Amazingly, only the master bath didn’t suffer severe smoke or fire damage.
The Carmeans matched the $165,000 insurance payout in order to make their house more comfortable and accessible and to make aesthetic changes — adding cathedral ceilings, bumping up the entryway’s headroom from a brow-busting 81 inches, and shedding the home’s Mediterranean look for a Craftsman-style portico.
The parties decided on a cost-plus contract, because of unknowns caused by fire, smoke, and water.
PERISCOPE DOWN The seven months the Carmeans lived in a room at the Comfort Inn during the insurance adjustment process seemed interminable, but it gave them time to talk about design features with Bruce and Lori and to figure out and find helpful gadgets and appliances to incorporate into the home, especially the kitchen.
Lori Bentley went through every room, asking her clients what annoyed them, thinking ahead, because they plan to live out their lives there. She measured John’s wheelchair and the length of his arms.
Lower sink and countertop heights work for them both because Chris is 5 feet, 6 inches tall. “As long as your electronic devices are between 18 and 48 inches off the floor, everyone is happy,” Lori Bentley says.
The 19-by-11-foot galley kitchen was troublesome, with its tight layout and 36-inch-high countertop. John couldn’t use the counter, sink, or microwave.
By knocking out walls and opening the floor plan, the Bentleys had room to design an angled island, giving John clearance to roll between stovetop, sink, and refrigerator.
The remodelers dropped a plumb bob from where the stove’s chimney hood would exit through roof joists and Lori Bentley designed the island around that space. Lori needed 5 feet of clearance around the island for John to easily move.
CUBS IN ANY ROOM The beauty of the kitchen isn’t as skin deep as its quarter sawn white oak cabinetry. What’s nice about the changes is you can’t tell they’re universal or accessible. Everything is so well designed, the features are nearly always hidden.