Radu and I are both NCSU graduates and have always loved the University Park area of Raleigh. When I was still in school, we were living in a townhouse in Durham and I would be one of those annoying college students that would drive down Brooks, park off Clark and walk to my classes. I remember driving by the three homes right off of Brooks and Wade as they were being built and thinking “one day I want to live in a place like that in a neighborhood like this”; something that seemed quite out of reach for a poor student in her 9th year of college/graduate school!
Fast forward several years, Radu and I were living in Cary in a small ranch with our 2 year old daughter and were ready to expand and find what we hope to be our forever home. There was no doubt about the location, University Park! We found this beautiful lot, surrounded with trees on a gravel road and were SOLD.
The builder had plans for a 3 level larger home, but we wanted to build a craftsman-style home that was smaller and fit the historic area. Luckily we were able to take on a completely custom design build, which is a blessing and curse when you are faced with all the decisions! In my excitement, before breaking ground, I bought the first item for our home: a free-standing bath tub (our builder thought I was crazy)!
We designed our floorplan to fit a growing family and to maximize all space as daily usable area. Our downstairs was designed as a shotgun style living, kitchen, and open dining area to keep the family and guests together and to make entertaining easy.
Some of the finishing touches I love the most are the built-ins in the living, dining and mudroom areas and also the open reclaimed wood shelving in the kitchen and living areas. Wood ceiling fans, crown moulding, large baseboards and wainscoting were additional features that we HAD to have to give this house the Arts and Crafts feel that we were looking for.
We have now been in our home for a year and a half, grown to a family of four and could not enjoy our home and the neighborhood it resides in more than we do! We love to sit on our porch (when the kids allow it) and say hi to the people that walk down the gravel road, take walks to Isabella Park and the Rose Garden and also I am continually working on more gardening (can’t wait for more winged visitors on my butterfly bushes this spring), including my continued attempt to chart the seasonal sun positions for my vegetable gardens. I love all the green that surrounds our home and I love living in such a unique neighborhood filled with wonderful people!
