A New Take on Southern Charm

by Poki Hampton

IT’S NOT OFTEN that a architectural designer renovates a home for a client and then buys it for himself and his family five years later. But that’s how it worked out for Matt and Mimi Voelkel to own this charming center-hall, 125-year-old Covington cottage. “It’s our first time living in a house that I did not totally design,” says Matt, of MV Studio Designs. “We love the classic, turn-of-the-century Southern style of the house.” Being the designer that he is, Matt has made several changes and additions, which only enhance the cottage, to make it livable in the 21st century.

The clean-lined kitchen, with custom cabinets and plaster vent hood, leads into the back porch.

You enter the house from the front porch by French doors with opening sidelights. Original to the house, these pour sunlight into the entrance and provide cross ventilation, as did the long windows before the days of air conditioning. The warm, wide entrance hall has the original beadedboard ceiling and wide-plank heart pine floors. Treated as an additional room in the house, the more formal entrance is divided from the informal family room by a unique set of louvered shutters, which open to give light but close to give privacy. A comfortable white linen sofa, flanked by two goldleaf martini tables and a cantilevered black iron floor lamp provides seating. Above a mid-century-inspired stained oak sideboard are framed drawings from Matt’s 1984 thesis, while a large contemporary painting by Jean Maloney hangs at the end of the hallway.

Walk-through windows were added to the formal dining room, which now opens out onto the pool area.

The formal living room is roomy enough to hold two sofas and several comfortable club chairs. Matt added the bookcases flanking the original fireplace. Above the fireplace is an antique gilded French mirror that came from Matt’s childhood home in Old Metairie. The cabriole leg desk and chair were Matt’s father’s and originally came from the ship Cristobal, which was used to transport troops during World War II. A marble mortar and pestle used by Matt’s mother, a pharmacist, sits on a wooden pedestal column.

The newly built pavilion, with comfortable upscale furnishings, is a great place to entertain guests and family

“One of the things we wanted to do in this house was to bring more of the outdoors in and make a seamless transition between the two,” says Matt. In the dining room, creating a relationship between the house and the outdoors, he added triple walk-through windows to help achieve this. A six-foot round glass top sits on a concrete base surrounded by antique Chippendale-style chairs with grey linen slipcovered seats. Over the table is a live brass chandelier with white linen conical shades, while an antique Turkish Oushak rug anchors the room. A hickory wood French chest sits across the room from an antique armoire used as a bar; its interior is painted in a flat grey finish.

The master bedroom is tranquil and bright in shades of grey and white.

The family room is both contemporary and comfortable. A charcoal leather 1940s-inspired sectional sofa and distressed white credenza, along with two grandchild-sized chairs, make it a great place for family gatherings. The beaded-board ceiling is painted Revere Pewter, and the walls are Dove White. Over the fireplace, which is original to the house, hangs a large sunburst mirror in antique gold leaf.

An antique armoire is converted into a bar/wine cabinet in the dining room.

The original back porch was enclosed and turned into a prep kitchen and coffee bar, complete with refrigerator drawers, deep farmhouse sink and two dishwashers. Cabinets with hand-forged hardware and a center island/work table were added.

The formal living area has lots of natural light and a large seating capacity with pops of bright green for color.

In the kitchen, clean lined cabinets with inset doors are topped with White Rhino marble countertops. Recessed lighting was added, along with a mercury glass-and-iron oversized pendant light. The vent hood in the kitchen over the Le Cornue Frenchstyle range is plastered to a smooth finish. The backsplash is a combination of polished and honed White Rhino. The screened-in back porch was added in the original renovation done five years before. Matt removed the wall between the kitchen and back porch and added a peninsula bar. The porch was glassed in, creating lots of light, and the floor raised and leveled to provide a casual living and dining area. “We were able to match the wideplank heart pine floors,” says Matt. When they have family night, they can pull out the two trestle tables, move them in front of the sofa, add chairs and 14 can sit to dine or play games.

Over the original fireplace hangs an antique gilded mirror.

The back porch opens onto the old brick patio, dappled in sunlight, which holds a magnificent limestone corbel salvaged from a Manhattan bank building. It is topped with a concrete top to create a table. The back steps are flanked by two concrete columns holding concrete obelisques. The property had a wide-open space with mature trees and hedges, creating a courtyard which becomes a private oasis, complete with a bubbling fountain in an antique syrup kettle. Matt designed and created a pavilion for entertaining, which is centered on the lawn behind the pool. The construction of the pavilion is painted brick with flush mortar, vertical butted wood walls and Pennsylvania blue stone floors, with a weathered washed-corrugated metal roof. A wood-burning fireplace and wood stacks are built into the brick wall. Contemporary sconces and hanging lanterns by Ralph Lauren and recessed lighting allow the partying to continue after dark. The outdoor furnishings are a weatherproof version of old-fashioned caning on a steel base, with a white-metal cocktail table.

An oversized mortar and pestle was once used by Matt’s mother.

“Having an opportunity to keep the authenticity of a 125-year-old historic home, yet give it my own twist to both update and adapt it to the needs of our family, was a joy and very rewarding. I feel so fortunate to have my three married adult children and four grandchildren in the same neighborhood,” says Matt.

The glassed-in back porch is a favorite place for the family to gather.