A sense of warmth is not sacrificed in the contemporary architecture of the four-bedroom house at 1253 Golf View Drive in the Dunham Knolls subdivision of Woodridge.
Unlike some current residential designs, this house has rooms that offer more than a striking backdrop for entertaining. They are also fit for family living.
A lack of strong partitions between the public rooms lends an airy effect and, perhaps, allows noise to carry from room to room. But the house is arranged on five levels, and bedrooms and family space are tucked into their own private spots. The house is on the market for $289,000; taxes for 1992 were listed at $4,126.
The house is only two years old and the subdivision is not much older, said listing agent Jay Levine of ERA Circle Real Estate during a recent open house.
Open the wood-paneled front door and you are standing in a small, elegant foyer with a coat closet on the left and a short partition on the right. It is one step down (this does not count toward the five-level tally) from the foyer to the 23-by-16 living room, where the multi-angled cathedral ceiling lifts to a 17-foot height.
`Drama’s up there’
“The drama’s up there,” Levine said. “Everything (else) is understated because the architecture itself does the job.”
With its wood trim and open expanse, the room could fit right in at a contemporary ski resort. Along one wall is a wood-burning fireplace with a tile hearth, and along another are peaked, floor-to-ceiling windows. A piece of wood trim runs horizontally across the windows and might be useful for hanging window dressings, if you want privacy while entertaining at night.
On the opposite side of the room, the ceiling lowers to provide a more intimate 12-by-11 dining room space. The brass chandelier stays with the house, as does the light beige carpeting, Levine said.
Through a doorway is a gazebo-like 11-by-10 sunroom, where the ceiling rises to a 12-foot peak. Three of the walls are formed by sliding glass doors, including two that open onto a back deck. The fourth wall is divided between doorways to the dining room and to the kitchen. In between, wall surfaces throughout the room are painted a vibrant, springlike shade of pink.
The bright 14-by-12 kitchen is floored with white vinyl and lined with white counters above and below oak cabinets. You can pull two stools up under the counter of the large center island, which also provides more cabinet space. The kitchen has room for a moderate-size table, but if you wanted a full-scale breakfast room, you could convert the adjacent sunroom into one.
Off the kitchen are a powder room, a coat closet and a door to a two-car garage, which has access to attic storage space.
From the living room, a short staircase leads to the upstairs bedrooms. Cutouts in the staircase wall offer views of the living room.
On the first, mezzanine-like level are two bedrooms, both roughly 13 by 9 feet, with large closets. Between them is a bathroom with oak cabinets, a white tile floor and beige fixtures, and next to it is a linen closet.
It’s another seven steps up to the 18-by-17 master bedroom, which has a high peaked ceiling with a wood beam running across the apex and a ceiling fan. Three long windows admit natural light from the south. At the far end of the room, a set of doors pulls open to the master bath and dressing room.
Here, two sets of mirrored, accordion-style doors open to walk-in closets. A long vanity stretches over oak cabinets and a raised bathtub sits in a white-tiled corner under a set of shaded windows. Behind a short partition are the commode and glass doors to a shower.
Stairs from the living room lead down to the 17-by-14 finished basement family room, which has a wood shelf lining two walls. A sliding door from the room opens to a small flagstone patio and a set of steps leads from there to the back yard.
Another door off the family room opens to a 12-by-9 bedroom with plenty of closet space and two windows that look out onto the front yard at lawn level.
From the basement, it’s another seven steps down to the unfinished subbasement, which consists of a large concrete room with a door to a den-which has been completely drywalled-on one side, and a door to a 12-by-12 utility space on the other. The house has gas forced air heating. The home comes with a one-year warranty.
Outside, the Dunham Knolls subdivision is one winding street long, with sidewalks creating a community feel. The few saplings scattered about the area no doubt will grow into shade trees one day.
