Images from Manor House Studio showroom.
For Robert “Bob” and Amanda Hasemeier, Manor House Studio is more than just owning a business. It’s also carrying the legacy of Ed Lank Kitchens, the landmark local business that previously held the same spot for decades in downtown Lemoyne.
Manor House specializes in kitchen design and remodeling, continuing to carry the same Wood-Mode custom cabinetry line that Lank once sold. The Hasemeiers also honor Lank’s customer warranties.
“We are the only representatives in this area who sell Wood-Mode,” Bob said.
The husband-and-wife team took over the business at the suggestion of a Lank team designer, Philip Gramley, who, like several other former Lank employees, now works for Manor House Studio.
Gramley already knew the Hasemeiers as regular Lank customers. Upon opening Manor House, Amanda and Bob were acquainted with Lank’s signature cabinetry brand, Wood-Mode, Inc., of Snyder County. The couple had used Lank’s house brand when twice remodeling their century-old home in New Cumberland, as well as a previous home in Utica, N.Y.
“Our cabinets are made in Pennsylvania with sustainable wood and a forest management system that replaces trees that are cut down for production,” Bob said.
Uptick
In summer 2018, Gramley was helping the Hasemeiers restore their home’s partially renovated kitchen after a flood when he mentioned that Lank was retiring. Until then, Bob, a professional engineer, considered himself mostly retired. Amanda, too, had retired after a mapping career for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“I had mixed feelings about (doing) this,” Amanda recalled recently. “At first, I didn’t want to be tied down to something again, but it grew on me. I get to meet lots of people here, and it keeps the intellect sharp. We’re really a part of the community here, and we like making people happy.”
Like most business owners, though, things don’t always go smoothly, or as expected, for the Hasemeiers. Just months after the showroom opened in late 2018, Wood-Mode halted factory production for five months, leaving Manor House Studio without a cabinetry supplier. In the interim, Bob contracted Architects Millshop of Clinton County as an additional supplier.
“That was a fun summer,” Amanda said. “He had to go to a lot of places to find something.”
In March 2020, Manor House showrooms closed to the public under pandemic orders and would remain so for weeks. The business’ website and phone remained active, so Amanda and Bill continued to meet customers by appointment, with all masked.
As the pandemic stretched into months, Bill said that he didn’t really notice an uptick in home kitchen remodels so much as an increase in residential bathroom re-dos. Plus, as in most of the United States, Manor House customers still are waiting longer than “normal” for merchandise to ship.
“It used to be eight weeks for a kitchen order. Now it’s usually over 12 weeks,” Bob said. “As soon as a client decides what they want, we start to purchase their product. We want to be dependable about when customers get our products.”
Trending
When asking senior designer Gramley about the latest in kitchen design trends, don’t expect a short answer. He’s quick to retrieve multiple examples of the newest home modeling styles available to customers at Manor House.
“Curved tabletops are out,” he said. “Red oak finishes are out, but white oak is hot. Walnut also is hot now for cabinet finishes. People now also are going for combination finishes with wood accents.”
He laid out several display samples before him.
“Traditional flat cabinet doors are in,” he continued. “Cabinet doors are made thicker now, too, at 1- or ¾-inch thick.”
Other trends include painted glass cabinet doors, open shelving, auto interior cabinet lights and retracting pet dish drawers, among others.
Manor House staff also comprises project manager Steve Kephart and interior designer Patti Vogel, as well as a trusted team of contractors and subcontractors.
Alex Minoff of Hampden Township said that he’s one of Manor House’s satisfied customers. Their team recently redid his family’s home kitchen in about a month with new cabinets, paint, LED ceiling lights, and “a really cool light that hangs over the peninsula.”
“They explained all of the project phases to us and did everything on time,” Minoff said.
Not surprisingly, Minoff said he “highly recommends” Manor House Studio.
“Everything they did exceeded our expectations,” he said. “They did an exceptional job.”
Manor House Studio is located at 313 Market St., Lemoyne. For information or to make an appointment, call 717-737-3733 or visit www.manorhouse.studio.
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