Photography by Rikki Snyder
New-construction homes offer a blank slate, but that doesn’t mean they have to feel brand-new.
These three designers thoughtfully layered architectural details and timeless finishes to create homes with the warmth, character, and sense of history found in storied properties.
At her new-build home in Minnesota, interior designer Krysta Gibbons wanted to ensure the exterior matched the neighborhood. As a lover of old homes, she felt building a new home in a historic neighborhood was a responsibility, and she wanted to honor its history.
It was the small details that made people ask her, “When did you do the remodel?” From the window trim to hand-chiseled oak floors to the absence of recessed can lights, each decision led to the truly timeless feel at home.
“I love all the details that we put into this house that really trick the eye,” Gibbons said.
When designer Kat Bailey added a second floor to her Birmingham home, she kept the little details front of mind. She and her husband fell in love with the home’s charm and large yard for their four boys. But the square footage needed to grow to meet their family’s needs.
“It was built in the 1920s, and I didn’t want to change that style. So adding on was really…I’m not going to say simple because it wasn’t simple, but the style of the home was not going to be changed,” Bailey said. “So it was really just about making the function of the home match the style.”
This was accomplished with matching old trim to new trim around windows and doors, matching new doors and handles to the existing ones, and keeping the home’s original roof lines.
Jennifer Beek Hunter said her family’s Connecticut country house was modeled after period homes with a closed floor plan in the front, but she balanced tradition with modern sensibility, like an open kitchen and family room.
“Being a traditional designer and also an architect, it was so important to me to really pay homage to the area and the history here,” Hunter said. “So, I actually drove around and studied period doors, hardware, moldings, all of the architecture around me, and that is what drove this home.”
Similarly, Gibbons’ home opens into a traditional foyer with checkerboard floors and a formal dining room, then flows into a large family space.
“The rest of the home certainly is more open than older homes, but it is very true to an old house style in which there are designated rooms,” Gibbons said. “And that was important to me again to keep the character of what would have been an older house, but also as a designer, it’s the opportunity to start and finish finishes.”
Exterior color choices helped Hunter’s new home blend with the surrounding historical architecture, drawing from neighboring creamy white facades with hunter green shutters.
“I really wanted the house to feel like it’s been here forever,” Hunter said.
In her living room, Hunter expertly mixes old and new. A historic-inspired mantel blends with a more modern color palette.
“The dark purple high gloss walls are very traditional, but as this is my own home and I love a fresh take on traditional, I was like, ‘why not mix it up with bright pops of green chartreuse,’ and then it kind of just evolved from there,” Hunter said.
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