Coming home

Marcus Merritt insisted on a clawfoot tub for the master bath.

Marcus Merritt, who works for an insurance company, arranged a transfer to its Overland Park office. They had lived in Johnson County before moving to Dallas."We lived with our tape measures," she said.In addition to the 2,500 square feet on the main floor, the walkout basement offers space for two more bedrooms and a play area for grandchildren. Their daughter lives in Abilene and their son in Olathe.A sunflower marks the garden like a flag. All the sunflowers in Merritt's yard are volunteers, she said, from seeds dropped by birds that had stopped at her feeder.He looked over several home plans with the Merritts and put together a floor plan that was just what they wanted.The Capital-JournalHome: Just what they neededThe gardens around the house are just getting started.The Merritts chose Tony Billau, of Rustic Custom Log Homes of Kansas, to build their house. Billau also builds conventional structures."We wanted a lot of outdoor space," she said."They'll be pretty in the fall," Merritt said.The home design gives the Merritts the perfect mix of space and function, Jeannie Merritt said. A recent weekend brought 19 people to the house for a cookout, and a half dozen stayed overnight.When Jeannie and Marcus Merritt were ready to come home, they made sure it was exactly the home they wanted to come to.It wasn't an overnight move. When they could get away from Dallas, they spent weekends getting the land cleared. They also cleaned up the pond on the property and stocked it with fish.A chair and ottoman are tucked in next to a bookcase in the master bedroom, offering a place where the reader's light won't disturb the sleeper.The kitchen gives her plenty of space for one of her favorite things --- canning. A vegetable garden on the east side of the house provides fresh produce. Jars of pickles are lined up on the kitchen counter. Cucumbers are still coming on strong, then the zucchini will be ready.By Lisa SandmeyerThe alcove over the front door is a perfect place for Jeannie Merritt to show her love for sewing.The result is a 2,500-square-foot home with a large kitchen that has a generous space for the dining room table, master and guest bedrooms and baths, and a sewing room that can double as sleeping quarters when all seven grandchildren are visiting."The wood-burning stove we just love," Merritt said. It was the main source of heat during the winter.She didn't want a formal dining room, and she didn't want space that went unused.The Merritts brought the dining room table with them from Texas. Its two leaves allow it to accommodate 12 diners.The way the grounds are designed leaves them between 7 and 8 acres to mow. Beyond that are trees.A wood-burning stove sits in front of a backdrop of stacked limestone that runs to the ceiling. It isn't just decorative; it is also a firewall."We can be outside pretty much any time of the day and be out of the sun," Merritt said.Decks run along three sides of the house, one just off the kitchen, making a convenient place for dinner as the sun sets on the opposite side of the house.While the sewing room was at the top of Jeannie Merritt's list, her husband put a clawfoot bathtub at the top of his. Also in the master bedroom is a reading area with an easy chair and ottoman, placed so the reader's light won't disturb the sleeper.She also helped design a tile traffic pattern that leads from the kitchen around the perimeter of the great room, so muddy feet stay off the carpet as they head to the bedrooms, bathrooms or basement.In March, she planted blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and grapes.Billau thought it odd that she didn't want smooth finished walls, Jeannie Merritt said. She asked for a knock-down treatment.Billau recommended Karen Ingenthron at Personal Interiors in Topeka to help with some of the details.Next to the house are more formal garden areas with coleus and hostas. Sunset red maples are getting a start in the front yard."We just knew we wanted to live in the country," Jeannie Merritt said. They found 45 acres near Perry in Jefferson County and started what became a five-year plan."That was fun for me," she said, adding, "It was a lot of work.""It's a great house for just having people over," Merritt said.The complementing fixtures elsewhere in the house came from Lowe's.See HOME, page 18"There were so many things we didn't want in a house," she said.The shop was the first structure on the ground. That was home as work progressed on the house and grounds.She tried planting fruit trees, but deer rutted them out of the ground.Country living: When couple decided to move back to Kansas, they created a space that was just what they neededThe house has conventional heat and air-conditioning, but Merritt said the whole-house fan is the main cooling unit. The AC doesn't have to come on until the temperatures and humidity reach dog-day levels.Merritt's favorite part of the house is her kitchen. The light fixture over the dining table was a junk-shop find. She paid $5 for the frame and added the glass globes.The Merritts took their time studying home plans and looking at model homes in the Dallas area, where they were living, Jeannie Merritt said.For instance, Merritt had wanted wood floors in the kitchen. Ingenthron pointed out that ceramic tile would hold up better in a home on a gravel road in the country.The Merritts put blinds in the bedrooms, but windows in the rest of the house offer an unobstructed view of the natural surroundings."We finally just gave up," she said.Construction on the house started in February 2001, and they moved in in December.The vegetable garden has been spared from rabbits, though.Merritt had the responsibility of choosing the accessories, from door handles to cabinet pulls to bathroom fixtures.Their home away from home for the first two years was a treehouse. (It is still there; it's big enough for a full-size mattress or four sleeping bags.)The center of the floor in the great room is carpeted. A tile perimeter leads from the kitchen to the basement and bathrooms."I love it --- it hides anything," she said. Because of the texture, nail holes simply disappear.

See HOME, page 18