When embarking upon the adventure of building their dream home, most couples identify a general area, visit various neighborhoods and begin exploring home plans and builders. Lake Winnebago residents Chip and Patty Corcoran, however, enjoyed the unique opportunity of helping create the vision for the expansion of the lake itself, and that experience inspired their decision to make the lake community their personal home.
“Chip's company, Renaissance Infrastructure Consulting, designed the expansion of Lake Winnebago so we were involved in the project from the beginning. This gave us a chance to plan and design our house for almost six years,” said Patty.
Longtime Kansas residents having lived in Olathe, Overland Park and Lenexa, the Corcorans designed and built their Winnebago home with family fun in mind as they transition into retirement. With seven grown children, five grandchildren and another due in December, the home needed to be able to accommodate large family gatherings and a wide variety of activities. “It’s hard to pick a favorite part of our home, but we really enjoy the screened-in porch. It has beautiful lake views, often a nice breeze, and is a fun spot to watch sports on TV in the spring, summer and fall.”
The couple enjoys traveling and gathered design and decor ideas for their new home on trips as they envisioned the space that would serve their expanding family. “Patty spent many weekends saving inspiration photos from the Houzz and Pinterest websites, and we had expert guidance from our architect (Weston Coble), our builder, Brett Standard of Standard Construction, and Pat Conner of Madden McFarland Interiors,” said Chip.
Although they are still experiencing their first set of seasons in the new house, the Corcorans have thoroughly enjoyed the amenities of lake life on the Missouri side and say exploring Lee’s Summit, especially the downtown area, is a favorite activity. “We love the beautiful lake and the fact that we can ski and other water sports. We love the close-knit and friendly community, and the beautiful sunrises and sunsets! There are also so many fun restaurants to explore and stores to shop in historic downtown Lee’s Summit.”
The Corcorans have also plunged right in with getting involved in the Lee’s Summit community. Recently retired as the Chief Human Resources Officer at Black & Veatch, Patty loves people and was excited to share their new home with the Winnebago community as part of the 2022 holiday homes tour. A visitor on the tour said of the Corcoran home “It was absolutely stunning. There wasn’t a detail overlooked, and Patty did a phenomenal job of decorating for the holidays.”
When asked whether she would encourage others to take the leap to lake living, Patty says, “Don't wait - just do it! We love it here and would recommend lake living to anyone. Our advice would be to make sure you have plenty of room for visitors to park - your home will be a treasured place for family and friends to make great memories.”
For more information about Lake Winnebago, visit http://www.lakewinnebago.org/