Historic Tudor Update
This vibrant and well-traveled couple had settled for nearly a decade inside their historic 1920’s Tudor Revival. They maintained and highly valued the original details of the home, including brick and limestone exteriors, a slate roof, copper gutters, inlaid marquetry wood floors, leaded and stained glass windows plus antique doors and door hardware. They had been implementing careful design upgrades along the way. The clients requested the upstairs master suite to essentially be overhauled to complete the Tudor charm they sought. Our interior design team followed through by shoring up the sagging master bedroom ceiling and adding a dramatic custom coffered millwork effect complete with a new decorative flush mount light fixture and integrated ambient / accent lights. In this master suite, we also created more storage with a new custom-designed freestanding solid wood wardrobe and deployed new wall colors above and below the chair rail. An existing master closet benefited from a retrofit with additional shelving, hooks, flush mount lighting fixtures and new wall color as well. Existing furnishings were otherwise reused, including the client’s collection of wall tapestries from their travels.
The adjoining master bathroom had been last renovated in the 1970’s and was very outdated including the materials and floor plan. The clients desired a new bath tub and shower combination in this very small space by opening up of the existing dark shower space. In keeping with the historic nature of the home, new bathroom finishes were selected to reflect the interior of a gorgeous new bathroom of the roaring 1920’s, all with a very clean edge. The new bathroom design plan also included a luxury heated custom mosaic floor tile. Five custom colors in a small matte ceramic mosaic hexagonal floor tile were patterned to liven up the space and scale well to this small bathroom’s footprint. A new soaker tub mounted under white quartz was completed with polished chrome plumbing fixtures to add glamour and function for a bath or a luxuriating shower. The new tub /shower was outfitted with 3/8” tempered custom estate glass enclosure and chrome bow-tie pulls. The existing vanity was well-designed but was replaced with a custom solid maple unit and better function including soft close doors and drawers. The new maple vanity was outfitted with the matching white quartz counter top and retro “hot” and “cold” faucet taps. Finishing touches completing this retro bath revival include a customer glossy black mirror and Art Deco chrome vanity light over the sink plus other task and accent lights, new chrome decorative bath hardware, and a new wall color brought from a tone in the custom mosaic tile. This 1920’s Art Deco inspired bath emerged to perfectly compliment the period of the home, ready for years of relaxing use.
Lastly, on the client’s primary wish list was to somehow add better lighting to illuminate their dining room, which was woefully under lit, for entertaining and dinner parties. They craved a beautiful, statement piece chandelier. Based on the photos they presented plus the scale of the table and room itself, we recommended a pair of new leaded crystal chandeliers and a pair of decorative wall sconces to flank their fireplace. We also added 31 new recessed light housings into the ceiling, including pin spots above each place setting. The designers deployed multiple wraps of period-appropriate ceiling moldings to calm the lighting plan and call the eye up for more spaciousness. Existing artwork was brought to life with slim hard-wired art lights above each painting, all on dimmers of course. The master design plan also included elevating their existing furnishings through the selection of new upholstery textiles for mixed-style dining chairs, adding a new double rod silk strié drapery over a sheer to anchor one end of the room, a new large marine-grade custom area rug and new wall color. At the client’s request, all existing artwork and furnishings were reused.
The end results throughout all spaces were a nod to the period of the home and the incorporation of specific requests from the clients to create cohesive and luxurious new finishes interspersed with their current furnishings achieving truly magnificent results!