MAY 18 • 2023 | 33

part sand. Although Roberts and her husband, Gary Roberts — 
founder and landscape architect at Great Oaks Landscape in Novi 
— had originally planned to add-on to the home, their engineers 
advised starting from scratch. The cottage was knocked down and the 
couple built a new home in its place, as frugally as possible, in 1989.
Thirty-plus years and two renovations later, what started as a redo 
of the kitchen and staircase snowballed into finally creating their 
dream home — with plenty of space for entertaining and bedrooms 
for their grandchildren. 
“
A lot of our friends in different stages of life are getting places 
in Arizona or Florida,
” Roberts says. “We love where we live, so we 
decided to make our house our dream home, then travel wherever 
we want instead of going to the same place all the time. Living on the 
lake is a lifestyle. Our kids love it, our grandkids love it — it’s a great 
place to be.
”
Roberts tapped Scott Gittleman, owner of Gittleman Construction 
in Farmington Hills, and John Morgan, owner of Perspectives 
Custom Cabinetry in Troy, with whom Roberts had worked since the 
beginning.
A few years ago, on the Temple Israel House Tour, Roberts visited 
the home of designer Amy Miller Weinstein, owner of AMW Design 
Studio in Birmingham. 
“Her house was interesting because it’s not so large, but it’s so well 
done, so succinctly wonderful,
” Roberts says. “She has exquisite taste 
and has all of these ‘moments’ throughout the house.
”
With Weinstein now on board, the team went to work in what 
Roberts says “was a complete collaboration between everyone 
involved.
”
 “We moved walls; we changed architecture,
” Weinstein says. “The 
home had a lot of angles and ’80s design features. We began by taking 
away anything that said 1986. Scott [Gittleman] brought in struc-
tural people. You never know what you’re going to come across in a 
renovation, in terms of structural issues. Scott surmounted all of the 
obstacles.
”
 With multiple design-related degrees, including one in interior 
architecture, Weinstein is a master at space planning, especially useful 
in this 4,000-square-foot home on a 40-foot lot.

continued on page 34

HOME

LEFT: Very “detail-oriented and with beautiful taste,” says Mindy Roberts, 
Gary Roberts was precise about the placement and height of doorknobs, 
doors — and windows, which provide soaring views of the lake through-
out the home, including the living room. “He was insistent on it,” Roberts 
says, “but it makes a big difference.” Lots of comfy seating — with hairy-
hide benches and extra ottomans tucked under Weinstein’s signature 
custom parsons table upholstered in kid- and cup-friendly vinyl — offer 
expansive views of the lake and TV. The wood next to the fireplace 
wraps around to the kitchen side, becoming another pantry. Weinstein 
picked up the four art panels on the wall from Tyler Baker, a tattoo artist 
in Ann Arbor. “I try to achieve contemporary interiors that are still warm 
and welcoming, not off-putting and sterile,” Weinstein says. “I don’t like 
to overly accessorize but use just enough to give a sense of the people 
who live there.” BELOW: Before the renovation, the doorway was cut 
by angles and the stairs were tucked behind a corner. “The goal was to 
create a really pretty staircase that was visible from the living room, with 
light pouring through the whole space and views of the lake when walk-
ing downstairs,” Weinstein says. The metal railing was crafted by Tom 
Myers. The custom zebra-wood console came from an artist in Royal Oak. 
BOTTOM: In a corner of the great room, behind the foyer, a card table is 
used for puzzles and games with guests and the couple’s grandchildren. 
The tall cabinet has two vertical handles that allow the doors to slide on 
top of each other, opening to a full bar — pretty enough to leave open. 
The black stone-top surface can be used as a bar or for hors d’oeuvres.

