A vacation property is an opportunity to make yourself at home while exploring an entirely new location. Jay Takach, owner of Evolo Design in Madeira, assures his clients that their homes away from home can be both comfortable and luxurious, without bypassing beautiful design.
Custom spaces are Evolo’s specialty. Each design is as unique and different as each client. The style of each room is carefully curated to match the vision and needs of each homeowner. Takach and his team are deeply intuitive, taking the time necessary to talk with clients about their goals for each room and building the mutual trust required to manage a personalized home build or renovation. First, they discuss vision, then budget, then Evolo gets to work shaping the space, complete with warm, individualized touches that make a house feel like home.
“One thing that we do really well as a company is that we really try to understand our client's needs,” Takach shares. “It’s our goal to take on the project and run with it so it lessens the burden on them, especially for a vacation home that could be distant.”
Evolo has designed homes in vacation spots all across the country. From South Carolina to Northern Michigan, Nevada to Massachusetts, Evolo achieves success for their clients by remembering why they are there in the first place.
“We want to create a space that allows for the best vacations—the most memorable are when you're with people that you love in a fun environment,” Jay explains. “A vacation house is the backdrop to spending time together with the other people in the house.”
When designing vacation homes, Evolo Design first follows the vision of clients, but then lets nature take the lead. Takach looks to a vacation home’s natural surroundings for inspiration: color, texture, balance and light. The mood of the vacation spot itself comes through in the design.
“I’m inspired by nature,” he says. “The natural environment surrounding a vacation home is the star of the show. I try to stay pure to the area and the environment,” he adds, “so the design resonates with the local aesthetic.”
In the Michigan lakehouse pictured here, Takach took inspiration from the rippled, sandy lake bottom as viewed through the main living area’s wall of windows.
“The lake is so blue,” he recalls, “it's this really specific color of aqua. And so we took the inspiration to Edward Fields and they created a custom carpet for the main living room based on the sandy bottom of a lake. We had it done in different shades of blue and sand colors.”
When it’s all said and done, the Evolo team relies on what they know best—design philosophy and basic design principles.
“Getting from point A to point B is really about scale and fabrics and furniture and aesthetics,” Takach says.
With Airbnb and VRBO use on the rise, the latest trend in vacation homes is to rent them out when their owners can’t be there.
“Moving from having a vacation home as an expense to using it as an investment doesn’t change the principles of doing good design,” Takach says. “What it does change is what you need from a marketability standpoint—add durability, but with hospitality in mind,” he shares. “In these situations, we want to put together something that is visually striking, so that it really stands out when it’s listed on one of those websites.”
In one vacation home that was being prepared for the rental market, Takach increased the headcount by adding a bunk room.
“That home was really about family and close family friends. We tried to give each bedroom a specific vibe, but they all still had a specific color palette which was important for unity,” he says. “Another way we helped to prepare this home both for its family and for renting was to add a second entertainment area just off the kitchen and dining room.”
Evolo Design understands that a vacation home is all about escape.
“No two clients are the same,” says Takach. “We try to work with them and understand what ‘escape’ means to them so we can create a backdrop for them to do that, whatever it is.”
Evolo Design, 6912 Miami Avenue, Cincinnati | EvoloDesign.com, 513.791.6800
Evolo Design first follows the vision of clients, but then lets nature take the lead.
Evolo Design understands that a vacation home is all about escape.