Sometimes the truest way to discover the house that’s right for you is to live in a place that’s all wrong for you. Take the case of Brent and Cyndi Zande, a couple who were inspired to design and build the perfect house for their needs after years of living in houses that weren’t quite right for their lifestyle.

“This is how we wanted to live,” says Brent Zande of their 2,300-square-foot contemporary Victorian cottage in downtown Mooresville. “We didn’t know it at first. We had to go through our first and second houses and get accustomed to what we needed space-wise.”

What the Zandes needed was something smaller but more intentional. As the owner of Zande Homes in Mooresville, Brent Zande has long specialized in building smaller custom homes with all the luxury a family wants. His experience, his wife’s eye for detail, and their joint vision came together to create a home that fit their family’s personality, as well as the location of their lot.

Small town living
“Brent’s a Mayberry fan. He always wanted to live in a Mayberry town,” says Cyndi Zande. The couple decided to find property in downtown Mooresville for the two of them and their 15-year-old son, and built their home in 2006.

As part of their process, the couple cruised through Mooresville looking for historic architectural features to incorporate into their design. “We wanted to fool people into thinking that this was an old house,” says Brent Zande.

The foundation of their home features a diamond pattern – where the bricks don’t come together at the angles where they meet – commonly seen in older Mooresville homes. The porch brackets emulate the design on other porches in town, while the roof looks like an old slate roof, only it was done more economically with a shingle that resembles slate and metal capping. Stained glass windows add color on each side of the house.

“One thing that makes a home cozy is the details that will grab your eye and give you something to look at,” says Brent Zande.

The colors the Zandes used on the exterior also have been a hit. Purple, black, gray and green combine to highlight the features of the home, and strangers often stop to ask the couple for their paint selections. “We put our modern flair to it,” explains Cyndi Zande. “You want the colors to be exciting but not obnoxious.”

Their Victorian looks as if it has always been there. The couple’s favorite feature, the wrap-around front porch, spans almost 700 square feet and has been the joy they anticipated.

“We wanted to be more community-oriented. Our wrap-around porch is a physical example of wanting to be more involved with the people around us,” Brent Zande explains.

Adds his wife: “I love the variety of people we have met just by sitting on the front porch. If I am having a bad day, I just go out on the porch and someone is going to come by and make my day.”

The front porch has changed their lifestyle in other ways. Daily, the family enjoys the last bit of sunshine from there. Togetherness was also the heart of their approach to the interior of this three-bedroom house.

Smart space
Step inside the Zande home and you’re washed in sunlight and livability. “Even though our home is small, we wanted to not lose the ability to have a lot of people over and feel like we had enough room for it. We also wanted to have a human scale for people not to feel lost in the space we did have,” Brent Zande says. The couple decided to leave the family room, kitchen, and dining area open.

Eleven-foot ceilings give the space height, and walls of windows give it light. “Even when I am inside, I feel like I am still outside the house because of the windows,” says Cyndi Zande. The space reflects the way they entertain, which is more focused on interaction and less on formality, she adds.

A large granite bar allows several cooks to tackle a meal at once, and then allows the meal to be eaten right there. A stone fireplace makes the den cozy, and built-ins for bookcases, storage and displays make walls part of the efficient use of space.

“You have to take advantage of every nook and cranny,” says Brent Zande, who did exactly that by tucking both a pantry and a small home office into the back hallway.

A Red Oak herringbone weave strategically juxtaposed against White Oak hardwoods throughout the house adds a surprising artistic punch. Bold bright white molding offsets the browns, soft blues, and greens used in the decor.

“Because the design of the house is a ranch, it is so easy to live in…. We can grow old gracefully here,” says Brent Zande.

His wife agrees. “I don’t think I’ll ever move again,” she says. “If you feel comfortable in the house that you live in, you have a much happier life.”

Fore more info: brent@zandehomes.com.