Good Judgment

A retiring judge’s Plymouth condo takes a threedecade leap into au courant coolness

INTERIOR DESIGN:

KATHLEEN MCGOVERN STUDIO OF INTERIOR DESIGN, GROSSE POINTE PARK

TEXT:

PATTY LANOUE STEARNS

PHOTOGRAPHY:

JEFF GARLAND

As he was approaching retirement from his position as chief judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals and Court of Claims, this homeowner looked around his condo near downtown Plymouth and decided his digs needed a change, too. While the condo is in a wonderful neighborhood and he can walk everywhere, the interior needed work.

“I thought, I’ve got to freshen it up,” he recalls. “It was kind of stale, if you know what I mean.”

He contacted interior designer Kathleen McGovern at her eponymous Grosse Pointe Park studio and asked if she would come and take a look. He knew he wanted something modern yet classic as he entered the next chapter of his life.

A NEW CHAPTER

Above: You can’t miss the kitchen’s pretty Pewabic tiles, interspersed throughout the luminous blue Seneca hand-molded backsplash. Left: An inviting living room with all the classics provides the homeowner with a cozy spot for entertaining.

As they toured his 1,600-square-foot condo, built in the late 1970s, deciding what would stay and what had to go, the judge remembers telling McGovern he liked this or that furnishing, “and there would be silence,” he says with a laugh. “I could hear her wheels turning, but I couldn’t read her.”

McGovern and her assistant, Lynn Simlar, say the judge was a delight to work with, even though they were faced with many challenges — including transforming a dated palette of sunny yellow, gold, and red; popcorn ceilings; and some very last-century appointments. “He acquiesced when it came to a total re-do of his kitchen. And I gladly accepted two chinoiserie cabinets and a handful of Baker pieces,” the designer recalls.

“The living room had a strong blue influence, which transitioned into aquamarine in the dining room. We painted the living room ceiling a soft blue-gray (Sherwin-Williams’ Network Gray),” she adds, “and the kitchen looks great in blues, too — it’s beautifully bedecked with a luminous blue Seneca hand-molded tile with Pewabic’s famous decorative inserts placed strategically throughout the backsplash.”

“They really made a handsome space,” the judge adds.

“The important backgrounds were all up for grabs,” McGovern says. “We replaced all the original tile floors with 4.5-inch plank hardwood, replaced carpeted areas with wools, and selected beautiful handmade rugs for the kitchen, foyer, dining room, and bathrooms.”

McGovern’s team also updated the wall coverings and paint in every room, and “the luxury bath that was on his original list, along with the guest bath, were gutted and transformed into beautiful, functional rooms complete with heated floors, body sprays, and favorite pieces of art,” she says.

A total re-do of the window treatments was required to complete the library, and a mini office was created from the den’s walk-in closet and painted a brilliant green (“Just so it didn’t feel like a cave with no windows,” McGovern explains) with a sliding barn door, to keep any mess out of sight.

The judge loves McGovern’s stunning changes, and when he sees his neighbors he invites them in for a tour, to give them ideas of what could be done to their condos.