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(ARA) - In this day and age, it seems like people want all the modern conveniences they can possibly pack into their homes. In the kitchen, we have appliances that make preparing meals easier: microwaves, stoves with automatic shutoff, and refrigerators with icemakers. In the living and/or family room, we have gadgets that encourage relaxation: gas fireplaces that are on a switch, along with lights and stereos controlled by remote control; and of course who could forget the automatic garage door opener. Glenda Lehman Ervin and her husband Scott will have all of these things in the new home they’re building in Northeast Ohio, but you wouldn’t know it when you walk in the door. They’re designing their new home in such a way that it will have an old world feel with all the modern conveniences. “We’re a modern family with old world values, and we’re working hard to create a home that’s all about us,” says Glenda.
She and Scott are part of a growing trend of college-educated, modern, two-career couples who are looking into the past to create a perfect present. From the moment you pull up in the driveway of their new home, the Old World charm will shine through thanks to the Ervins’ builder, Old World Classics.
“We believe a home should be more about the people that live in it than a structure alone. That’s how we differ from most home builders,” says Andrew Eggeman, grandson of the founder of Old World Classics. “We provide each of our clients with a design consultant so that all the design elements can be thought of in the beginning. Design and architecture cannot be an afterthought.”
In the kitchen, the Ervins’ home will have cabinets and furniture hand-made by Schrock’s of Walnut Creek, a family owned business in Amish country. Their appliances will be modern, but look old. The Heartland Legacy range offers the precise response of a gas cooktop with the convenience and flexibility of a large electric convection oven; but it looks like it belongs in a French country cottage. The Heartland refrigerator with energy saving features even hides the ice maker to retain the old world style.
The gadget drawer will be filled with things she has brought home from her father’s store, Lehman’s, over the years. The store, founded in 1955 by Jay Lehman, had the original purpose of serving the needs of the Amish people who live without electricity. Today the business serves customers all over the world, from second-home owners to doctors in developing countries to the chronically nostalgic - to modern families like the Ervins who want to preserve the past for future generations.
“Some day the simple way of life, whether it’s making applesauce or baking bread, might become extinct. We want our children to remember the old-time skills and tools that our grandparents used every day,” says Ervin.
The kitchen isn’t the only place where the cozy, warm feeling will come through. Ervin, her husband and their two young children will be able to gather around a wood stove they picked up at Lehman’s in the family room. “Some of my happiest memories from childhood are of times spent playing board games and reading books with my parents as we sat around the wood stove. I want the same for my kids, who are now five and nine years old,” she says.
Once they move into their new home this spring, the family will also be able to enjoy walks together in the nearby woods, and gardening. “Best of all, we’ll be in an environment that encourages us to spend more time together,” says Ervin. “It’s a process of turning inward, to your family and your home, instead of outward, to more plans, activities, lessons, events, quite frankly, the rat race.”
You don’t have to build a new home from scratch to bring old-world charm into your life. Log on to www.lehmans.com and check out their on-line catalog for ideas.
Courtesy of ARA Content
