Natalie Vacca and her husband knew they needed a house with some run-around room since they have three young children. The spacious home on Austin Pass Drive fulfilled everything on their checklist, so it was an easy decision.
“I grew up in Chesterfield, but we knew we could get more house for our money in St. Charles,” Vacca says. “And this was our dream house because it had everything we wanted, so it just worked out perfectly.” The location is still close to everything the city offers—Vacca says from the Page Extension she can get to 141 in 10 minutes—but has all the benefits of living further west. “The Katy Trail is literally in our backyard,” she says. “We can walk to it.”
The grand entrance made quite the impression on them when the family walked through for the first time. “That’s definitely the first thing that sold me,” Vacca says. “But my favorite area is the basement. There is a really cool brick landing at the bottom of the stairs, and we spend so much time in the playroom down there. It’s all about toddler time!” Other popular areas with the kids are the theater room, where many Disney movies have been shown on the big screen, and the master bath. “The previous homeowners renovated the master bathroom, and I always had all the kids in there with me,” she laughs. “They could all pile in the shower or bath at once, and they got a kick out of the bidet!”
The Vacca home was automatically the first choice for any extended family gathering, so they served as hosts for numerous events. Like always, the kitchen was the main gathering space, no matter if it was a large group or just the five of them. “The one thing we did to the kitchen was have the cabinets custom-painted,” Vacca says. The only other renovations were in the backyard, where they replaced the pool, added a large grassy area with trees, and revised the concept of the pool house. “It was used as a gym before, so we made it into more of a lounge-y, cabana area,” she notes.
Since Vacca is pregnant with their fourth child, they are hoping to find something in the Chesterfield area with five bedrooms all upstairs, instead of one in the basement. “I’ve always wanted to move back to that area because that’s where I spend all my time anyway,” she says.
Photos: Mark Schmitz of Wide i Photo
listing price | $1,385,000
listing agent | julie pfeifer of boutique realty
