Photos: Landmark Photography
Boyer Building Corporation updates a dated 1980s home for a busy family of five.
Caitlin and Jack Hillen already knew their Shady Oak Lake neighborhood was great before they moved in, because Jack grew up just down the street. “We loved the lake and the walking path, and over the years had noticed this uniquely shaped house with 400 feet of shoreline,” Caitlin says. When it came on the market in 2019, the Hillens bought the 6,179-square-foot home.
Their first order of business was to add a hockey shooting room with artificial-ice flooring in the basement so their three young boys would have a place to blow off steam. But the Hillens didn’t touch anything else, even though the main floor was woefully stuck in the 1980s with heavy dark woodwork, a three-sided “batwing” kitchen island that blocked traffic and wall-to-wall carpeting. The couple knew it would be a big project, so they waited three years to get a better feel for how their family used the house.
One particular conundrum was the bulky staircase. Set in the middle of the main floor with open stairs and a curved shape, it was an interesting design, but ultimately dominated the room, felt outdated and blocked the view. “It was our biggest pain point,” Caitlin recalls.
Fortunately, the previous owners had remodeled the second floor and left the plans when they moved, which led the Hillens to Boyer Building Corporation. “We knew that Boyer had done the previous remodel. It seemed like a great place to start with people who knew the house and understood its unique challenges,” Caitlin says. “And we got a great feeling when we met with Bob [Boyer].”
Boyer Building Corporation senior designer Cherie Poissant took the design lead and worked with the Hillens to update the entire main floor, including the kitchen, powder bathroom, laundry room and mudroom (to improve storage—an essential with three hockey-playing boys).
But first, they had to solve the staircase problem. “The homeowners liked the staircase with its open treads. We wanted to update and visually lighten up the existing stairs without structurally rebuilding them,” Poissant says. Replacing the heavy oak railings with steel and adding horizontal steel balusters immediately improved sightlines and brought the staircase into the 21st century. Adding new white oak floating treads, eliminating nonstructural pillars and painting the essential pillars white completed the transformation.
The kitchen also had its shortcomings, including dated appliances, a lack of storage, soffits above the cupboards and washed-out beige tile flooring. Here, Poissant started from scratch by reorganizing the space into a more efficient and beautiful hub.
A new alcove along the back wall houses a 60-inch Viking range with double ovens, a focal point thanks to an elegant herringbone backsplash. The range is flanked by doorways—one leads to the laundry room and mudroom, and the other to a black marbletopped buffet that’s connected to the dining room. “It’s a transition space between the two rooms and is great for serving and entertaining,” Poissant explains.
Two symmetrical, stained white oak islands, each with a lake view, add function and help organize the space. The inner island houses the sink and dishwasher, while the outer island has stools and undercounter beverage refrigerator drawers for entertaining. The arrangement allows for easy flow within the kitchen as well as between the kitchen and the main floor. Honed Italian Carrara marble countertops throughout, a stone that will patina over time, are a centerpiece. “Nothing popped the way the marble did,” Caitlin says. “I’m really happy with them, though Jack might disagree, as they definitely show wear and tear more easily.”
Wainscoting in the dining room and breakfast nook tie in with the kitchen millwork and help define the spaces. The nook has a live-edge table and a built-in bench with storage. “The views are big throughout the house, but the nook feels cozy,” Poissant says. “You can enjoy the lake and be connected to what’s happening in the kitchen.”
The overhauled mudroom features a bench, drop-zone cubbies and plenty of hidden closet storage for equipment—and it’s next to the laundry room, a bonus for sports apparel in need of washing.
The dramatic stair transformation by the Boyer Building Corporation team was recognized with both a NARI (National Association of the Remodeling Industry) RotY Award and a Housing First ROMA award for the stair design component. Even better is how Caitlin and Jack feel about their refreshed home. “Boyer helped us figure out the best way to use the space, and it all functions really well. The kitchen is amazing. We know because we spend a huge portion of our lives there,” Caitlin says. “And the staircase is like a piece of art in the middle of our home.”
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Boyer Building Corporation
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