Home Is Where The Heart Is

Andover Homeowners Create Old-School Feel with Open Concept Design.

Raised ranches are common in the Merrimack Valley, but homeowners struggle to find ways to make the best use of their distinct design properties. One Andover family used the style to advantage during a 2015 renovation.

“I wanted a traditional Italian family kitchen where everyone can be together,” Deanna Flynn notes. She wanted to host big holiday gatherings and continue a tradition of family dinners on Sunday. And she needed to be able to watch her three children play in the yard while she cooked with her husband Matt.

After much research and planning, she reached out to Darren Martino at the Methuen-based DM Construction. Martino knew the perfect people to call: Nancy Hanson and the team at Heartwood Kitchens.

Friends warned her that with three young ones and a full-time job, a remodel would be too much to handle. “It was seamless,” she notes, and her enthusiasm for the project is clear, two years after the renovation was completed.

The designers from Heartwood Kitchens created an open kitchen by incorporating a sunroom. It now boasts an island that seats three, a peninsula bar that seats four and plenty of counter space.

Deanna Flynn adds that after seeing her kitchen, friends who were house hunting and had never considered the option of a raised ranch were won over by the unexpected possibilities.

The kitchen includes Shaker-style inset cabinetry with a contrasting dark island. The furniture-like details include a custom wood hood and a wood panel on the Thermador refrigerator and freezer door. End panels echo the style of the door and island.

The kitchen also includes over six feet of windows, a beverage refrigerator on the peninsula, white subway tiles and brushed and polished nickel knobs and pulls.

“This kitchen is more than a kitchen,” Hanson notes of the Flynn home, “It truly is a living space.” Within its large, family friendly environment, the Flynns cook, help each other with homework and play games.

Apart from its functionality, Hanson and her team sought to make the kitchen visually interesting. She was fortunate that the crew at DM Construction had built a vaulted ceiling. With the added height, she had room to install a mantel-style hood over the oven. “Having the extra height made all the difference,” Hanson notes.

“A rich family is one that has a lot of food on the table,” Deanna Flynn jokes, and it’s clear that this redesign reflected her values and allowed her to better enjoy what matters most to her: sharing good times with family, friends and neighbors.

Heartwood Kitchens
Danvers, Mass.
(978) 762-7472
HeartwoodKitchens.net