The Great Outdoors

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A customized outdoor living space provides busy Lexington family with a vacation-worthy setting in their own backyard

Kentucky weather can be unpredictable, but when it’s at its best, there’s no better place to be than the great outdoors. One Chevy Chase family has found a way to incorporate outdoor living into everyday living by turning their attached patio into a covered oasis for fun, food and fresh air.

At the center of Ray and Kelly Van Metre’s outdoor kitchen is a built-in Wolf grill, with a side griddle and a warming drawer; the space is augmented by two separate bar areas, an outdoor television and sound system, and plenty of counter space and seating for entertaining family and friends. Equipped with both ceiling fans and heaters and with three sets of French doors separating it from the house, the space is designed for a seamless flow between indoor and outdoor living.

“We’ve spent entire Saturdays on the patio and in the pool,” Dr. Ray Van Metre said. “We prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner in the outdoor kitchen and enjoy really good times with the kids. No matter what the weather, the covered outdoor space is a great place to relax and unwind.”

Dr. Van Metre is a board-certified otolaryngologist, or ENT, at Kentucky Ear, Nose and Throat, and his wife, Kelly, is a pediatric nurse practitioner with UK HealthCare. Natives of West Virginia, the couple moved to Lexington in 2005, where they soon started their family. Today, their three children are 10, 6 and 4.

In 2011 the Van Metres moved from their first Lexington residence in Andover Forest to a larger house in the Enclave community, which the couple considers to be their “forever home.” Built in 1999, the house was remodeled in 2006 to include an informal dining room, an outdoor patio with two fireplaces, and a pool and pool house. The two-and-a-half story, six-bedroom Federal-style home has 5,760 square feet, with a finished basement adding an additional 1,915 square feet.

“When we moved in, in November 2011, it was move-in ready for us,” Kelly Van Metre said. “We love to be outside. We love grilling out. We serve meals outside.”

For three summers, being near the swimming pool was wonderful, but grilling out and eating on the patio – which is in the direct line of late afternoon sun – was difficult when the summer heat became unbearable. So the Van Metres decided to put a roof over the patio and add an outdoor dining table. While they were at it, they figured they should install countertops with a built-in grill.

“It further grew into including an entire outdoor kitchen,” Kelly said of the project. “Finally, we realized it would be fantastic to cover the entire patio area and make it all usable space.”

Because their schedules are so busy, the Van Metres rarely have an opportunity to leave town for a family vacation. “Our idea was to create a space right here at home that felt like a vacation,” Dr. Van Metre said.

The Van Metres sketched their ideas for an entire outdoor living area and set out to choose a contractor, ultimately choosing BACK Construction for the job.

“Their design consultant, Nicole McDonough, entered our ideas into a computer simulation, and it was amazing to see the whole project come to life,” Kelly Van Metre said.

Construction plans were finalized in October 2014 and construction began in early 2015 and was completed that summer.

“My husband and I are very proactive people, pre-planners, so we knew what we wanted long before BACK Construction was even on the scene,” Kelly Van Metre said. “We knew about materials, so it was an effortless relationship. It was a very easy process.”

David Toews, who is in sales and estimating with BACK Construction, returned the compliment.

“The clients were great to work with. They were very accommodating to our guys,” he said. “They were always on top of it and made the project flow very easily.”

To create the outdoor kitchen, the existing fireplace was reconstructed, adding a chimney and extending it 12 feet higher. Thanks to two ceiling fans, the outdoor living space remains cool in the summer, while chilly weather is warmed up with an outdoor fireplace and ceiling-mounted infrared heaters. Rain no longer keeps anyone inside, so the patio can be utilized nearly year-round. Repurposed barn wood from Longwood Antique Woods was incorporated into the TV cabinet above the fireplace, as well as for the back wall of the kitchen and a custom-made table. Barney Miller’s installed the sound system, and the landscaping around the outdoor kitchen was provided by Oracio Lopez Landscaping.

Cherie Gaines, of Cherie Interiors in Nicholasville, helped with the “interior” decorating for the outdoor kitchen. Multiple seating areas feature fabrics of green and white, with pops of other colors to complement the earth tones of the stone counters and granite countertops.

The Van Metres divide and conquer kitchen duties – he cooks outdoors and she does the cooking inside, though they do use caterers from time to time for outdoor entertaining.

For this busy family, nothing beats quality family time, and the time and effort that they have put into the project has provided great rewards to that end.

“Our favorite part of having this space is watching the kids have so much fun in the pool then wrapping up the day making s’mores in the fireplace,” Kelly Van Metre said. “It’s a nice place to spend time with our family. We have our own little paradise right here.” ss

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