Very few people would describe a comprehensive home renovation as “fun,” especially if it’s closely followed a previous residential upgrade and coincided with a business remodel. But Angel Stottle relished the opportunity.
“I like to say that this house is my ‘COVID baby,’ because we wouldn’t have bought it had it not been for COVID,” she said. “My husband and I were both turning 40 in 2020. We had family trips planned, and we had trips with couples planned… all the trips got canceled.”
The family was pandemic-housebound when a home on one of the biggest lots in their beloved Champions Run neighborhood came up for sale. Stottle knew the house from parties hosted in the basement by a high school classmate when the house was fairly new; a quarter-century later, very little had changed. The 10,000-square-foot-plus home was dated, but Dr. Matt and Angel Stottle saw potential for everything they had wanted but couldn’t include in the home they had recently renovated.
“We weren’t planning to move,” Angel said. “We always start with a plan, and then if it can be a little bit bigger or a little bit this or that, we’re going to go for it. We do that not just with our personal life, but with our business (Omaha Pain Physicians), also…We are dreamers, we have big ideas all the time. It’s kind of our positive and our negative. We saw this and were like, ‘This can encompass all of our dreams.’”
The couple considered reallocating their 2020 travel budget toward the new house, but the purchase was contingent upon the couple’s “must-have” list, from high ceilings in the basement to room for a second large island customized for entertaining. They also envisioned “phase two” future features like an outdoor pool and a basement bar. The home checked all the boxes and the remodel commenced in 2020, continuing after the family moved in during the spring of 2022.
“It was so fun doing this,” Angel said. “I felt like I was an apprentice. It’s funny because I have a bachelor’s degree in fine art, but I’m not an interior designer; I’m a graphic designer… I know what I like, and I know what I don’t like. Doing this project with Stacie for two years, I felt like I was into this world of interior design.”
Designer Stacie Muhle of Artistico called the remodel “the perfect union of domestic utility and alluring elegance.”
“Reimagining the floor plan design allowed me to give the homeowners all the desires that fit their family lifestyle while remaining a sophisticated environment,” she said. “The client wanted a neutral palette with harmonious contrast and dynamic visual elements that would serve as a backdrop for the social gatherings they have, showcasing a balance of personal expression and functional glamour.”
No space in the massive home went untouched, and some changes were structurally significant, such as removing an enormous column fireplace that dominated the main level, creating a wall of French doors to showcase the backyard, or opening up the exterior entry. The redesigned floor plan placed a primary suite on the main level and the children’s rooms and bathrooms—and toys and play space—on the lower level, keeping the main level from becoming “Toyland” as it had in the previous house, Angel said. Function was as important as form for this busy family with elementary-school-age children (son Von and daughter Mila), she added. And the home, while gorgeous, is also holding up to two young dogs running around.
“Because when you finish renovating a house, you should definitely get puppies,” Matt said, wryly.
Contractor Jeff Hubby of Hubby Home Improvement—whom Matt praised as “a yes guy”—said the home was “completely gutted to the studs…the house was very advantageous to doing anything the client desired.”
“We brought in a structural engineer to remove a 30-foot wall to open the space, allowing us to have a design that represents fundamental simplicity and modern functionality. By eliminating all the unwanted spaces, it allowed us to add a walk-in pantry, mud room, speakeasy, golf simulator, two bedrooms, powder bath, arcade, sauna, and large workout room,” Hubby said. “Technology was very important to the family, so the entire home was fully automated to be ready for anything, including smart-car charging.”
Cleverly planned storage space keeps items “close to where they live,” Angel said, from a Christmas closet near where the tree is placed each year, to pullouts for trash cans with a dowel for a roll of trash bags. Even kitchen drawers and mudroom shelves were designed specifically around the family’s carefully measured and counted belongings.
Angel said efficiency was also considered in every detail. “My husband jokes that this house is Noah’s Ark, because there’s two of everything. We have two dishwashers, two ovens, two refrigerators. We have two washers and dryers; friends call it a laundromat.”
There’s still some final touches in the works and a few spaces that are yet to be completely furnished. But Angel said there’s no rush, and that the house was deliberately planned with open areas.
“It’s not a house that’s ever going to be overly decorated,” she said. “I want to live in a space that makes me happy and gives me energy.”
This article originally appeared in the September 2023 issue of Omaha Home magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.