Magic gardens and monumental space make this Shadeland house a home

Between expansive renovations and the cultivation of many planted trees and blooms, Robin Cravens describes her home on Strawberry Lane as a labor of love.

She first spotted “that cute house at the end of Strawberry” when it first went up back in 1987. A regular at Suggins, Cravens drove by the area quite a bit, and when the stars aligned, she and her husband grabbed up the 4,600-square-foot abode in the crook of the caul-de-sac.

One of Cravens’ first home projects involved Hickman Creek, which runs through the middle of the backyard. After realizing erosion would occur over time, she joined forces with the city to install gabion baskets on either side of the creek. And that was merely the beginning of what has become an incredibly enchanting home landscape.

She and her husband planted nearly all of the trees, which include pines, Japanese maples, magnolias, dogwoods, and redbuds. Cravens filled the grounds with hostas, hydrangeas, boxwoods, and other varieties of bushes and flowers that burst into color each year.

“The forsythia are lovely in the spring. It’s a pop of yellow when you look out (into the backyard),” she said. “It’s nice to sit out here of a morning or evening and listen to the birds and bugs. There is always something blooming out here.”

She added a rounded stone walkway with a fountain, a bridge, benches, and gates on either end of the yard for her dogs to have a separate area.

“I call it my secret garden,” Cravens said.

She also put in a swimming pool, which goes from 3 to 5 feet deep. The pool and nearby gazebo have been perfect spots for her stepchildren and dogs to gather and play (and the occasional mallard duck, which are drawn to the creek).

“In the caul-de-sac, there’s a certain level of privacy. It’s like a little oasis. You really don’t hear the (Alumni Drive) road noise. You can sit by pool and the gazebo and be perfectly serene,” Cravens said.

And with the original house, Cravens didn’t feel like it was holding up to what her beautiful yard had become.

“I had my backyard, but I didn’t have the ‘wow’ inside my house,” she said. “I wanted something to overlook the ‘wow’ in the backyard.”

Over the years, she added a Florida room to the back of the house, but it was later torn out, and she expanded the living area and kitchen and added the side deck.

“We had a big deck, but we closed it and made a big Florida room out of it, which was wonderful. As the kids got bigger, the family got bigger, and we needed more space for our hosted holiday gatherings and things,” she said.

When they expanded the living area, they replaced the original fireplace with a ventless one for less maintenance. With large columns in the center, the main room allows for televisions on both sides (so more than one game can be watched and enjoyed) and it gave Cravens the space for the baby grand piano she always wanted. The large windows are tinted, so the evening sun doesn’t overwhelm the space.

She switched the dining room and the separate living room, which she now calls a parlor, and was able to bring in a larger dining room table. A lovely Italian chandelier hangs overhead, and the area is spacious enough for those many get-togethers.

Another great-for-gathering space is the basement, which has a large bar, a bedroom, a full bathroom (handy for those who come inside after enjoying the pool), and storage area with a washer and dryer, microwave, and dishwasher.

“It’s a very unique property. It’s a great family home, but it’s also a great adult home. It’s a (fabulous) place to have gatherings inside and out,” she said.

Her favorite spaces have been the renovated great room as well as the gardens, and her time spent in the home has been an evolutionary experience.

“This whole property has been … a labor of love and has given us a tremendous amount of joy, and I’ve tried to share it with family and friends.”

This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Magic gardens and monumental space make this Shadeland house a home."