Cornelius is our home base, and its housing stock is one we know street by street: lakefront homes from the late '80s and '90s around The Peninsula and the Jetton Road corridor, brick two-stories in Antiquity and Caldwell Station, and older cottages near Old Town that predate the lake boom. A lot of these kitchens were built for resale, not for cooking — corner ranges with no landing space, peninsulas that trap the cook, hoods that recirculate smoke instead of removing it.
Lakefront remodels come with their own checklist: sightlines to the water you don't want cabinets blocking, ventilation runs through complicated rooflines, and HOA architectural review in communities like The Peninsula. We've worked through all of it. As a chef, Karl designs the kitchen around how you cook; as a licensed NC general contractor, he owns the permits, the structure, and the schedule.
Local logistics: Cornelius permits run through the Town of Cornelius Planning Department; lakefront work near the shoreline can also involve Duke Energy Lake Services review.
A 1990s lakefront kitchen with a peninsula that choked traffic, rebuilt around a 10-foot island with prep sink, a 1,200 CFM vented hood, and a full wall of drawer storage.
A 1998 garden-tub bathroom converted to a curbless wet room with a full Schluter waterproofing system, heated floors, and storage planned drawer by drawer.
A cramped galley in a 1920s Davidson farmhouse opened into the dining room, with inset cabinetry that matches the home's original trim and a modern work core hidden inside.
“Karl was the only contractor who asked how we actually cook before drawing anything. He moved our range so two of us can work at once and put a real vent hood in — no more smoke alarm when we sear. The crew was on schedule almost to the day and the site was broom-clean every night.”