Terry and Angela Gagel ignored real estate’s cardinal rule — location, location, location — when they built their Shelby County home six years ago. Their closest neighbor? The Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women, where some 720 female felons reside. And if that isn’t enough, the Gagels’ eight wooded acres were once owned by the Red Penn Sanitation Co., notorious for the 13,200 barrels of hazardous waste the Kentucky Department of Waste Management unearthed in a nearby landfill 20 years ago.
While those factors deterred many a potential buyer — Terry says the property was on the market three years and “no one would touch it” — the Gagels were intrigued by the mature trees and scenic view of Floyds Fork. Terry, a commercial builder and remodeler by trade, put his decade of experience in hazardous-materials remediation to work and made a trip to Frankfort, where he extensively reviewed the landfill company’s records and closure report. His findings: The eight acres for sale “had never been used as a dump site, because of its banana shape and steep slope,” he says. “It was clean, perfect land.”
The price was also right, especially compared to smaller lots in neighboring Oldham County. Living near a capped landfill does have its advantages, says Terry. “For the next 55 years, no one can do anything with it, so we don’t have to worry about someone putting in a development across from us.” As for the correctional facility, he maintains that prisoners make good neighbors. “They don’t have loud parties, and no one ever tries to borrow a cup of flour,” he jokes.
The creekside home features a corner entrance and wraparound porch; the kitchen cabinetry (far right) was hand-distressed.
While the Gagels had previously lived in a typical suburban brick-and-vinyl, the densely wooded lot called for a completely different style. “Brick wouldn’t have looked right here,” says Angela. “Terry wanted to build a log cabin, but I thought the wood walls would be too dark. The timber frame and cedar siding was a compromise, but still gives us that vacation home feeling.”
The empty-nesters spent eight months designing their new home — “I draw, she changes,” says Terry wryly — using principles delineated by author and architect Sarah Susanka in The Not So Big House (Taunton, 1998). The book encourages using every square foot to make the whole house utilitarian as well as comfortable. “You partition off space for each room based on the amount of time you sp/files/storyimages/in it, and you try to make rooms serve multiple purposes,” Angela explains. “Every function doesn’t need its own room.”
Once the plans were complete, Terry searched for a timber-framing supplier. “We eventually chose Woodhouse of Mansfield, Pennsylvania, because of their attention to detail,” he says, pointing out the chamfered (beveled) edges on the eastern white pine posts and beams. Once the framing package was delivered, Terry took four months off from work to build the house, which combines timber framing on the first floor with traditional framing on the second story and wraparound porch.
The heart of the home is the kitchen. “We put it in the center of the house, because everybody always wants to be in it,” says Terry. Several workstations allow up to six cooks to simultaneously chop, saute and clean up. There is one workstation at the main sink for dishes, a prep area with its own sink near the refrigerator and a “cooking grotto” for the gas cooktop and wall ovens. A low counter opposite the prep area provides a spot for onlookers to “hang out and enjoy appetizers,” Angela says.
The upstairs balcony’s unique forged tree rail, plus the mood-lit back screen porch, the new water feature and the down-home dining room.
The rustic cabinetry looks as if it came from an old farmhouse. “I had the boxes built by a fri/files/storyimages/and then distressed them myself,” Terry says. “I’d have a couple of beers and then go smack the cabinets.” A dark glaze over white paint accentuates the imperfections. Another authentic touch: the purposefully misaligned cabinet doors.
The counters are a combination of granite and concrete, which Terry poured himself as “an experiment,” he says. “I figured if we didn’t like it, I could always do something else.”
Adjacent to the kitchen is the dining room, used for every meal as well as playing cards. “In our old house, the dining room was very formal, with upholstered chairs and white sculptured carpet. It was wasted space; everybody was afraid to use it,” Angela says.
Their new dining room is family (and grandchildren) friendly, featuring hickory plank flooring; an Arhaus refractory table with slide-out extensions that make expansion easy for large gatherings; and a chandelier on a long swag that can be raised or lowered depending on how they need to arrange the room.
Also grandchildren friendly is the living room, whose large upholstered ottoman/table doubles as a toy box. Decorative trusses, a faux stone fireplace with a simple wood mantel, and a one-of-a-kind, tree-shaped handrail on the upstairs balcony add to the vacation-cabin feel. The handrail was fashioned to Terry’s vision by local metal artist Rusty Schnurr. “I wanted a three-dimensional tree and made a pattern for the trunk out of plywood. Rusty translated it into iron and forged the leaves,” he says. “It took him a month and then I installed it one day while Angela was gone as a surprise. It’s a good thing she liked it because it wasn’t cheap!”
French doors in the dining and living rooms lead to the screened porch, which allows the couple to have a not-so-big living room for every day, but enough space for entertaining. “We double the size when we open the doors,” Angela says.
The lower level’s “leather” walls, tin ceiling, and poker and billiard tables.
Another example of not-so-big design is the master suite, with its small bedroom, bath and combination laundry room/master closet. “We only sp/files/storyimages/about 30 minutes a day in the bathroom, so instead of 16-by-16-foot, we made it 10-by-8-foot, and still squeezed in a 4-by-6-foot shower,” Angela says. Pedestal sinks in lieu of a large vanity, eye-level medicine cabinets and built-in storage on the wall outside the shower keep the room uncluttered. “Everything is hidden when we’re done with it,” she says.
The home’s walkout lower level is all about play. Terry’s favorite spot — dubbed “the hole” by Angela — is the dedicated home theater, with a tiered floor made from leftover floor joists and an 83-inch TV for watching “blow up” movies. A closet behind the TV makes it easy to access equipment.
Another large room has been turned into an English pub with “leather” walls Terry faux-finished, tin ceiling tiles, billiard and poker tables, and a built-in bar. There’s also a passive wine cellar that takes advantage of the constant subterranean temperature.
The kitchen counters are a Terry-poured combination of granite and concrete.
Six years later, the Gagels are still working on their home. This past spring, with the expert advice of their son, Casey, co-owner of 53 Landscaping, they created what Angela calls their “own state park in the front yard.” Terry began hauling and placing the large rocks that form the terraced shade garden, pond and waterfall in February. Eventually, they plan to build a garage and connect it to the mudroom with a breezeway. “We have a vision and it may take us 10 more years to get there,” says Terry.
