After an evening out in September 2008, newlyweds Penny and Mark Goshert returned to their McCutchanville home to find an unwelcome surprise: the hose supplying water to an upstairs sink had disconnected, flooding their house with water. With the help of friends, the couple scrambled to salvage what they could, but the damage had been done. With some areas of the home under a quarter- to a half-inch of water, the first-floor ceiling falling in, damage to the walls and floors, and several ruined appliances, they soon realized the house would need extensive remodeling.
Penny and Mark became a two-person design team — redesigning, rebuilding, and redecorating nearly their entire first floor. Aided by friend Keith Baumgart who does miscellaneous construction work, Mark, a senior technical support engineer for Thermo Fisher Scientific, took on most of the design responsibilities while Penny, manager of both the noninvasive surgery and the cardiac rehabilitation departments at Deaconess Hospital, handled the decorating.
The Gosherts’ kitchen arguably was the biggest transformation. A wall separating the kitchen from the breakfast nook was knocked out, providing a much more spacious area, and sleek, stainless steel products — including a GE refrigerator and an Electrolux stove, oven, and dishwasher — replaced outdated appliances. Knepp Cabinets, a family business in Montgomery, Ind., built new custom cabinets and countertops, and Ott’s Tile Co. (now Vertical Tile, Inc.) of Haubstadt, Ind., installed the tile floor and a beautiful new beige and brown tile backsplash — a piece that instantly draws the eye and complements the tastefully neutral colors of the kitchen.
Two years later, Mark and Penny rolled up their sleeves and began another remodeling project. Taking their creativity outside, they filled in their backyard pool to make room for new landscaping, a fire pit, a pergola, and even a small stone waterfall that falls into a shallow pond. After clearing out several cluttering trees, the space has become a private oasis promoting relaxation and comfort.
Since the renovations, the Gosherts have entertained as many as 50 people in their lovely new space. Though they’ve had their hardships along the way, Penny believes it was worth it — not just for their home, but for their marriage. “It tested the relationship and definitely pulled us closer together,” she says. “We found strengths and weaknesses we didn’t know we had, and it made us stronger.”
For information on Knepp Cabinets, call 812-486-3546. For information on Vertical Tile, Inc., call 812-455-4528.
