A Note from the Editor
“So this is the dining room!” my mother would laugh each year at the holidays, when we’d pull out the nice china and crystal glasses, Endust the table and click open the latch on the family silver, peeling back the felt to reveal shining place settings that had been carefully polished and put away after the previous year’s Thanksgiving.
Yes, this was the dining room — really, a room that was fancied up just once or twice a year for special gatherings. It had a discernible feel and even smell, opening the doors on the china cabinets to release cedar and somehow memories at that same moment. There were pieces passed down from my grandparents and aunts, gravy pourers and sugar servers and white tea cups with a matching carafe. There were condiment bowls and cloth napkins and a lineup of glasses for wine, water and whatever else the adults were sipping.
Hardly the stuff we used every day.
Many homeowners today, when they’re designing new houses, leave the formal dining room off the floorplans. The New York Times recently reported that lifestyles and space concerns have families opting more for combo great rooms that include living/dining/TV.
But not always are they left off the plans, and some locals are keeping the tradition enduring in beautiful ways. HomeLife was invited into several elegant dining rooms, including the Von Voigtlander home in Bay Harbor (photo this page), the Verburg home in Petoskey and the Heckenberg home in Harbor Springs. Jack & Cee Jay Heckenberg have welcomed HomeLife into their estate on two occasions, and we’re grateful for their repeat invitation. It is a magnificent manor on al fronts (and we’ll likely be back).
Because this issue spans both Thanksgiving and Christmastime, we are also featuring fall decorating ideas at the extraordinary home of Suzy Engle in Grand Ridge in Petoskey, who opened her home to us and William Santos of Monarch, downtown Petoskey, for his expert eye with flowers and seasonal decor.
With the upcoming holiday festivities, HomeLife is also featuring two very unique, custom home bars with themes truly befitting their homeowners. And Jon Stieglitz, bartender at Latitude in Bay Harbor, shared some of his favorite drink recipes to help get the home-life party started.
Also inside, HomeLife is introducing a remodel project that we’ll be following through the year, at the Crotty Cottage on Crooked Lake. Demolition began in September and we’ll be following the re-construction through its spring completion.
With the holidays upon us, HomeLife would like to give thanks to our readers, advertisers, homeowners and supporters.
Best wishes this holiday season and into 2009!
Beth Anne Piehl
HomeLife Editor
bpiehl@petoskeynews.com