Rebuilt colonial shows simple style

STAMFORD — Michel and Marcy Priou spent almost three years rebuilding a 6,600-square-foot home near Stamford’s New York border.

It’s the second home the couple has built together, and it won’t be the last.

“We loved the process when we built our first home in Greenwich. ... We both worked in finance before we retired, so building homes has been our outlet for creating something together,” said Marcy, who is now an artist by trade. “Once you live in a new house that you built yourself, it’s hard to go back.”

The couple is moving back to Greenwich, where they’re building a new home — this time something to fit their empty-nester needs. While the Prious prepare their new property for the building process, they have listed their Stamford five-bedroom home at 87 Echo Hill Drive for $1.5 million with William-Pitt Sotheby’s.

The colonial home on Echo Drive was purchased in 2005 and stripped down to studs.

The two were deeply involved in every aspect of the build, directing every detail from window placement to screwless vents and switch covers.

“I like simplicity — simple, clean lines. I hate clutter,” Marcy said. “Some people mistakenly think simplicity is easy, but it’s actually very difficult to achieve.”

Every room was meticulously designed, highlighted by crisp white walls, an open layout and hardwood floors throughout the home. The chosen design evokes modernity, but many of the materials used have a timeless feel.

“My mother always said you can’t go wrong with good quality and classics,” Marcy said.

That will make it an easier sell than most carefully customized homes.

“You always have to keep in mind when you build a home that you might sell it someday,” Michel said. “What shows on the outside of the walls will indicate to a buyer the quality behind the walls, too.”

Customized

A laundry room on the second floor seems almost out of place, but it’s just another aspect of the Prious’ precision.

“Most of your laundry comes from the second floor like clothes, sheets, blankets, so it made more sense to me to have the laundry room up here,” Marcy said.

Every bedroom is also equipped with its own full bathroom. Michel said that’s a standard practice when he builds a home.

“Out of the total cost of building a home like this, adding a bathroom to every bedroom doesn’t cost much more,” he said. “It made sense not to skimp on something so useful.”

A breezeway between the kitchen and a private sitting room can be transformed into an additional dining room for larger family gettogethers. Alternatively, the sitting room’s pocket doors can create a living space with a full bathroom.

“It amazes me how far ahead they were thinking when they designed some aspects of this house,” listing agent Linda Sentementes said. “They knew someday they might not be able to make it up the stairs, so they have this private living space ready to go on the first floor.”

Family home

Indeed, the home was built to cater to the Priou family’s needs — collectively and as individuals.

Marcy’s workshop can be found at the end of a narrow hallway past the laundry room, where a staircase leads up to a finished attic.

“This is my creative space. I use this room as an art studio,” she said, standing among piles of unfinished paintings, drawings and canvases. “I spend a lot of time up here.”

Other bedrooms upstairs used to house the Priou offspring, but now that their children are grown and have kids of their own, a private apartment on the second floor is getting more use than ever.

When the children and grandchildren come to visit, that’s where they stay. The apartment is equipped with a living room, full bathroom and a bedroom. When they built the room, they also readied it for a kitchenette with electrical and gas hookups behind the wall near the door.

“It would be easy to put a small kitchen in this room. We just never got around to it, but we wanted to have the option for that someday,” Michel said.

The only room the Prious never got around to was the basement. While it is clean and dry, it’s not much of a living space.

“This house doesn’t come with many projects, so that could be one for the next buyer,” Sentementes said. nora.naughton@scni.com; twitter.com/noranaughton