When engineering a high-end, modern custom home, the objective extends far beyond structural framing. True custom home building is about creating a cohesive architectural narrative. For a family transitioning from a historic Rochester property filled with Old World charm to a sleek, contemporary build, the primary challenge is bridging two distinct design eras from the ground up. This vision included a modern living room that welcomes everyday life and special gatherings.
The design-build project, brought to life by Sustainable 9 and Unfold Architecture, focused heavily on a core mission for this warm contemporary great room: engineer an environment centered around family utility and luxury entertainment, without compromising its sophisticated, high-end architectural edge. By layering soft neutrals, rich textures, and a custom architectural focal point, the team achieved a living space that feels cutting-edge yet deeply personal.
The foundational shell of this custom build is unapologetically modern. However, a unique layer of the custom design process emerged because the homeowners planned to feature their existing interior pieces within the new layout—including antique casegoods, cherished family heirlooms, and traditional artwork framed in heavy, ornate moldings. Integrating storied, historic furniture into a sharp, contemporary layout requires immense foresight during the architectural drafting phase.
To ensure the new construction elevated these heirlooms rather than clashing with them, the interior design team utilized a highly intentional strategy of keeping the palette quiet.
The new home showcases simple colors and natural design features, like custom white oak ceiling panels. This creates a stylish space that respects the family's design history while looking forward to their modern future.
The balance of architectural restraint and texture is most apparent at the living room hearth. The design-build team engineered a fireplace surround that remains continuous with the adjacent wall tones rather than creating a stark, high-contrast break, maintaining a sense of spatial calm throughout the open floor plan.
This understated approach was required to establish a proper visual balance between the adjoining spaces. Because the adjacent luxury kitchen features a bold porcelain countertop with dramatic, sweeping veins, the fireplace surround was engineered to feature soft, quiet textures that complement the kitchen's energy instead of competing with it for attention.
While the exterior architecture features a striking, modern grid-pattern natural stone, the design team moved in a different direction for the interior envelope. They specified premium quartz, utilizing a modernized, reeded design for the stone surround.
To execute this fluted profile, they selected Cambria quartz in the Colton colorway, which offers a creamy backdrop with soft, incredibly subtle vein movement. This specific pattern density was critical to the success of the build, as a high-contrast or bold vein pattern would have visually broken and misaligned across the multi-faceted ridges of a custom reeded fabrication.
Bringing this intricate, fluted hearth vision to life required extensive collaboration between the Sustainable 9 construction team and Cambria's technical fabricators. Because this application pushed the engineering boundaries of quartz paneling for residential fireplaces, it required rigorous on-site communication and precise field measurements.
The engineering behind the custom quartz surround relies on exact component manufacturing rather than a singular carved stone slab. Each individual reeded facet is a distinct, custom-milled element, meticulously measured and radius-cut to match the curvature of the hearth.
A separate, solid slab of Cambria quartz sits perfectly flush atop these fluted panels to tie the lower structure together as a sleek mantel, while a hand-applied, modern plaster texture stretches from the mantel straight to the ceiling to complete a highly tactile vertical experience.
Though the bespoke fabrication process required rigorous fine-tuning, micro-re-grouting, and exact alignment during mechanical installation, the finished great room stands as a masterclass in collaborative luxury residential design.
Both the design-build team and the homeowners achieved exactly what they set out to build: a high-performance home engineered around the history, comfort, and real lives of the people who commissioned it. Whether you are designing a brand-new contemporary layout from scratch or breaking ground on an eco-conscious custom build, your home should tell your specific story.
Elizabeth Welsh, Lead Interior Designer at Sustainable 9, and interior designer behind the project, breaks down the inspiration and standout details behind the fireplace design of the Saunders Residence in Highland Bridge.
