BURKE HOMESTEAD

For Celeste and Mike Burke, family is the reason they have been coming out to this land for years, the reason they now live on this land, and the reason for many of their design choices when planning their current home. “The land belonged to my mother’s side of the family when we farmed,” explains Mike. “We farmed this land before it went into CRP. My grandmother let me take control of the hunting on it, and I fell in love with hunting here. Both my boys got their first deer here. The last hunt that I got to take my father on before he passed was up here. So just good memories.” As the land has been in Mike’s family for years, it has always held special importance to Mike.

The decision to make the move to Mike’s family’s land did not actually start with a decision to move from their old home. Mike’s wife Celeste had always talked about buying a home in Arizona and spending the winters there. Mike recalls, “I’d just mentioned to her, ‘what do you think if once the boys are gone, we build a shop house out there. We make room for my stuff, and we can stay there in the summer and our horses can be there and then maybe you could have your place in Arizona when the time is right.’ I was talking about five years down the road from that because our youngest is now going to be a junior and somehow that turned into, ‘oh we should meet with Scott and Vicki of Hallmark Homes and start figuring out what we want.’ Then, somehow the shop house turned into a house, and then, we’re forgetting about the shop, but we have to build the shop too. It happened a little faster than I was anticipating.” While it may not have been exactly what Mike had in mind initially, the home turned out beautifully thanks to the direction of Scott and Vicki Moran, owners of Hallmark Homes.

In addition to wanting a shop and a place to keep their two horses, Mike and Celeste wanted to build a home that was conducive to hosting and would encourage more shared family time. “We thought a lot about how much Mike’s parents enjoyed family time and how we wanted this house to have different areas that we could do that as well, family meals and board games and cards, so we wanted a big open concept,” explains Celeste. Moving gave the Burkes a chance to start over, as their old house never allowed them to host large family events. “We basically avoided hosting because our place didn’t work,” explains Mike. Now, the Burkes have been able to host family gatherings comfortably since they moved in last July.

Building a new home also gave Mike and Celeste the chance to think through everything that they liked or disliked about their previous home. “We were in our first house for 21 years. We made a list of things that didn’t work for our family anymore and talked to Scott and Vicki and figured out ways to incorporate that into our new house,” describes Celeste. Thinking through these factors meant Celeste had a pretty clear vision of what she wanted. “Celeste kept describing different things she wanted, and Scott said, ‘Vicki go grab whatever plan.’ She brought it, and it was a house they’d built before that Celeste had been in when they had it on Parade of Homes. Celeste was like, ‘Vicki this is the house that when I was in it, I told you that this is my house!’” recalls Mike. From there, the Morans were able to tweak the design to better fit what Mike and Celeste wanted in their new home.

In addition to a new layout, a larger kitchen with more cupboard space was at the top of Celeste’s list, as well as a large closet. “My brother-in-law is an electrician, and in my old closet, I wanted a fancy light in there. He said it wasn’t to code. I told him that I was going to build a closet that I could build any light fixture I wanted in,” recalls Celeste, laughing. True to her word, the closet is now large enough for her light fixture. “Sometimes when I’m having a really bad day I hide in that closet,” says Celeste. “I love it.”

Beyond just in the closet, the light fixtures throughout the home are some of its most unique features. Vicki and Celeste worked together closely to choose the fixtures. Vicki describes, “Lighting should be a reflection of a homeowner’s personality and can sometimes tell a story. The goal here was rustic farmhouse with a little elegance sprinkled in. Mike and Celeste were so good to work with and open to ideas. Pretty yet practical is so important when doing lighting layouts, and we keep that in mind through the whole process.” Pretty yet practical perfectly describes the elegant light fixtures the two chose for the home.

Another huge change Celeste and Mike wanted was to make everything important accessible as they were thinking about living in the home as they got older. “When we were designing this house, we wanted everything on the main floor as we grew older, but we wanted a place for kids and grandkids to spend time and the upstairs accomplished that,” says Celeste. By thinking about the future, the Burkes ensured they could stay in this home for the long haul.

One of the most special parts of the home is the cabinet in the mudroom hallway. The cabinet is literally now a part of the home as it has been permanently affixed by Vicki and Scott during construction. “We wanted a spot to display things that reminded us of family members that had passed away, things they made or special memories, so we asked Scott and Vicki to help design a spot where we could display all those things, and they did a really good job,” says Celeste. Celeste found the cabinet, and together she and Mike filled it with mementos like pictures of grandparents, handmade dish towels, wood carvings, crockpots, and handmade quilts. Vicki and Scott knew when they were designing it, that the space would be special. “There are so many favorite areas in this home for us but at the top of the list would be the mud room which almost takes you back in time,” says Vicki.

Another striking aspect of the Burkes’ new home is the main floor office. “Vicki talked me into the blue in the office, to have the walls and the cabinets match,” says Celeste. “I wasn’t sure at first, but it really looks sharp.” Vicki says they knew the office would be utilized frequently and wanted to make sure it was a room Mike and Celeste would enjoy walking into. “Blue is considered to be the color of the mind according to color psychology,” explains Vicki. “Bringing a fun vibrant color into the office like blue stimulates the mind, increases productivity, and helps you stay focused.” The blue in the office harmonizes nicely with the rest of the house, as fun but more subtle shades of blue can be found throughout.

Both Mike and Celeste love their new home as it fits their current lifestyle much better than their old home, and living on the land of Mike’s family clearly means so much to the two of them. Vicki and Scott were grateful they were trusted with such an important project and enjoyed helping Mike and Celeste design and build on such an important place, something that makes all the hard work worth it.