Chic Retreat

A talented designer updates a 1970s Up North cottage as a getaway for an active family buILDER: STEVE JAkEWAY buILDERS, PETOSkEY

INTERIOR DESIGN: TEXTuRES INTERIOR DESIGN, GROSSE POINTE FARMS

TEXT: kHRISTI ZIMMETH

PHOTOGRAPHY: bETH SINGER

Residential projects from the 1970s don’t often age well. The five-bedroom, 4.5-bath, 4,000-square-foot cottage that Alexis Elley, of Textures Interior Design in Grosse Pointe Farms, recently completed is no exception.

Built in 1979, the Harbor Springs property in the L’Arbre Croche development boasted a good layout, with outdoor access on each of the four levels and a walking path to Lake Michigan. But it also had unattractive flooring throughout, an outdated kitchen and bathrooms, painted cedar walls, and popcorn ceilings. “Nothing had been touched since it was built,” Elley explains.

The homeowners, who live in Grosse Pointe Farms, “wanted something fresh and different,” the designer says, and were looking for a getaway that complemented the young family’s active lifestyle. “They wanted a space that caters to entertaining and family fun,” Elley says. “Since this was a holiday home, I would be able to use designs that were a little out of the box,” she says.

The project was “a total gut job,” although the layout remained largely the same except for the master suite, which originally had odd in-room sinks. “We had to reconfigure that, and move the sinks out of the room to make the bathroom private and functional,” she says. “We also added a wall of custom built-ins in the great room for storage, as well as custom bunk beds in the bunk room.” The team updated other bathrooms and the kitchen, as well.

For the interiors, the homeowners wanted “a natural and serene environment with subtle color,” Elley explains. She describes the overall interior style she created as “rustic glam, with some transitional and modern elements. I love to use neutrals, including white and brown, with pops of black and little splashes of color.”

Nicknamed “The Treehouse,” the property is surrounded by woods, which led Elley to incorporate subtle greens and blues, in addition to “lots of natural textures and tones,” throughout the residence.

The expansive great room is among Elley’s favorite spaces. “We created three areas to accommodate dining, a seating area facing the fireplace for conversation, and a large sectional and ottoman facing custom built-ins for movie nights,” she shares. The original stone fireplace, which serves as the room’s focal point, was updated with a new mantel made from reclaimed white oak and a black granite hearth.

“We couldn’t be happier with the end result,” the homeowners assert, adding that they consider The Treehouse their “happy place.”

“We come up as often as possible,” the couple says. “Alexis brought our very basic vision to life, and then some.”

PROMINENT DESIGN

Both pages: The renovation project at this Gilbert Lake-area home started with a bathroom overhaul and led to two additional large-scale phases.