Elisa Birnbaum knows finding a kitchen as nice as the one she has is going to be a challenge when she downsizes. That is where her family spent most of its time on Portland Drive, especially after she doubled its size eight years ago. “My favorite part of the whole house is the kitchen area,” she says. “It has the granite countertop island, which is where the kids did their homework. I could cook and talk with them. From a family perspective, everybody could hang out there.”
One of the first parties she held after remodeling the kitchen was a pizza party with her friends. They all made homemade pizzas, and everyone had plenty of room to spread out and roll their own dough. “You can have a lot of people in the house and still have room to serve and entertain,” Birnbaum says.
For 22 years, the family built memories on Portland Drive. They bought the house when Birnbaum was pregnant with her second child. When she was pregnant with her third child, they added the second story to what was originally a ranch-style house. The six-bedroom home in Frontenac has three bathrooms, along with a bedroom and full bath in the basement. “The kids played ping pong down there and hung out with friends a lot,” she says. “The bedroom was where my stepson lived when he was home from college. We used it as a study and play area as well.”
As soon as it was warm enough, the kids moved from the basement to the backyard pool. “The pool is right next to the kitchen, and when we expanded the kitchen, we also expanded the deck area,” she says. “The kids had more space to hang out and entertain. We had a lot of outdoor pool parties. That was one of the reasons they loved it when they were little. And for me, it was easy, and I could keep an eye on them.”
Most of the back of the house is windows, which look out onto the backyard. “I never put curtains up because I felt it made the house dark,” Birnbaum says. “I liked feeling like we were both inside and outside.”
listing price | $1,199,000
listing agent | The Gellman Team—Mark and Neil Gellman of Coldwell Banker Premier Group
Photos: Tara McClain
