Discover Antiques and Trendy Touches in This Artwork Collector’s Dream Residence

Lizzie and Dan Routman had no plans to go away their Bluffview house of 21 years. Moreover being spacious and exquisite, with a large yard, the home had sentimental worth, too—it was the place the couple had raised their two daughters.

However a fast zip via Zillow’s newest listings a few years in the past introduced an intriguing different for the now empty nesters. Tucked away on a secluded road, on a bluff overlooking Turtle Creek, a up to date stunner designed by influential architect Bud Oglesby caught the couple’s eye. “You stroll in, and there’s all this pure mild and many home windows,” Lizzie says of the 1988-built home. “So it’s very welcoming, but it surely’s clear and modern.”

Initially designed for a pair of artwork collectors, the 5,000-square-foot residence additionally had loads of artwork partitions, a function that appealed to the Routmans as they, too, acquire artwork.

Earlier than the couple closed the deal on the home, nonetheless, they requested architect Russell Buchanan to try it as properly. As nice because it was, the house hadn’t been up to date because the ’80s, in order that they needed to get knowledgeable opinion. Buchanan confirmed what the Routmans had suspected: the home had distinctive bones, and with just some fixes, it may quickly be preferrred for the downsizing couple.

To finish their dream design staff, Lizzie and Dan enlisted inside designer Wendy Konradi, who had executed some work on their earlier house, and builder Bert Smith to work alongside Buchanan. Then they tasked the trio with, amongst different issues, fully transforming two essential areas: the kitchen and the first suite.

“The kitchen was a really small house for the size of the house, but there have been very attention-grabbing particulars that Bud Oglesby had initially designed for the home,” Konradi says, “the very best one being a full-height window that overlooks Turtle Creek.”

Initially, a set of glass higher cupboards floated in entrance of the window, providing a transparent view of the outside. The Routmans beloved the idea however felt a bit of bit like they had been in a fishbowl. Buchanan’s answer: commerce the glass cupboards for white oak to create extra sensible storage and to maintain the householders from feeling like they had been on show. “It was very a lot respecting the unique structure however making it work higher for the brand new householders,” Konradi says.

To maximise the kitchen’s footprint, Buchanan eliminated an present hearth and relocated a close-by laundry room to the second flooring. Then, to complete the house, Konradi and challenge supervisor Ashley Hunt opted for stainless-steel counter tops for the Bulthaup cabinetry and cork flooring that prolonged into the adjoining breakfast nook. “Cork is so gentle underfoot,” Konradi says. “And with tho- se stainless counter tops, it’s such a pleasant distinction.”

Just like the kitchen, the first bed room and loo additionally needed to be gutted, however in contrast to the cramped cookery, the 2 non-public areas had been greater than they wanted to be. The toilet space was particularly cavernous, a lot in order that the reworked house now homes a utility room, an train room, twin closets, and a spa-like moist room that Konradi clad in an attention-grabbing terrazzo, together with the partitions, flooring, and tub encompass.

Within the bed room, the design staff added a dividing wall between the sleeping space and sitting space, reworking what was as soon as an oversize single house into two separate and intimate areas. To up the coziness quotient even additional, Konradi wrapped all the bed room in a soothing blue cloth. “The room simply cocoons you on this wool flannel wall upholstery that’s so serene,” she says.

For the remainder of the home, Konradi centered on including shade and texture all through, in addition to integrating Lizzie and Dan’s numerous collections. “They didn’t need it to really feel like they had been in a museum,” the designer says, “however we had been very conscientious that nothing competed with the art work.”

Along with artwork, the couple has been amassing beautiful furnishings for a few years. They’ve additionally inherited a number of excellent items, together with a pair of Ward Bennett Scissor chairs that Konradi refinished and reupholstered. “We didn’t purchase all the pieces model new for this house. We reimagined so much,” Konradi says. “So it’s created this excellent layered impact, and it provides the house such soul.”

The Magic of the Combine

To maintain a room feeling recent, Konradi appears to be like to the previous and current, incorporating items from numerous eras. “I feel it’s a testomony to good design when you possibly can’t differentiate an area or piece of furnishings that’s 100 years outdated versus one thing modern that’s being executed in the present day,” she says. Within the Routman home, Konradi’s eye for combining objects from completely different time intervals is on full show within the breakfast nook (under), the place a pair of chairs designed in 2010 share house with a espresso desk from 1947—all resting in a brand-new Bulthaup kitchen. “The house isn’t staid or caught in anybody period,” she says. “These items can have this enjoyable coexistence. That occurred so much all through the house. That’s the enjoyable—getting that magic within the combine and making these items work collectively.”