From House To Home

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When Wichita homeowners Mark and Jana Griggs built their 6,900-square-foot custom home on the shores of Barefoot Bay, they were in good hands. Their builder, Randy Ketzner, helped them find the lot, subdivide a neighboring lot to accommodate the home’s large footprint, and develop a circulation that seamlessly blends comfortable kid spaces with refined adult living.

Armed with an idea that they wanted to build a unique and beautiful family home, the team, joined by Wichita designer Patty Oberg, set out in search of the perfect materials. Their journey took them south to Texas to see firsthand the possibilities that native stone allows. “We didn’t want to build just another brick home,” explains Jana.

And while studying hundreds of exteriors in the Dallas neighborhoods, they often stopped to explore interiors as well. Inspiration was followed up by due diligence to be sure that their choices were durable and appropriate for the “big picture” they would paint back in Wichita.

The design focuses on a centrally located hearth room just off the kitchen that is the intersection of the adult and children’s spaces and is finished to be comfortable for the entire family to gather. From here, one hallway leads toward the children’s wing. Their bedrooms are at the end of the wide passage lined with custom-framed “cubbies” and private study alcoves. On the opposite side, beyond the formal areas of the home, the large master suite features a two-sided fireplace with open access to both the sleeping area and the seating area.

Ketzner and his crew expertly finished the walls, ceilings, and trim in each room in a combination of cherry and maple woods to bring warmth and definition. Throughout the communal spaces, they used distressed maple flooring that would hide the scuffs and scratches that children sometimes leave behind.

Beautiful floral arrangements designed by flower artist Tina DeOrsey grace many of the rooms.

In the lower level, the flooring is actually even more durable. Jana credits her builder with the finish on the concrete floors and says he came out in the freezing cold to score the foundation so that later, when it was stained and acid washed, the large squares would have the patina of slate. On the ceiling, he mirrored the cube effect by using low-profile ceiling tiles, which Mark picked out. “The finished home is a blend of everybody’s input,” explains Jana.

When it came to the interiors, their core group expanded to include an even greater network of talented artisans. Faux painter Rock Lacey applied his craft to the wall color and developed a blend that perfectly complements the beautiful hardwoods and custom finishes.

Decorative finishing also introduces the handiwork of Renee Riley, owner of By Renee in Wichita. Riley is responsible for whimsical murals throughout the home. She worked hand in hand with Oberg, so her inspiration often came from the colors and textures of furniture and fabric the designer had carefully placed. And besides being an “artist for as long as she can remember,” Riley is also a pretty good listener, so Jana’s tastes are well represented.

The design combines elegance and complete livability, so the family will never have to sacrifice being kid friendly for the sake of adult style.

“I always go without anything to a first appointment,” she says of her method. After “getting a feel” for what her client wants, she returns with a sample board that she builds from an intuitive blend of skill and careful study.

She is as comfortable replicating a classic Impressionist vignette as she is with contemporary strokes of geometry and color. Riley has used both techniques to make the Griggs’ home uniquely personal.

Despite its beefy facade, the home is, as Jana points out, actually just a ranch. Flanked front and back by patios of pavers, it sits high on its foundation to accommodate a lower level with easy access to the backyard pool and fully finished pool house. The design combines elegance and complete livability, so the family will never have to sacrifice being kid friendly for the sake of adult style.

Surprisingly, one important element of this shared arrangement is buried in the home’s grid because the electrical system itself is computerized and can be set at the touch of a button. Landscape lighting can be timed to appear as if by magic. Mood light is built into a binary code. And just in case the kids forget that bedtime comes at least once every 24 hours, Jana says there is a master “lights out” switch that she and Mark control. “It’s a kid-friendly house or an adult-friendly house,” she says with a chuckle. “It depends on how you look at it.”