Creating your space

Sheryl McGough

Slide 1 of 9

Not created equal

Rural settings are not created equal. Some offer canopies of trees and bumbling brooks. Others lay claim to rolling meadows and breathtaking vistas. Often, however, homeowners are left to create their own pastoral landscape out of flat, harsh prairie.

Such was the challenge for the VanOosterhouts of Marne, Michigan, a family who worked together to create their ideal country home. What they have accomplished is a balanced and beautiful approach to modern living in a natural setting. Everything about their acreage is informal, from the cheerful gardens to the casually strewn rock pathways. This rustic terrace of field flagstone is fixed in place with sand and pea gravel.