WWW.SHAKER.LIFE | SUMMER 2021 57
As luck would have it,
Mary Ann happened to know
the owner of Knez Homes,
the company that built her
new home.
Knez has been working with the
City of Shaker Heights to identify
buyers interested in building “infill”
housing, or new construction
on empty lots in established
neighborhoods. A key benefit to
building a home on an infill lot in
Shaker Heights is tax abatement. For
10 years, owners pay property tax
only on the value of the lot and not
on their new home. If they sell their
home before the 10 years are up, the
abatement is fully transferable.
The designs for the Knez
homes are taken through the City’s
rigorous Architectural Review Board
standards to ensure they blend with
the surrounding homes. Mary Ann’s
handsome house sits between two
other tidy lots, each with a Knez sign
announcing their availability for
new construction.
When homes are built on
those lots, the street will again be
knit together in a continuous line
of gracious front porches – one
of the hallmarks of the Moreland
neighborhood, and not just
architecturally.
“The porch scene is great.
Everyone sits on a porch here. It’s
very social,” says Mary Ann. One
reason she was ready to move from a
larger property to her smaller Ludgate
lot is that she no longer had the need
for a big backyard as a play area for
her children.
Mary Ann’s roomy front porch
echoes the others on Ludgate, but
the home’s resemblance to its older
neighbors ends at the threshold.
Stepping inside feels like architectural
time travel straight to the 21st
century. Mary Ann’s first floor, at 1,016
square feet, is a continuous, lightfilled,
high-ceilinged space, all visible
from the front door.
Opposite: Stropkay works from her “cloffice” — a
commodious office space set up in what was originally
designed to be a large walk-in closet. Top: Space within the
first floor’s open plan provides plenty of extra room for a
piano. Bottom: A bright guest bedroom features original
paintings by Stropkay’s brother-in-law.
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