Sue Benson loves living things so much, she can’t even bear to cut down the old pecan tree by her driveway that looks like a really forlorn Venus de Milo. That’s why the ceiling in her laundry room was designed at different ceiling heights, to avoid chopping off a massive limb of another mature tree. In fact, the stunning modern house on Rose Creek Court was built on the original site of Garrison Gardens, and everything from the lines of the house to the placement of the slab to the winding paths down to the creek — where she feeds raccoons, foxes and squirrels — is a tribute to the owners’ reverence for nature.
When the Bensons sold their home in Lakewood two years ago, they said goodbye to most of their furniture as well. The materials and furnishings in the new home were more “organic,” more neutral — chosen to be soothing and to provide a backdrop for the bucolic view and the colorful art the Bensons collect. The paintings are all by Daniel Gelakoska, an artist that Sue met at ArtFest, and she even had a potter design ceramics to heighten the effect. The flooring is a combination of black porcelain tile, beige granite and Berber carpeting. The formal dining table is carved from a slab of Travertine marble. Floor-to-ceiling picture windows were originally uncovered to allow a completely open view of the trees. But Sue says people kept coming down the drive and peeking in, so she gave up and installed unobtrusive wooden blinds.
Sue and her husband, Don, worked on the singular plan with architectural designer, Gray Delk, and builder, Doug Svedeman. Some ideas were theirs, some were the Benson’s — they designed all the cabinets. Don was responsible for the set-up of the recessed entertainment center with the closet behind that serves as extra storage. The house has no window sills or quarter rounds, and a number of the walls are rounded. The designer and builder just had to be “more perfect” about everything, Sue says.
It’s really a one-bedroom house, but that presents resale problems. As a compromise, the Bensons placed another bathroom upstairs with Sue’s dance studio and office, so that floor could be used as bedroom space someday.
“Of course, this house is never going to be for sale,” Sue laughs and she probably means it. This is her “dream” house with everything set according to her and Don’s personal taste and needs, from the massive eight-foot front door (no more trouble getting the Christmas tree inside) to the pet condo. No, that doesn’t mean one of those carpeted towers. The Benson’s cat, Priscilla, and her Shihzu, Maggi, have their own little apartment complete with custom designed litter bathroom and napping chambers.
