Modern Family, Modern Home

Coventry Estates home a contemporary classic

Designing a home around the needs of the modern family proved to be an exciting challenge for Matt Kronaizl, owner of Sierra Homes, and Tamarah Phillips with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. They wanted to have all of the entertainment areas on one floor and give the house a modern, but cozy, feel. The result is the two-story, 2,800 square foot home they recently finished, located in Coventry Estates in Elkhorn.

The main floor is an open concept and includes a large kitchen, sunken living room with a pool table, TV/family room area, and a wine lounge that has all of the bar essentials but serves as a sitting area rather than a traditional bar. “There are lots of options on the main floor for ourselves or guests to spread out yet still interact with one another,” Tamarah said. “It’s not just everyone crowded around the kitchen island.”

Modern elements are prevalent throughout the entire house. Large columns in the main living room feature architectural cut-outs that showcase glass art. The guest bathroom and sunken living room use colored LED backlighting as accents, and a linear fireplace warms the pool table area. A sun tunnel skylight funnels natural light into the second-story bathroom. Cables line the staircase, appliances are housed in aluminum garages, and a small elevated corner of the kitchen counter serves as a tablet station. “We purchased a lot of items online; you won’t find them in other homes,” Tamarah explained.

Keeping each house he constructs truly custom is important to Matt. Sierra Homes builds 12-15 homes per year with a majority of its clients coming from referrals. “My personality is laid back but extremely organized, and I think people like that,” Matt said. “It’s important to me that we have a harmonious working relationship and get along once the project is finished and make sure the client is happy.”

He said most of his clients are empty nesters looking for traditional homes, but once they see what he can do by introducing a modern flare, many of them become sold on that style. “A lot of people don’t realize you can have a modern style home that’s still warm and comfortable,” Matt said. Using mixed materials is a great way to achieve that, such as putting stone around the bathroom vanities and colored glass tile as accents on backsplashes.

Other modern amenities in the home include a coffee bar in the master bedroom and a glass sliding barn door that leads into the master bath. The main floor features higher ceilings and there is a white board in the kitchen to leave messages for family members. The idea for the wall rack in the wine lounge came from another home Matt built, but he and Tamarah modified it and put it together themselves. “We had so many ideas, but like any homeowner, there were a lot that didn’t fit the style of the home or fit our budget,” Tamarah said.

They keep all of their ideas in mind for future clients and are excited to share them. In fact, they use their home as a model and offer showings by appointment. And for Matt, who started building homes as a hobby, what was once a far off dream has become a reality.

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