There’s just something about living on the lake. Having waterfront views can be so calming and peaceful and that’s what makes it the perfect place to retire. For Teri, she was destined to be on the water! After growing up in the California Bay Area and spending time in Florida, she knew she wanted that wonderful lake lifestyle but still wanted to be close enough to visit family and friends.
Apple Valley Lake in Central Ohio was the perfect location to help make Teri’s dreams come true. Not only was it about an hour away from friends and family, but it just so happened to be the same community as her lifelong best friend. Once Teri saw a vacant lot next door to her friend, she on a whim wrote a note to the property owner to see if he was interested in selling his lot. Luck was in her favor as the landowner said yes.
What makes Apple Valley even more unique is that it’s not your typical development. Each home in this private lake community is a custom home. Teri knew exactly what type of home she wanted to build and what her budget, but she needed to find the builder that was a perfect fit for her vision. To make the search process easier for new residents, Apple Valley has a list of approved builders.
Teri wasted little time and began researching the list of builders and was drawn to Schumacher Homes. Being able to visit a website and see every plan and corresponding prices was perfect Teri recalled. “The other builders did not have websites with everything laid out and I quickly realized those builders were out of budget.” She started exploring the design process with a different builder and in the end, the plan was well over budget and didn’t include some of the features she wanted in her retirement home.
After looking at the website at least 50 times, Teri finally made the call to the Ashland office to schedule a Design & Pricing meeting. Going into the design studio helped her visualize what her new home would be like and made her feel comfortable with her choices.
Lake living for Teri made her think of a cottage-type home to match the feel of the existing neighborhood. Narrowing down the floor plans was easy but finalizing the plan for her retirement home provided to take a bit more time. After working through lot size constraints, Teri was drawn to the Fairview plan.
Deciding on a plan was only half the fun, as Teri still had adjustments to make to help match the feel of her neighbors. Thanks to the knowledge of her Construction Manager Tim, making customizations was easy. Tim had built numerous homes in the Apple Valley community and was well-versed in the ins and outs of the neighborhood. To help accommodate the slope of the land, Tim suggested making the front of the home a walkout through the basement which in turn created a covered deck. Teri exclaimed, “Tim was so right and now people drive by and take pictures of the house!”
Knowing that her mother would be living with her in the near future, Teri made other modifications to the plan in anticipation. This included adding patio doors off the kitchen to use as an entrance in the future. Plus, by making modifications to the basement, a garage was added along with two additional rooms that will become an office.
While Teri isn’t ready to retire full-time to Apple Valley just yet, having the second home just in time for the upcoming summer is an exciting feeling. The house as a whole is so cozy thanks to the slopped ceilings, and it has plenty of natural light. “I wanted a little cottage home, and I got that but so much more since everything is so nice,” Teri happily said. “I would love to do it again since Schumacher made it fun and easy!”
About Schumacher Homes
Schumacher Homes, based in Canton, Ohio, is America’s largest custom homebuilder, with operations in 25 locations in 12 states across the country. The National Housing Quality award winning company has built over 20,000 homes, customized to fit each family’s lifestyle, since its founding by Paul Schumacher in 1992. Schumacher Homes takes each customer’s inspiration and gives it a home. Each Schumacher Homes location includes a one-stop shopping design studio and model homes displaying the latest in architectural and product trends.