Family home centers around great room

A welcoming openness greets family members and guests who step inside the Cypress, an informal home where people naturally gravitate to the centrally located great room.

Its vaulted ceiling makes this large room seem even more spacious. In fact, the great room could easily accommodate a pool table or ping pong table and still have plenty of space for couches, easy chairs, a desk for the family computer and more. Recessed shelves on the entry side of a walk around wet bar offer display space for art objects or family mementos.

Placement of the kitchen sink, facing into the great room, allows dishwashers to participate in conversations while they work. Other parts of the kitchen are more concealed, so the aftermath of food preparation need not be seen. The nearby utility room can also be entered from the garage. Sliding glass doors in the informal eating nook open onto the screened porch, inviting outdoor dining.

Stately columns on two sides of the large living room provide access from both the entry hall and the great room. A cushioned window seat could easily be built into the wide bay, stacked high with multi paned windows. French doors across the entry way open into a room that could serve as a home office, den or media room.

The Cypress master suite, located on the opposite side of the house from the other bedrooms, features a large walk in closet. Twin vanities are nestled in a compartment separated from the water closet by a pocket door.