The alternative was to build on a tiny lot tucked in near I-65 on the Old Northside.
The Kennedys moved into their 3,000-square-foot, contemporary-style home in 2002. Bob Kennedy not only designed the home, but served as his own contractor.
“At our age, people often move into condominiums,” explained Sheila, who also writes a twice-monthly column for The Star. “I didn’t want to do that, but I did want a house that was very low-maintenance.”

As with many contemporary homes, this one features lots of light and open space and fairly sharp angles between the rooms. A large loft overlooks the great room and serves as a home office for the couple.

Materials include hardwood flooring in common areas, industrial-style cables in the railings, and washday-white painted walls.

The wall color was chosen to highlight the home’s many large pieces of art, several by local artist Brenda Sue Nelson Hayes.
“She’s now out of my price range,” said Sheila. “Way out. But she wasn’t when I started collecting.”
The overall openness of the house allows for entertaining, a Kennedy imperative. Older homes in historic neighborhoods tend to have smaller, boxier rooms, unless they’re truly mansions.
Bob Kennedy says the big challenge was to get maximum use out of a small lot while still maintaining some privacy.

“The problem is, with an urban lot we didn’t want any grass or any yard to speak of,” Bob said. “There had to be a lot of light and as little maintenance as possible.”
Sheila refers to her home as “the house that IKEA built,” referring to the European furniture franchiser, though she’s mostly thinking of her office furniture and cabinets.
The living room features an international-style chrome and black leather reproduction Mies van der Rohe grouping, and Thonet bentwood chairs in the dining area.

The international style in architecture and furniture followed the “less is more” philosophy and emphasized extremely clean lines and basic geometric shapes. The original Thonet chair was designed by Michael Thonet in 1859 and similar styles can be found in cafes and bistros around the world.

The Kennedys say it took nine months to build the house. They vacated their old home before the new one was completed, though, and lived in a small rental property for three months./indystar.com

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