Mediterranean-inspired Home in Woodbury by Ispiri
Home by Design
Local interior designer Sara Martin’s new Mediterranean-inspired home features beautiful craftsmanship and artistry, plus maximum functionality.
By Christie Denson Photos by Tate Carlson
Work-life balance is one of those buzz phrases we all know. But what happens when your work is your life? When interior designer Sara Martin decided to create her own family’s dream home in Woodbury and bring her co-workers at Ispíri along for the ride, the result was a showcase of fun and function down to the designer details. “We’ve been living and breathing this project,” laughs Martin, who—with her husband, Michael, and sons Jack, 11, and Sam, 8—is happy to finally call the site on Pioneer Drive home.
The 5,800-square-foot home was completed in August. “We used an independent architect and then brought in experts from Ispíri,” Martin says. Ispíri, named for the Italian to inspire, is a Woodbury-based custom home builder, remodeler and interior design firm. The custom home was built by Ispíri’s team including senior design consultant and spatial planning expert Joseph Robbins, who helped finesse the plans for maximum functionality. Martin, who has worked at Ispíri for more than four years, designed the layout and floor plan. “It was great to have my co-workers as a sounding board. Every spare minute I had away from clients for other projects, I was working on my house,” she says.
“To put Sara in the role of client had its challenges,” admits Robbins. “But she was open to input and, in the end, any successful project is a collaboration.” Martin agrees. “It is much easier for me to make three to four selections of a finish for a client to choose than to choose for my own home. It’s the choices non-designers probably wouldn’t even notice, like down to how many grids should go into the windows. At a certain point, you just have to stop looking at options and pick one.”
The Martins purchased the unique Woodbury property, which sits on Pioneer Drive just south of Lake Middle School, for the large and private lot, something rare and coveted in Woodbury. It also happened to be just around the corner from their previous home in the Wedgwood neighborhood. “The kids even kept their same bus stop,” Martin says.
They leveled the 1950s home on the lot to make way for their dream home. “We loved [the short time we lived] in California and liked the idea of single-story living,” says Michael Martin, a writer of firearms instruction manuals and volunteer firefighter in Woodbury. The exterior of the home is Mediterranean-inspired with Spanish-style stucco. “It’s definitely different than a typical Woodbury home,” Sara Martin says. The home sits on a 2.6-acre lot and has a double walkout to the backyard with patio and pool.
“We planned the outside as much as inside,” Robbins says. “It’s easier just to keep making a house bigger, but where I would push, I would pull. We often were planning in square inches more than square feet.” The result is a home with almost no dead space or unusable hallways, featuring a geothermal heating system (for the pool heat as well) and efficient LED lights.
Inside, Martin characterizes the style as a “fusion,” including elements of “Napa style and urban modern. We also have some Asian influences; it’s a meld of design elements we like, but I think it all works,” she says.
The open floor plan with kitchen, family and dining room is divided by a floor-to-ceiling double-sided fireplace with stacked natural stone and a knotty alder mantel. Architectural elements of oversized distressed pine beams and columns frame the great room with 13-foot ceilings, and a honed and scraped maple floor anchors the space. A reclaimed wine barrel light fixture adds to the California winery aesthetic.
The gourmet kitchen features dark-stained cherry cabinets and a groin vault plastered ceiling (the intersection of two barrel vaults), a walk-in butler’s pantry, built-in Miele coffee station and professional appliances. “People always gravitate toward the kitchen anyway, so we scaled the living room area accordingly. We also didn’t want a formal dining room, so we picked a rustic gathering table,” Martin says.
The spa-like master bedroom, off the main floor, has a dressing area and walk-in closet with custom built-in dressers. “The master bath is really my favorite,” Martin says. A soaking tub curves into an oversized steam shower with seating. A soffit mimics the shape of the tub. Replete with mosaic tile work and tile wainscoting, this master bath is a luxurious retreat.
Also on the main level is Michael Martin’s favorite space: his home office. Rich knotty alder wainscoting and crown molding with custom built-ins make a fitting museum-like display for his collection of world-war memorabilia. There is also a main floor laundry, mudroom and lots of storage.
A few other standout design features include custom millwork. Martin chose transitional stool and apron style windows that frame beautiful views of the property. Custom crown moldings, beefy casings and baseboards, as well as 8-foot doors throughout the home (instead of the standard 6’8”) add special craftsmanship and artistry. Transom windows bring extra light to the warm and inviting space.
The lower level, or the “boys’ wing,” is the locale for Jack and Sam’s bedrooms, locker-room style bathroom with double-stall showers and separate urinal and trough sink. “The goal was to create an environment where the boys have space as they can grow into men,” Robbins says. The brothers also have their own “man cave,” separated by a whimsical sliding barn door which houses toys, TV and video games. The room is decorated with a rock-and-roll and vintage Harley theme.
The showpiece of the lower level, however, is a centralized three-sided bar with cherry-paneled soffits and cabinets and granite counter, looking like an upscale Irish pub. Unique styling such as fighter jet seating and propeller-like light fixtures, with a 24 x 24 foot steel panel grid wall, sets an urban tone for the room.
Adjacent to the bar is the grand marquee entrance to the home theatre, with dual custom 8’ solid cherry doors. The room holds eight leather reclining theater chairs, a state- of-the-art HD projector and circular soffit speakers. The ceiling soffit features a custom starlight effect the family can gaze upon during movies.
The central bar placement was critical to allow separation for a pass-through mudroom, second laundry room and washroom off the walkout to the pool area. “This way, the family can grab towels and go and launder them right there. It’s a tile surface so people coming from the pool can go into the bathroom easily,” Robbins says. The lower level also holds a workout room overlooking the pool.
Despite the home’s grandeur both in size and details, it manages to evoke a casual atmosphere reflecting the family’s down-to-earth nature. There is no space that seems “off-limits” to a group of rowdy elementary school boys or Michael Martin’s fellow firefighters at the Woodbury fire department, who plan Monday Night Football headquarters to be the Martin house.
While each family member has their own favorite feature of the home, together they are looking forward to a family movie tradition on Friday night. //
Work-life balance is one of those buzz phrases we all know. But what happens when your work is your life? When interior designer Sara Martin decided to create her own family’s dream home in Woodbury and bring her co-workers at Ispíri along for the ride, the result was a showcase of fun and function down to the designer details. “We’ve been living and breathing this project,” laughs Martin, who—with her husband, Michael, and sons Jack, 11, and Sam, 8—is happy to finally call the site on Pioneer Drive home.
The 5,800-square-foot home was completed in August. “We used an independent architect and then brought in experts from Ispíri,” Martin says. Ispíri, named for the Italian to inspire, is a Woodbury-based custom home builder, remodeler and interior design firm. The custom home was built by Ispíri’s team including senior design consultant and spatial planning expert Joseph Robbins, who helped finesse the plans for maximum functionality. Martin, who has worked at Ispíri for more than four years, designed the layout and floor plan.“It was great to have my co-workers as a sounding board. Every spare minute I had away from clients for other projects, I was working on my house,” she says.
“To put Sara in the role of client had its challenges,” admits Robbins. “But she was open to input and, in the end, any successful project is a collaboration.” Martin agrees. “It is much easier for me to make three to four selections of a finish for a client to choose than to choose for my own home. It’s the choices non-designers probably wouldn’t even notice, like down to how many grids should go into the windows. At a certain point, you just have to stop looking at options and pick one.”
The Martins purchased the unique Woodbury property, which sits on Pioneer Drive just south of Lake Middle School, for the large and private lot, something rare and coveted in Woodbury. It also happened to be just around the corner from their previous home in the Wedgwood neighborhood. “The kids even kept their same bus stop,” Martin says.
They leveled the 1950s home on the lot to make way for their dream home. “We loved [the short time we lived] in California and liked the idea of single-story living,” says Michael Martin, a writer of firearms instruction manuals and volunteer firefighter in Woodbury. The exterior of the home is Mediterranean-inspired with Spanish-style stucco. “It’s definitely different than a typical Woodbury home,” Sara Martin says. The home sits on a 2.6-acre lot and has a double walkout to the backyard with patio and pool.
“We planned the outside as much as inside,” Robbins says. “It’s easier just to keep making a house bigger, but where I would push, I would pull. We often were planning in square inches more than square feet.” The result is a home with almost no dead space or unusable hallways, featuring a geothermal heating system (for the pool heat as well) and efficient LED lights.
Inside, Martin characterizes the style as a “fusion,” including elements of “Napa style and urban modern. We also have some Asian influences; it’s a meld of design elements we like, but I think it all works,” she says.
The open floor plan with kitchen, family and dining room is divided by a floor-to-ceiling double-sided fireplace with stacked natural stone and a knotty alder mantel. Architectural elements of oversized distressed pine beams and columns frame the great room with 13-foot ceilings, and a honed and scraped maple floor anchors the space. A reclaimed wine barrel light fixture adds to the California winery aesthetic.
The gourmet kitchen features dark-stained cherry cabinets and a groin vault plastered ceiling (the intersection of two barrel vaults), a walk-in butler’s pantry, built-in Miele coffee station and professional appliances. “People always gravitate toward the kitchen anyway, so we scaled the living room area accordingly. We also didn’t want a formal dining room, so we picked a rustic gathering table,” Martin says.
The spa-like master bedroom, off the main floor, has a dressing area and walk-in closet with custom built-in dressers. “The master bath is really my favorite,” Martin says. A soaking tub curves into an oversized steam shower with seating. A soffit mimics the shape of the tub. Replete with mosaic tile work and tile wainscoting, this master bath is a luxurious retreat.
Also on the main level is Michael Martin’s favorite space: his home office. Rich knotty alder wainscoting and crown molding with custom built-ins make a fitting museum-like display for his collection of world-war memorabilia. There is also a main floor laundry, mudroom and lots of storage.
A few other standout design features include custom millwork. Martin chose transitional stool and apron style windows that frame beautiful views of the property. Custom crown moldings, beefy casings and baseboards, as well as 8-foot doors throughout the home (instead of the standard 6’8”) add special craftsmanship and artistry. Transom windows bring extra light to the warm and inviting space.
The lower level, or the “boys’ wing,” is the locale for Jack and Sam’s bedrooms, locker-room style bathroom with double-stall showers and separate urinal and trough sink. “The goal was to create an environment where the boys have space as they can grow into men,” Robbins says. The brothers also have their own “man cave,” separated by a whimsical sliding barn door which houses toys, TV and video games. The room is decorated with a rock-and-roll and vintage Harley theme.
The showpiece of the lower level, however, is a centralized three-sided bar with cherry-paneled soffits and cabinets and granite counter, looking like an upscale Irish pub. Unique styling such as fighter jet seating and propeller-like light fixtures, with a 24 x 24 foot steel panel grid wall, sets an urban tone for the room.
Adjacent to the bar is the grand marquee entrance to the home theatre, with dual custom 8’ solid cherry doors. The room holds eight leather reclining theater chairs, a state- of-the-art HD projector and circular soffit speakers. The ceiling soffit features a custom starlight effect the family can gaze upon during movies.
The central bar placement was critical to allow separation for a pass-through mudroom, second laundry room and washroom off the walkout to the pool area. “This way, the family can grab towels and go and launder them right there. It’s a tile surface so people coming from the pool can go into the bathroom easily,” Robbins says. The lower level also holds a workout room overlooking the pool.
Despite the home’s grandeur both in size and details, it manages to evoke a casual atmosphere reflecting the family’s down-to-earth nature. There is no space that seems “off-limits” to a group of rowdy elementary school boys or Michael Martin’s fellow firefighters at the Woodbury fire department, who plan Monday Night Football headquarters to be the Martin house.
While each family member has their own favorite feature of the home, together they are looking forward to a family movie tradition on Friday night.
