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Former owner Marjorie Cord Bra ndon (above) in the early 1950s. " She showed up out of the blue and knocked on our door, like Rose from [the film] 'Titani,," homeowner Chris Keller says, recalling her memorable visit. LEFT Keller, Charles Wolford, a nd their dog, Samui, at their home's remodeled entrance.
BLACK BEARS AMBLE through the yard, deer and great blue heron can be spotted through the windows, and kayakers race by all summer long. When Chris Keller and Charles Wolford first laid eyes on their home in Three Rivers, California, near Sequoia National Park, they instantly knew it was a one-of-akind opportunity. "You don't have many homes with a river underneath the dining room;' Wolford says. The home was designed in the 1940s by the late architect Frank Roberts (a student of Frank Lloyd Wright's) as a simple cabinlike sb.ucture on one bank of the river. After owner Elmer Cord died in the 1950s, his widow, Marjorie Cord Brandon, moved away and the house slowly fell into disrepair. At some point, an addition was built over the water. It took local contractor Larry Jules, who bought the home in 2003, to resurrect and reimagine the house-complete with a remodeled dining room 102
Sunset June 2008
over the river and a glass-bottomed floor by the bar. Soon after their purchase, Keller and Wolford launched into their own makeover, installing clean, contemporary elements such as bamboo flooring, black slate floors imported from India, Flor carpet tiles, and George Nelson light fixtures. "I like the creative aspect," Keller says of the decorating process. "But I also like digging holes and planting trees. It gets me out of my head." A year after Keller and Wolford moved in, they received an unexpected guest. Marjorie Cord Brandon, now 95, showed up with her collection of old photos and told them about her husband's dream of building an addition over the river one day. With tears in her eyes she said, "My husband is smiling somewhere." INFO Go to sunset.com/riverhouse for more about the house and its furnishings. >104
D Aside from the living room's new slate floors, this 1940s photograph (above) is not far off how the space looks today. Now a moss-colored sofa complements the original rock fireplace and slanted wood ceiling. The hand-tufted New Zealand wool rug and stone pillow evoke the textures of the river.
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Tne most remarkable aspe.ct of the house Is that even its wntemporary additions feel as timeless as the river itself.
1. MIDCENTURY-INS.PIRED LANAI This spa~e was built in 2004; Ketler and Wolford brought in their own modern toUJ:hes, including an arcing.chrome floor lamp. 2. WINDOWS AS WALLS Floor>-to-ceillng glass helps the couple commune with natu(e even when indoors. "It's like Looking at Na.tio.na! Geograp_hic while st.ill having sate_llite¡TV,'' Keller says. 3.COZVNOOK Cutti.ng-.edge elements with a natural bent, su:ch as sustalr~able bamboo flooring al'ld a custom-made resin door emb.edded with bear grass,. are mellowed by the era-appropJiat.e vintage. Eames chair in the corner. 4. GLASS-BOTTOMED BAR It's the most striking interior feature and th.e favored b¡reak.fast par~h for Keller a.nd Wolford, who often spot schools of rainbow trout swimming beneath their feet.
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Sunset June 2008