Somersly Place home a light, simple dwelling

Ernie and Sheila Martin like to live simply, but not without distinctiveness and attention to detail.

Their home stands out at the corner of Somersly Place. The brick is lighter with orange undertones than that of the surrounding homes.

“We didn’t want it to look like other houses,” Ernie said. “Sheila saw the rougey, purple colors in (the brick when we picked it out). She loves the colors of it.”

The wooden front doors are stately, and the casement windows frame white beach chairs and a spacious brick front patio.

“The wooden doors are very Shaker-like. They’re very plain and simple,” said Ernie.

Simple, yet enhanced.

And that’s what the couple did with their floorplan when they had the 2,400-square-foot home built four years ago. They made several structural upgrades, like changing the 9-foot ceilings to 10-foot-ceilings throughout. They enlarged the garage and extended the master bedroom into an alcove. They put in 5-foot casement windows and pocket doors in the master bathroom, they put storage in the front bedroom and added a bonus room up the stairs from the living room.

Ernie said the concept he and Sheila went by when building was that their home was an old, coastal brick cottage they were working to restore. They imagined refinishing the floors with old hickory, and replacing 1920s-style pantry doors and vintage chrome knobs and placing three-board crown molding throughout the home, including in the bathrooms, toilet rooms and utility room.

“We (imagined that we would) restore all that we can, and make it simple. That’s what drove a lot of things,” he said.

They wanted lots of light, which they accomplished through tall windows, wide front and back doors and LED canned lights.

“In the afternoon, if you want it to be bright and cheery, the LEDS are great. There are dimmers for nighttime,” Ernie said.

The paint colors evoke a beach house with light blues and grays. Coral chairs give the open living room a splash of color, which spills into a dining area and the kitchen. Icy quartz countertops and a green glass backsplash are found there, with stark white cabinets with simple chrome handles. A few of the cabinets are glass, revealing bright blue and yellow dishes.

One of the unique details Ernie chose for the house was the darker blue ceiling.

“I’m very detailed,” Ernie said. “Most people don’t do dark ceilings,” but the natural light and the LED lights allow the dark blue to flow easily into the cooler colors throughout the home.

“I like to see colors where you see two or three at the same time,” he said.

Those colored ceilings continue outside on the beadboard above the front and back sitting areas. Out back is where the couple spends a lot of their time, grilling out, having dinner and enjoying the small, private yard. There’s also an area above the patio featuring light-colored shingles, unique to the back of the house and reminiscent of a beach cottage.

He said they’ve hosted about 25 to 30 people in their home, and with the open concept, they can easily drift from the kitchen and living room to the back patio.

“There’s plenty of room (in the kitchen) to run buffet lines. We can feed a couple dozen people. It’s small but functional,” he said. “This is where we spend our time (also).”

Though he said they don’t get too attached, they love the home they’ve created at 196 Somersly Place.

“(What’s made this house a home is) the fact that we formed it for people to come to—our children and grandchildren. We really had our hands in this, a personal touch,” Ernie said. “We’ve had quite a few ministries at our church and had gatherings here. What’s made this house a home is that it’s very simple and we bring people to it.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2017 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Somersly Place home a light, simple dwelling."