Heart Transplant

Spring 2024

June 13, 2024

Words by Andrea Glinn | Photos by Nate Sheets

An impressive design team collaborates on the modernization of a Lake Quivira home with a glass-walled, vaulted volume at its core.

t is nearly impossible to distill the feeling of “home” into a checklist of wants and needs. For Eric and Katie Vossman, dreaming of what their home could be was the impetus for remodeling their 1970s lake house.

“We want our kids to grow up in a space that is thoughtfully designed,” Katie explains. “Creating beauty around them is very important to us.”

To execute their vision, the Vossmans reimagined their house’s physical structure while exploring how to manifest the heartwarming essence of “home” for their growing family.

When the couple stumbled across a house—their future home—on wooded acreage for sale in the area, they jumped at the chance to buy it, even though it needed a complete overhaul. The young family was already living in the neighborhood, but with their third child on the way, a larger home with an expansive, nature-filled lot proved too tempting to resist.

“I grew up in this lake community—my grandparents moved here in the 1960s, and my family has lived here since—so I knew that there were not many places like this out here, with a large lot and the potential to see the landscape surrounding it on all sides,” Eric says.

The Vossmans lived in the home for a few years before they were ready to remodel. Despite their background as trained architects, the couple chose to collaborate with a top-tier remodeling team—including McHenry Shaffer Architecture, Kali Buchanan Interior Design and the general contracting and sustainability gurus at Kala Performance Homes—to bring their vision to life.

Their combined expertise was vital to finding ideal solutions to issues within the existing 1978 home. Its problems were not limited to its old age and inefficiency: the home needed a heart transplant. The home’s orientation on the property also had incredible potential for spectacular views, but this opportunity went almost entirely unrealized.

“The existing home had eight-foot ceilings—which were typical of the era—and small windows with an 80-inch head height. There was no connection to the landscape, and every view was clipped,” notes architect Brandon Froelich. To create a central space where the family could comfortably gather, entertain and live a modern life while enjoying the scenery, the team decided to dissect the home by removing an entire section and gutting the rest.

With the family’s lifestyle in mind, the project team demolished the central core of the house, replacing it with a nine-foot, glass-walled, vaulted volume. The new scissored truss structure allows for an all-glass façade, through which the landscape is not only seen but “seems to pass through the house,” Brandon describes.

The space’s transparency yields stunning vistas throughout the house, delighting residents and guests with scenes of the sweeping treeline and sky beyond. Additionally, the original windows were replaced with new, amply-sized ones, further brightening the home.

“You can see out from any place you stand in the house,” Katie says. The couple’s desire to frame picturesque views led to ne’er a darkened corridor, closet or bathroom. Instead, they welcomed the transcendental quality of natural daylight to pervade every room.

Although the entire home was notably modernized, the design magic is especially palpable in the living space.

“One of my favorite design moments occurs at the interior corners,” Katie says. “The drapery pockets were designed into the structure, so the details are clean and seamless.”

Eric’s favorite element of the house may be the double-sided, modern wood-burning Spartherm stove. He revels in its efficiency—it draws in outdoor air while lifting indoor air along the face of the heated firebox, releasing it back into the space through natural convection—and enjoys honing his art of building fires as well.

Efficiency is par for the course, given Kala’s emphasis on passive and sustainable construction methods. In addition to the wood stove, the home adheres to many of the standards of Passive House design: air-tight construction, triple-pane glass, super insulation, no thermal bridges and utilization of the sun’s energy for creating shade in the summer and capturing solar gain in the winter.

“Experiencing the perfect temperature on the hottest or coldest days—while enjoying incredible views through the large windows—is the result of implementing Passive House construction standards,” says David Schleicher, Kala’s general contractor.

This emphasis on comprehensive comfort is fundamental to the spirit of home. The space looks as good as it feels, too. To anchor the primarily white palette of the open living space, designer Kali Buchanan used black-stained wood cabinetry for visual weight at both ends of the room. Then, to aesthetically warm the space, the team opted for light oak floors and wood-clad glazing rather than black metal-framed mullions, as the Vossmans had initially envisioned. Because the kitchen, dining and living areas openly flow into each other, Kali was intentional with her selections of decorative light fixtures.

“I didn’t want them to compete,” she notes. “Since we chose a series of tall, slim, dark pendants over the island, I wanted something loose and organic in the other areas.”

When Katie and Kali came across Moooi’s Flock of Light chandelier, they immediately knew it was just what the project needed. These decisions added to the home’s character, making it feel more bespoke and unique.

Re-envisioning the house and integrating it with its surroundings gave the Vossman residence a new lease on life—and improved the family’s lives as well.

“We created a space that energizes us, where we can thrive alongside each other and enjoy family life,” Katie says.

What more could a family want in a home?

Architect: McHenry Shaffer Architecture, @mchenryshafferarchitecture

Interior Designer: Kali Buchanan Interior Design, @kalibuchananinteriordesign

Builder: Kala Performance Homes, @kalabuilt

Resources

Architect: McHenry Shaffer Architects
Interior Designer: Kali Buchanan Interior Design
Cabinets: Hinge Woodworks
Contractor: Kala Performance Homes