E
r in a nd m a r c
Sherman had talked about relocating their nest to
Wakefield, but they
weren’t actually in the market the
day they serendipitously happened
upon this property. “We were driving
around and kind of dreaming — not
really looking — and we came across
a ‘for sale’ sign here,” she says. The
one-plus acre property was bucolic:
outbuildings, mature trees and rambling stone walls surrounded by a fourteen-acre parcel locked in land trust.
The setting was private but it wasn’t
isolated: The site was less than a mile
from historic Main Street.
“We made an offer on it that day,”
she says.
It was easy to be sold on the loca-
60 | HOME DESIGN 2016
tion, but the house was another matter.
Sherman and her husband vacillated:
Spruce it up or tear it down? When a
happy surprise (baby number three
was on the way!) meant time was suddenly at a premium, they brought in
Alex and Rod Mitchell, brothers and
co-owners of Meridian Design Build,
on a recommendation from Sherman’s
realtor sister-in-law. “We instantly
liked them,” she says of the Mitchells. Although the Shermans originally
viewed starting from scratch as the
more daunting option, they reconsidered after further discussions with
Meridian. Built in the ’60s, the house
lacked a basement and it had some
two-by-two construction — neither of
which is ideal when planning a major
remodel. Decision made: A new start
was in order all the way around. ➳