New homes and old get spotlight in first Open Door Elm Grove tour

There’s a new tour in town, and it’s likely to appeal to a wide variety of individuals, as it includes homes in Elm Grove that were recently renovated as well as newly built homes.

Dimitra Lemberger, chairwoman for the Open Door Elm Grove tour on May 20, said the event will include three new homes, four that were renovated and one patio that had to be redone because of chipmunks that also lived in the neighborhood.

“One of the homes had a chipmunk infestation that was so bad that it ruined their entire patio. They had to have it redone and it’s gorgeous… The problem led to a new brick patio and a natural stone outdoor fireplace,” she said.

Lemberger, who lives in the area, said although Elm Grove is filled with striking homes, it’s not unusual for older homes to be completely renovated or torn down and replaced with new ones.

“In Elm Grove, a lot of the houses were not updated,” she said. “When I was looking for a home here six years ago, the homes were wonderful, but they were original and not updated. In some cases it made more sense to start over. … The location is also very sought-after because you are in the city but also in a suburb.”

The custom home that Karla and John Florance built in 2015 on an empty lot is one example of a new home that tour-goers can see.

Karla Florance said they were drawn to the lot because of its out-of-the-way location and proximity to the village.

“It’s in a cul-de-sac and it sits on 6/10ths of an acre, and the lot is wider to the back,” she said. “We had to clear trees, then also bring some trees in to add to the landscaping.

“We built a Cape Cod because I wanted a home that was timeless and classic, but it was also very important for us that it fit in with the (other homes on the) street rather than standing out.” she said.

Florance, who has two children, said the home is decorated in a transitional style, comprises 5,800 square feet, has five bedrooms, four full bathrooms and two half baths.

“It has a light and bright interior with hardwood floors, limestone fireplaces, quartz countertops, Sub-Zero appliances, Carrera marble flooring in the master bathroom, subway tile, premium windows, landscaping in the front and back of the house, and high-end sound and lighting systems,” she said.

She added that the home also has large sliding doors, French doors, a terra cotta paved patio that has been terraced, and a four-car garage in which one stall is used as a workshop.

“We have remodeled three homes prior to building this. … I did a lot of dreaming for many years as to what I wanted in this home,” she said.

Julie and John Bonfilio recently moved into their third Elm Grove home, which is a new construction and will also be on the tour.

Their first home was a farmhouse built in the early 1900s that they renovated and enlarged in 2011. About two years later they bought a ranch and did a total renovation, opening up the home and adding a vaulted ceiling.

In 2015, they decided they wanted to build a home in a farmhouse style. They found a two-bedroom ranch on just under an acre of land that was being used as a rental property. It had foundation problems and was too small for their family of five, making it the perfect house for them to buy.

“Our intention was to tear down a house and rebuild, but we didn’t want to tear down someone’s house that was filled with memories” or a house that was in good shape, said Julie.

They razed the existing home and then early last year they started construction on their custom 4,000-square-foot home, which has four bedrooms and 3 ½ baths.

The home was completed in December 2016, and the couple and their children, Luca, 8, Sienna, 7, and Liam, 4, moved in.

And by building a new home, the couple (who have renovated and/or built a total of 11 homes in the last 20 years) was able to get exactly what they wanted.

“I already knew the style of home I wanted,” she said. “I’ve gravitated to older-looking homes with more modern amenities, but with reclaimed and farmhouse materials,” she said.

In the kitchen, she added white oak cabinets, glass-fronted display cabinets, an oversized island topped with honed leathered granite, and a butler’s pantry that connects the kitchen to the dining room.

The home also has transom windows, recycled barn beams on the entryway and family room ceilings, barn wood ceilings in the dining room and the first-floor half bath and a two-sided fireplace with mantels made of reclaimed lumber between the family and TV rooms.

On the second floor there’s a raised room Julie calls “the children’s loft” to which she added sliding wood barn doors, and in her master bathroom she had a black farmhouse-style tub installed as well as a cupola because “they are reminiscent of old farmhouses,” she said.

Throughout the home, there is also wide white oak plank flooring, lots of windows and unique lighting.

“We also had an iron maker make the handrails for our staircase, the shelving in the butler’s pantry and the zinc table in our banquette, and we got handmade subway tiles for the kitchen backsplash, as we wanted it to look more reclaimed. We didn’t want it to look perfect. We wanted it to match the style of the home,” she said.

A renovated home on the tour is the 1950s Cape Cod that Ashley and Peter Hundt renovated about two years ago to fit their growing family of six children, who range in age from 2 months to 10 years.

Ashley Hundt said when they first bought the home nine years ago they did only minor updating.

“But as our family expanded we realized we needed more space,” she said. “We loved the location, so we decided to renovate it to open it up more…. It was very outdated. … But it had good bones so we saw potential.

“We wanted to stay in our neighborhood because we’re close enough to the village that we can walk in to shop, the kids aren’t too far from the park so they can ride their bikes there and to the library, and it’s close to our church. We think we’re the second or third owners,” she said.

When they did renovate the four-bedroom, 2 ½-bath house, they gutted and increased the size of their kitchen and changed a three-season room into a larger family room. These changes turned the closed-in home into an open-concept home that now measures about 2,400 square feet and was redecorated in a traditional style.

“We also put about a 400-square-foot deck on the back and added a fireplace,” she said. “We put a wood-burning fireplace with a gas starter in the new family room, and it’s now a real focal point here. It has a wood mantel, and you can see it from the front of the house.”

Hundt said this is the first time she and her husband have renovated a home, and they are happy with the results.

“When you walk through it, it feels like the colors flow through the home and it’s cozy and inviting,” she said.

If you go

What: Open Door Elm Grove — A tour of seven remodeled or newly built homes in Elm Grove plus one patio/garden renovation.

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 20.

Tickets: Advance and day-of-tour tickets are $20. All proceeds benefit Best Buddies of Wisconsin and the artists in education program at St. Mary’s Visitation School.

For information or tickets: See Open Door Elm Grove on Facebook or go to www.stmaryeg.org and look for the payment button on the home page.