A retirement renovation on the shores of Lake Erie

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By Jennifer Rung

After more than four decades in the same family home, most couples start thinking about downsizing … or at the very least, settling in.

Not Linda and Dan Shea of Hamburg.

Three years ago, they embarked on quite the opposite: a down-to-the-studs renovation of a waterfront home that Linda had yearned for her whole life.

Married for 55 years, the couple had lived the previous 44 in a house less than a mile away. Linda had frequently walked past the home they ended up purchasing, never imagining she’d live there.

When they heard through a friend that the owner was looking to sell, they jumped on the opportunity. The only caveat: The home, built in 1955, had never been updated. Linda was undaunted.

“I just knew we could do it,” she says. So the couple sold their home, hired a longtime neighbor to be general contractor and embarked on a head-to-toe home renovation that took around 18 months.

Tucked into a tiny, quiet neighborhood off Route 5 in Hamburg, the home sits atop a lightly sloping green that leads to a beach area below, the perfect summer spot for four grandchildren between the ages of 7 and 13.

Their first priority was to open up the home to natural light and views of the lake.

“I’m obsessed with sunsets,” Linda says.

They tore down walls and replaced 30 windows. Uninterrupted light now streams through the eastern windows of the kitchen and a pair of French doors facing west, toward Lake Erie. Two bedrooms also have panoramic water views.

The kitchen is fresh, clean and modern, featuring new appliances, white Shaker-style cabinetry, a large, marbled quartz island and a long, cushioned window seat. The original floor was replaced with hickory engineered hardwood, which runs throughout the home.

The kitchen opens up into the living room to create one large entertaining space. The Sheas removed the old drop ceiling, then added wood planking and a simple, modern chandelier to the newly revealed arched ceiling. The result is an open, airy living space that still manages to feel cozy.

Another goal for the Sheas was to retain some of the home’s mid-century modern charm, which is most clearly on display in the home’s two bathrooms. A pristinely maintained time capsule of the 1950s, the guest bathroom is completely original, with pink and baby blue-drenched tile on the floor, walls and even the ceiling. A matching blue tub and sink also remain; Linda lovingly calls it her “Barbie bathroom.”

The master bathroom has been updated, but vintage touches remain, including the original square corner tub and pedestal sink, both in turquoise, accented by a turquoise-and-white subway tile floor. The Sheas did paint over the formerly yellow wall tile to achieve a crisp white finish and added modern light fixtures, including a unique beaded pendant light.

With the help of their contractor, the couple also salvaged an original built-in wall cabinet in the living room, which—painted over in a coat of white paint—blends right into the home’s updates and provides an ideal spot to showcase the couple’s glassware, books and figurines.

Linda loves decorating, and the vision for furniture and finishes was all hers. “I wanted it to be cottagey but not kitschy,” she says.

The living room is all light natural woods, blues and whites, with rattan accents like window coverings and kitchen stools. Shiplap lines the side hallway, and green and blue modern floor tile picks up the tone of the green Shaker-style door that leads to the home’s side porch.

Also outside is a new deck that extends the length of the living room, upon which two modern rocking chairs sit perched, awaiting an audience for those spectacular lake views. The couple also laid down a concrete landing right at the edge of the lawn, overlooking the beach, where another bench sits. It was an ideal spot for their son’s recent wedding.

For Linda, it all comes back to the views … and those spectacular sunsets.

“You should have seen it last night,” she says. “The whole sky was pink, and the lake was a sheet of glass.”