arts & life

at home

Working From Home

Take a peek inside

a builder’s own

Birmingham home.

Lynne Konstantin | Arts & Life Editor

Beth Singer | Photographer

T

odd Emerson is a very considerate
man.
The developer and builder —
and president of Sterling Development in
Bloomfield Hills — shows homes to new and
prospective clients every week. But he does
not want to inconvenience families by having
visitors touring their homes.
So he builds a new home every five or so
years to show clients what’s new and cutting
edge in custom and renovated homes —
then moves into that home with his family.
“That way I can use my own home as a
showpiece,” Emerson says.
For his most recent “model,” Emerson
moved his family — including his wife,
Louise, a financial consultant, and two high-
school children — three blocks over to an
uncommonly extra-wide lot in Birmingham.
He drew the floor plans himself, which he

gave to an architect to create blueprints.
“Our last home was more traditional and
a little more compartmentalized,” Emerson
says. “We wanted this house to have a more
open floor plan, with wide-open spaces that
are interconnected.”
He turned to his longtime collaborator,
Amy Miller Weinstein, owner of AMW
Design Studio in Birmingham, to join his
team from the start.
“She’s one of the best space planners I’ve
ever worked with,” Emerson says. “After all
these years, if I can’t figure it out, I call her.
Even if it’s a small package, which is very dif-
ficult to do, she has an uncanny way of plan-
ning the space, then bringing it all together
in the end with interior design.”
“We have a really good work relationship,”
Weinstein agrees. “He’s easy to work with,
very detail oriented and he’s a great guy.”

A cozy, casual sitting area is
actually an extension of the
kitchen. “People always hang out
in the kitchen,” Weinstein says. “So
we said, let’s have some furniture
for people to sit on.” A pair of
custom settees are covered in kid-
proof, washable flannel suede,
while bolster pillows in lavender
add a pop of feminine against
soothing taupes, grays and dark
wood.

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August 11 • 2016

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