Home for Good

 Over 31 years, Brad and Carol Richardson have had 16 addresses. 

So many, in fact, that recounting their moves requires that Carol take out her spiral-bound address book, where she has listed — in the careful print of an accountant-turned-librarian — a timeline of each place they’ve lived and raised their three children.

It’s a zigzag of spots as far flung as Denver and Tulsa to Alberta and Venezuela. The Richardsons have learned a lot from their life of transience, but one lesson stands above all. “Be nice to the movers,” says Carol with a laugh. 

Along the way, these Ohio natives also learned what they want from a home, using those experiences to craft the Rocky River lakefront residence they built after returning to the state in 2009, a result of Brad’s transfer to Canton-based Diebold.

“In all these moves, we wanted to have an anchor point for the kids,” says Brad. “Cleveland was always that anchor point.” They’ve always visited relatives here twice a year, with a family tradition of spending a day at the pier and beach of Rocky River’s Bradstreet Landing park.

Finding a lakefront property was essential for the Richardsons’ return home. Lakefront living didn’t just have connections to their family traditions, it was also a lifestyle they’d learned to love in the seven years they lived on the shores of Lake Michigan in Racine, Wis. “It’s something about the view,” says Carol. “It’s just so relaxing. You feel like you are on vacation when you look outside.” 

Shortly after their 2009 move, the family found their dream lot — just steps from their favorite beach at Bradstreet Landing — where they began building this 5,200-square-foot home in the exterior style of an old stone manor. They hired Prete Builders, based in Vermilion, Ohio, to help create and carry out their vision.

It hints at the 1930s-era home where they lived in Racine, with cobblestone-style masonry, a stonework chimney, carriage-house garage doors and a dramatic arched walkway to the heavy wood front door. 

“We wanted to make it look old even though it was new,” says Carol. 

Inside is an atrium-style living space centered around a two-story great room that’s both expansive and cozy, a cluster of overstuffed cream-and-yellow furniture with a soft, neutral area rug over cherry-stained maple floors. 

Downstairs living spaces such as the dining room, study, kitchen and first-floor master bedroom fringe the central atrium, while a curved staircase leads to a hallway that encircles the atrium from above. 

That open floor plan — particularly in the kitchen — was critical for Carol. “The kitchen in our Wisconsin home was built for a cook, a little tiny room facing the street while everyone else was facing the lake,” she recalls. “It was like, ‘hey! I’m over here!’”

That’s why every room is designed with a lake view, including an upstairs sitting room that opens onto a second-floor screened-in porch. The porch offers a bird’s-eye view of the property’s flat, grassy backyard with stairs leading down to the water. Unlike many nearby properties, the Richardsons have a beach about 100 feet wide and 15 feet deep, making it easy to put their kayak in there. In the outdoor kitchen, the family uses the grill, smoker and pizza oven well into the winter for entertaining. 

The Richardson house is a collection of stories that dwell in the mementos they’ve collected from their many homes and travels. They picked up the hand-carved square mahogany coffee table that anchors the center of the great room during their time in Venezuela, along with the Madonna-and-child painting in the jewel tones common to Venezuelan art. 

In the study is a collection of antique books written in Swedish that they acquired in London — “they aren’t really for reading,” admits Brad — where a market sold old books by the yard. Another is a hand-illustrated collage of their European travels — a gift from Brad’s London colleagues — complete with caricatures of the Richardson family riding a double-decker bus in England and a gondola in Venice. A half-dozen antique clocks can be found throughout the house, passed down from Brad’s mother, an avid clock collector. 

In son James’ room is a collection of photos and mementos from a dad-and-son visit to the site in Vietnam where Brad’s father was shot down and killed during the Vietnam War. Both Eagle Scouts, one wall displays Brad’s and James’ many patches and medals earned through scouting. 

For the first time in their many moves, the family cut loose with their color choices in the four bedrooms and five-and-a-half baths. They used a full 14 shades throughout the house, including daughter Grace’s 1950s-inspired aqua bedroom walls and bubble-gum pink bathroom. 

“We always had to stay neutral, because we knew we were going to move,” says Carol. “But now we’re here to stay.”