photo by Laura of Pembroke
Johnny and Susan Sirpilla love change. In their 33 years of marriage, they’ve owned six different homes — all custom built to their specifications.
“We love designing a new home from scratch on paper and working with an architect to fulfill the vision we have,” Johnny says.
Their latest home, a 9,600-square-foot two-story house on 33 acres in North Canton, also has an additional pool house — plus a barn for storage and events. The modern farmhouse feel is a departure from their previous houses, some of which were designed with a Tuscan influence among other styles.
“Our first house was a Nantucket contemporary,” Johnny says. “This is a bookend to that. We liked the combination of classic Tudor shapes with an updated contemporary feeling.”
In 2021, they enlisted the help of builder Memmer Homes and Johnny's sister, Laura Sirpilla Bosworth — the namesake of Laura of Pembroke, a Canton boutique and interior design studio. This is the fourth project Bosworth has worked on for the couple.
“I helped bring out their vision,” she says. “They knew what they wanted, their taste level is bar none, it’s incredible and it’s fun. They have a real passion for design and a love of style and home furnishing.”
The house’s exterior is white-painted brick and board-and-batten vertical siding, capped with a black asphalt and metal roof. Other black accents continue the color scheme throughout the main floor, creating a starkly clean look.
“We saw the house in a lot of black and white,” Johnny says.
The front door opens into a 25 by 23-foot great room with antique chandeliers and a 25-foot beamed cathedral ceiling. “It allows the room to breathe,” Bosworth says. The room also features a black mosaic tile fireplace with clear-backed chairs and open metal and glass shelf bookcases on both sides.
The Sirpillas have three children — sons Beau and Stone and daughter Bella. Although they currently live away, they’re welcome home at any time. The couple have a master suite on the main floor, and there are four bedrooms upstairs — a guest room and rooms for each of their children. Interesting touches include a zigzag pink-and-gray tile shower in Bella’s bathroom and a unique teak tree-ring headboard with a smoked truffle finish in Beau’s bedroom.
The clean look is emphasized throughout the kitchen, featuring a 17-foot white quartz island. There are no upper cabinets — an Italian white glaze tile backsplash was installed in their place. The refrigerator and freezer have arboreal facades, matching the white cabinets and helping them blend into the walls. A hidden butler’s pantry with upper cabinets and shelves, bold black-and-white floral wallpaper and a stainless-steel refrigerator adds functionality.
The dining room’s custom alder wood table provides seating for 12 with a glam rustic chandelier overhead. A captivating ombre see-through fireplace and a climate-controlled, glass-encased wine room make for beautiful dinner views.
The Sirpillas have a large extended family, most of whom are in Stark County. Their home is a hub for gatherings. Bosworth notes the party-proof provisions: the kitchenware is made of strong melamine, the dining room table is specially sealed to avoid staining and the neutral sectional furniture in the great room is upholstered in commercial fabric, making it easy to clean.
The practicality continues in the master bathroom, where the Sirpillas installed a wet room for the first time — a glassed-in area that includes a modern freestanding black bathtub with a white inlay, a shower with black-and-white geometric tile walls and a drain in the floor. “My favorite tile work in the house is the black and white in the master bath,” Johnny says.
The master bedroom features a clear Lucite-framed bed — “so you can see the floral wallpaper,” Bosworth says. The nightstands and dresser are Chanel-influenced, black with metal floral handles. A sitting room is also nearby, affording a view of their property.
A three-story wood and metal open stairwell with artwork, full-size windows and a modern chandelier outfitted with hanging crystals leads up to the second floor — as well as down to a furnished basement featuring a bar and weight room. Most of the entertaining, however, happens on the main level.
The back doors can be completely opened onto a patio with a dramatic black-and-white patterned inlaid tile floor. (Johnny says that, in the summer, they can usually be found watching TV there.) Beyond the patio is an in-ground swimming pool, a hot tub and a fire pit. The nearby pool house, nautical-themed, features a wall of windows that opens completely.
Outside, there’s a pragmatic touch — the yard is outfitted with artificial turf to keep the ground from getting muddy.
“We were never satisfied with our Ohio houses around the pools,” Johnny says. “Once we did pavers, and once we did finished cement. We wanted a cleaner look, and we didn’t want any mowing.”
The Sirpillas designed the home with entertainment in mind. Now it has become a hub for extended family gatherings — from the pool to the patio to the great room.
“We wanted to have a new space to create family memories,” Johnny says.
