Custom 5,000-square-foot modern-style farmhouse features 3-car garage, secret doors & more

Jennifer and Jonathan Gonzalez knew they would eventually build a brand-new home on a little piece of land.

“We talked about it being in our five-year plan,” Jennifer told the Courier Journal.

After searching for about a year, the couple found the perfect, untouched lot in February 2020. They thought they would slowly build a new house over time — but once the pandemic hit, their plan quickly shifted.

“We were locked in our house, and could nitpick every little thing that aggravated us about it,” Jennifer recalled. “So, the five-year plan turned into a five-month plan.”

Making Space

Having more space was always a priority for the Gonzalezes, and their five-acre lot provided this opportunity. With the help of local design/build firm Eldridge Company, they created a spacious custom home with room to roam plus all the other must-haves on their list. This included an oversized, three-car garage; a walkout basement; and a first-floor primary suite without anything above it.

“(In) our previous home,” Jennifer explained, “the playroom was right above the primary (so), sleeping in on Saturdays (came) with stomping feet and crashing block towers.”

In their new abode, emptiness above the bedroom — plus a door that leads out to the deck — means weekends with a bit of quiet while surrounded by nature.

Creating space within the house itself was no problem, but leaving space between themselves and the main road presented a unique set of challenges.

“We are over 1,200 feet away from the main road,” Jennifer said, explaining that it is too far of a distance from the nearest fire hydrant to be up to code. This meant that a full sprinkler system had to be installed throughout the home.

“Eldridge Company (was) really helpful in making (it) functional and safe (without) looking commercial,” Jennifer said. “The bedrooms and upstairs rooms have what you would (know) is a sprinkler on the side of the wall, but we have hidden ceiling pocket sprinklers on all the other areas.”

Thoughtful function

In addition to ensuring the house met Jennifer and Jonathan’s requirements, the team at Eldridge Company fulfilled the wish list of all the extras they wanted, too.

“(They) were like, ‘Bring it on — let’s figure out how to do it,’” Jennifer recalled.

That list included a large, walk-in pantry as well as a couple of secret doors. The first was a Costco door, which helps the Gonzalezes easily get groceries from the car to the house.

“It’s a small pass-thru,” Jennifer explained. “It’s a 2-by-2-foot square that (connects) our garage directly to our pantry. So, we just back our car up and unload our groceries directly into the pantry.”

The second secret door was crafted for the couple’s twin girls, Blake and Cora. The new house meant they’d have their own bedrooms for the first time, and little doors connecting their closets to a joint playroom was a fun way to keep it all connected.

21st-century farmhouse

The overall look of the Gonzalez home is best described as a modern farmhouse, as it incorporates certain elements of the style, but with a contemporary twist.

“I’m not a (typical) farmhouse kind of girl,” Jennifer said, “but I didn’t want it to be sterile. I wanted some texture (and) some natural, lived-in (elements) that made it look a little more authentic.”

These features include an exposed wood beam between the kitchen and dining area, raw wood shelving, and engineered hardwood flooring in a wire-brush, matte finish. Bold pops of color add a bit of flair to the simple, clean design.

In the kitchen, a kelly green island and cabinetry are complemented by copper pendants and hardware; and blue sofas in the living room are a brighter version of an accent wall in the primary bedroom. There is also an ample amount of color upstairs.

“Each girl got to pick their wall color,” Jonathan explained. One bedroom is light blue, and the other is lavender. The girls’ shared bathroom boasts a vanity painted a shade of blue, and pedal pink terrazzo hex tile in the shower, with accessories that were carefully chosen to grow with the girls.

“We just came up on a year (of) being (here), and it’s been great,” Jonathan said. “The house has been fantastic.”

Know a house that would make a great Home of the Week? Email writer Lennie Omalza at aloha@lennieomalza.com or Lifestyle Editor Kathryn Gregory at kgregory@gannett.com.

nuts & bolts

Owners: Jennifer and Jonathan Gonzalez. Jonathan is a co-founder and president of FocustApps, a software development consulting company. Also in the home are twin daughters, Blake and Cora, 8; and Ernie the Bernedoodle, 1 and 1/2 years old.

Home: This is a 5-bed, 3-and-a-half-bath, 5,084-square-foot, modern farmhouse-style home on a private lot off Flat Rock Road that was built in 2023.

Distinctive elements: Covered front porch; Graham and Brown wallpaper in powder room; custom, slab-front kitchen cabinets in Derbyshire Green; custom vanity cabinets; copper pendants above kitchen island by Rejuvenation; white quartzite kitchen countertops in French Lace; white marble backsplash; pot filler; SubZero refrigerator; Wolf range; Wolf microwave; Bosch dishwasher; hidden pantry, Costco door pass-thru to garage; custom wood shelving in pantry and closets; window-surrounded dining room with Pottery Barn chandelier; double-height ceiling in living room; slate tile walk-in primary shower; West Elm mercury glass pendants; polished granite vanity countertop; large primary closet with pass-thru to laundry room; first floor home office; oversized 3-car garage; pedal pink terrazzo hex tile in kids’ bathroom; large upstairs bonus room with secret doors to each kid's bedroom; large landing for kids’ desk space; walkout basement; wet bar with leathered granite countertop and refrigerator; guest room with walk-in closet and ensuite full bathroom; equipped home gym; fully equipped theater room with JVC 4k project; Focal speakers; JL Audio subwoofers; 140-inch Innovations screen; Marantz A/V receiver; Savant control system; large, unfinished utility space and storage; whole home fire suppression sprinkler system; full security system.

Applause! Applause! Eldridge Company; Automated Living; Century Entertainment & Furnishings; Trademark Universal Stone; Pro Appliance; Bourbon City Appliance Installation; Thompson Brothers Plumbing; Payne Electric Co.; Prudential Heating & Air Conditioning; Carpet Specialists; Louisville Tile; Ferguson; and Brecher's Lighting. Special thanks to the Hawkins family for allowing the Gonzalezes to move in with them during the transition.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Eldridge Company builds custom modern-style farmhouse in Louisville