Somewhere in most people’s memory, there is a house with a landing at the top of the stairs where kids spread out with books and board games while the adults talked below. The Ella Gardens is built around that instinct: a main-floor primary that keeps parents close to the action, a loft that gives kids a floor of their own, an open layout where dinner conversations stretch past the dishes, and a traditional exterior that looks like it has always been there.
Specifications
- Sq. Ft.: 2,433
- Bedrooms: 4
- Bathrooms: 3.5
Floor Plan – Main Floor
The primary suite sits at the back right of the first floor, separated from the open kitchen, dining, and great room that anchor the left side. A mud room and laundry land between the garage and the main living areas — practical placement that keeps wet coats and grocery bags out of the sight lines. Stairs in the foyer hint at the rest.
Floor Plan – Second Floor
Three bedrooms, a shared bath, and a loft with seating fill out the second floor. All three bedrooms come in at roughly 10-6 wide — close enough to equal that nobody gets to claim the big room. An open-below cutout runs alongside the staircase, keeping the upper level from feeling boxed in.
Double-Height Foyer with Ironwork Rail Makes an Entrance Worth Coming Home To
Dark wood treads contrast against white risers, and that cage-style chandelier pulls the eye straight up to the transom windows overhead.
History Corner: Two-story foyers became a signature of American residential design in the 1990s, partly because builders found they could signal luxury without adding real square footage. The iron baluster style here draws from early 20th-century craftsman interiors, where metalwork details replaced the carved wood spindles of Victorian homes. The laundry room visible through the open door at left reflects a broader shift toward practical first-floor utility spaces that picked up steam in the 2000s and never really looked back.
Floor-to-Ceiling Stone Fireplace Earns Every Inch of Wall It Takes
Gray stacked stone climbs past the TV mount and straight to the ceiling, which is the only thing keeping this room from reading as generic. White sofas, black-and-white stripe pillows, a dark coffee table — the palette stays disciplined so the fireplace can do its job without competition.
The Psychology Behind This: Rooms organized around a fireplace tend to feel more socially cohesive because people naturally orient toward a focal point rather than drifting to the room’s edges. Furniture arrangements that face inward, like the paired sofas here, reinforce that pull and make conversation feel less accidental.
Step out of the foyer and the dining room opens up with a quieter kind of confidence.
Candlestick Chandelier and Dark Dining Chairs Signal Formal Without Feeling Fussy
A candle-style pendant hangs over slat-back chairs in near-black, the contrast sharp against light gray walls. The white table runner is doing more than decoration — without it, the whole thing would tip too heavy.
Slate Walls and a Low-Profile Bed Frame Pull This Primary Bedroom Toward Modern
Recessed lighting keeps the ceiling clean while table lamps handle the warmth closer to where it counts. Three botanical prints above the headboard add color without picking a fight with the gray walls, and that low-slung platform bed grounds the whole room in a way nothing else in here could.
By The Numbers: Bedroom wall color has a measurable effect on sleep quality, with cooler, muted tones like blue-gray consistently ranking higher in studies than warm or saturated hues. Flat or matte paint finishes are generally recommended for bedrooms because they absorb light rather than reflect it, reducing visual stimulation at night.
Marble Shower Walls and a Freestanding Tub Make This Bath Feel Like a Separate Destination
Calacatta-style tile runs floor to ceiling inside the frameless shower, with matte black fixtures keeping things grounded. The freestanding soaking tub sits right under the window. Natural light does the rest.
Quick Fix: Rainfall showerheads mounted at ceiling height need adequate water pressure to perform well, so check your home’s PSI before committing to the fixture. Most standard homes run between 40 and 60 PSI, and anything under 40 can leave a ceiling-mount head feeling underwhelming. A pressure-boosting pump is a straightforward fix if yours falls short.
Upstairs Loft with Stair Rail View Gives Family Spaces Room to Breathe
Wall-to-wall carpet keeps the loft quieter than hardwood would — and with bedrooms just down the hall, that matters. A square coffee table in near-black anchors the seating without demanding attention. Open railing along the staircase lets light travel through from the windows beyond rather than stopping dead at a wall.
Material Matters: Carpet in upper-floor living spaces does more than feel soft underfoot — it absorbs sound from foot traffic and conversation, which matters when bedrooms are nearby. If you’re choosing between carpet weights, a denser pile holds its shape longer under furniture legs.
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The exterior shows a white traditional farmhouse with a covered front porch and two-car garage. Below it, the first-floor plan lays out the main-floor primary suite, great room, and mud room entry from the garage across 1,419 square feet.
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