CASE STUDY
SNOW ROAD
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Custom cabinetry designed for the way a family gathers
Set in the woods near Berrien Springs, Michigan, Snow Road was built as a gathering place for children, grandchildren, and extended family.
The home needed to work for large gatherings and still feel right when it was just the homeowners. Coppes Napanee partnered with designer Nick Juday of The Design Studio and builder Homes by Legacy to build custom cabinetry and architectural millwork for nearly every room in the home.
THE DETAILS
PROJECT AT A GLANCE
LOCATION
Berrien Springs, MI
DESIGNER
Nick Juday | The Design Studio
BUILDER
MATERIALS
Plain-sliced white oak in Fawn stain, porcelain-painted cabinetry, powder-coated metalwork.
THE CHALLENGE
Create one cohesive design language across an entire home.
Plain-sliced white oak runs through the entire project, softening the home's clean, modern architecture. True natural oak reads more yellow than most homeowners picture when they ask for a "natural" look, so Coppes developed a custom stain — the Fawn stain — that achieves a more consistent natural appearance than a clear topcoat alone. Because wood tone still varies piece to piece, material selection and finishing had to be managed carefully to keep the cabinetry consistent from room to room.
The design also called for details a standard cabinet line couldn't resolve: floor-to-ceiling cabinetry, oversized appliance panels, cabinetry wrapping outside corners, integrated wall treatments, a concealed pantry door, and a combination of inset and framed full-overlay construction.
Coppes’ role was to translate those ideas into solutions that could be manufactured, installed, and used confidently for years.
Three Custom Solutions
Concealed Sliding
Pantry Door
The oversized pantry door needed to match the scale, material, and detailing of the surrounding cabinetry. A standard sliding-door track would have shown hardware and broken the clean composition. Coppes found a concealed mechanism that stays hidden whether the door is open or closed. The result is a pantry entrance that reads as part of the cabinetry, not a separate architectural element.
Architectural Slat Wall
A floor-to-ceiling slat wall separates the living and dining areas while keeping the spaces visually connected. Coppes set the material dimensions, spacing, and construction method needed to hold the wall's precise rhythm and reduce the risk of long wood components twisting or warping over time. The finished wall creates definition without sacrificing openness.
Custom Shelving System
The entry and office shelving combines white oak, finished in the same custom stain used throughout the home, with slender black metal supports. Coppes designed custom powder-coated brackets that provide strength without adding visual weight. Instead of reading as exposed hardware, the supports become part of the composition. The result is a shelving and media system that's architectural, open, and fully integrated into the home.
Partnership Through Completion
Complex custom projects rarely reveal every answer at the beginning.
Coppes stayed involved as the project moved from drawings to fabrication, installation, and move-in. The team worked through finish consistency, nonstandard dimensions, shelving placement, rollout adjustments, and final details as the homeowners began using the spaces.
That commitment was especially clear at the end of the project. On July 3, Coppes President Wesley Mast stayed on-site until 5:00 p.m. to help finish the work so the family could move into their new home in time for July 4.
Wesley Mast
“We are willing to think through how to make a vision and concept a reality, and we stay with the project until the very end.”
THE RESULT
Snow Road shows what becomes possible when cabinetry is treated as part of the architecture, not a collection of standard products.
The finished home holds up for large family gatherings and still feels right in quieter moments. Consistent materials connect the rooms. Custom details give each space its own purpose and character.
Most importantly, the homeowners gained a partner they could trust to stay engaged until every detail was complete.
150 YEARS OF CRAFTSMANSHIP
BRING US THE PROJECT THAT REQUIRES MORE
Coppes Napanee works with dealers, designers, builders, and architects to turn ambitious ideas into carefully built realities.
From custom finishes and complex dimensions to whole-home cabinetry and integrated architectural millwork, our team solves the details a standard cabinet line can't.