8969 Olde Eight Rd, Northfield, OH 44067

What I love about Crooked River House is the quiet luxury. No washed out quartz or in-your-face modern trends. It’s about functional art. Not art showpieces that remove function – like pancake islands today – can’t hide your real-world mess w/ no power outlets. Everything was built & curated with intention. Cleveland-based Kichler Iron Lilies lighting is hand-forged metal and white glass shaped like lilies. It is timeless, and adds warmth and character that standard fixtures don’t have. You will never replace these fixtures and the kitchen will never need ‘updating.’ I’ve incorporated infrastructure that adds real value and a trajectory towards complete independence, which makes this home estate-class. The 40 Low-E windows follow the sun throughout the day. This equals endless lighting options all year round as you realize how the sun lowers in the sky in the winter and sprays inside the home. Three large single-pane windows display the forest and season changes like no other. The view is still a complete forest in the winter, when you can see the entire property. Low-E windows keep the house warmer in winter, cooler in summer, and have kept the floors and fabrics from fading even after twenty years. The ceiling mural and venetian plaster in the formal dining room are sunshine on a cloudy day. The kitchen is old-world, artisan, and one of a kind. The tavern-style bar is where everything happens. It feels like an old inn counter built for work, talk, and a drink at the end of the day. Ruby Blue granite from India is an ultra-rare exotic geological fluke—a convergence of blue quartz & red feldspar. This, along with the integrated artisan finishes, gives Crooked River House architectural distinction. From a distance, the counter stone reads understated—only up close do you see the mineral depth and color shift that reveal what it is. This was intentional as kitchens came out of the closet. The detail and depth is spellbinding, even after twenty years. Tavern-style bars were replaced after 5 years (2002-2007) with bold-veined flat slabs for ease in photography, fabrication, and gave a ‘wow’ factor from a distance. This installation is a time capsule. The stained glass throughout and Ruby Blue granite counter (two full slabs) change with the light and time of day. It’s the kind of place you grow into, not out of. While it’s all business up front, it’s coyote-wild out back. The property backs into a protected forest corridor that links directly to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park through the Brandywine Creek watershed—ensuring lasting privacy, wildlife access, and a true park-edge setting with no public access.