positive impression the first time we met Grant and Ashley,” the homeowner said. “I was interested in getting some design help and I thought that we could really work with them. With so many decisions, and in this case building while living remote from the new home location, you want the right person to guide you through the process.”
The homeowners had a collection of pictures for design inspiration, and Ashley worked diligently to incorporate those ideas into the design plan for their new home.
“It was an unusual situation in that we had a good bit of experience,” the homeowner said. “We had built a custom home before.”
They had also performed a complete remodel on an older home in Florida. The couple had a long time friend and home design professional that was very involved in their former projects, and they wanted to include him on this one as well.
“He ended up becoming a big part of the collaboration,” the homeowner explained. “But McCamy was very open to that. I’m sure that doesn’t happen often.”
The end result was a synthesis of a lot of different ideas from various people that turned into a stunning custom home. The homeowners moved from Lexington, Kentucky, and wanted to be near their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren, and Lexington was too far away for those regular interaction opportunities..
“We’re glad to be near them in our retirement,” they said. “It’s been a good thing. Especially with COVID.”
Like others who have recently moved into a new home, the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed them to get a lot accomplished.
“We’ve been able to do the things that normally get put off. We’ve had plenty of time to unpack and do those myriad of items related to moving into a new home. This ended up being a place we could really enjoy with the extra time,” the homeowners said. “It’s been a retreat, and we get the benefit of enjoying it given the situation.”
This project has been a real dream come true for the homeowners. They love the flow of the house, which includes a luxurious master suite and a large vaulted family room that is open to the kitchen and flows out to the patio and then the pool, with a beautiful view of the lake.
“It’s serene,” they said. “To wake up and have your coffee in the morning and have this view, it’s beautiful. We love the large outdoor living area. The pool. The lake and the wildlife including ospreys fishing in the cove behind the home.”
The homeowners are lifelong boaters, and love the herons stalking fish along the shore and the variety of birds. They also enjoy kayaking and boating on the lake with family and, of course, the grandkids.
The outdoor living area wouldn’t have been possible without the design assistance of the McCamy team and their Lexington design friend and Jonathan Evans of Sequoyah Pools. The homeowners wanted the patio to be on one level, but that was a challenge with their particular lot.
“We had a walkout basement home previously with an elevated deck, and we knew we didn’t want that, even though we were on a sloping lot,” they said. “The McCamy team worked hard to get the exact elevation so that the patio and pool were on the same elevation as the main level of the home. It was an important design feature to us, and the end result was exactly what we wanted.”
Another thing the McCamy team went above and beyond on was creating additional space upstairs. The original plans included an over-garage bonus room for the grandkids, but Ashley and Grant were able to create an entire additional upstairs room out of what would have been wasted attic space. Four panel slider doors in the family room and bedrooms, ideally located beverage and coffee serving centers, and stand alone family room built-ins were other creative design concepts that came from the collaborations with the owners’ friend and the McCamy team that the homeowners are thrilled with.
What the homeowners appreciate most is how Ashley narrowed down choices on many design decisions. She provided options, but not so many that they were overwhelming. With the homeowners still living in Lexington Kentucky, that was a lifesaver.
“She really hit the nail on the head,” the homeowners said. “She knew what we liked very quickly after we started working together and then presented three or four choice options. We picked out the brick, the stacked stone, the shingles, and the colors of the exterior siding and windows and gutters at one early meeting due to Ashley’s homework. To me, those were big and daunting decisions. But she even gave us houses to go by and see those items on real homes.”
The McCamy team was always in the process of synthesizing their ideas and coming up with ways to make them happen. Once they established a working relationship, Ashley often would take the initiative to independently consult with the homeowners’ long time Lexington design friend to work through decisions and recommendations, another testimony to McCamy’s flexible and effective approach on this home build.
“We love our house,” the homeowners said. “We are really happy with the end result. This is six months down the line, and we still don’t see anything we would change or feel that could be improved. When I built my other house, I didn’t say that. There were a lot of mistakes that I could see. The McCamy team made sure that we knew every decision that was made. When I walk through here, I love it, and that’s a huge compliment to the process. We are very thankful to everyone who contributed including McCamy’s contractors who often became key parts of the design and collaboration process, and were very friendly, professional, and easy to work with.”
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