An Asian Aura

Reviving mid-century modernism at CCNC

By deBor a h sal omon P ho togr a Phs By John ge s sn er

Minimalism treats space as an object. T herefore, the 6,50 0 -square-foot residence of Dr. Sun Moon K im and his wife, Sylvia Jeong min K im, flows around multiple open spaces. Light streaming onto forest and ponds creates seasonal backdrops seen through tall, unshaded windows. Fur nit ure, where required, is spare and sculpt ural.

T he result: serene, quiet, contemporar y with an A sian buzz and a transfor mative histor y.

If ever a house reflected its occupants, this is it.

Sun Moon and Sylvia are a fit, handsome, thoughtf ul Korean couple who k now what they like. T heir adorable daughters — Adr ianne, 7, and Lillian, 3 — chatter in English or Korean in a family room where toys are the only clutter.

“We don’t like clutter,” Sylvia says, with a slight f row n.

“We g rew up that way — neat, clean, no clutter,” her husband adds. A lready, the children understand tidying up.

T he environment they have created matches a descr iption of Korean architect ure as nat uralistic, simple, displaying an economy of shape and avoidance of extremes. However, the stor y of how the K ims found this house deep in the Countr y Club of Nor th Carolina residential enclave illustrates serendipit y, or luck.

Sun Moon was bor n in Brook lyn, where his father st udied medicine. He ret ur ned to Korea for seven years before settling in the United States. W hile an underg rad at Georg ia Tech he met Sylvia, a st unning Korean flight attendant who traveled worldwide for Etihad A ir ways, based in Abu Dhabi. She would ar range her flight schedule to coincide with his whereabouts. Sun Moon’s medical training and cardiolog y specialt y took him to the West Indies, Kent uck y and Chapel Hill where, now mar r ied with children, they squeezed into rented tow nhouses.

Settling in a small tow n wasn’t their agenda. However, when Sun Moon, a golfer, lear ned of the Reid Hear t Center in Pinehurst, he said, “L et’s go visit.” He was impressed not only by the medical facilities, but by the area where “k ids r un around among trees and nat ure.”

“We fell in love,” Sylvia said.

Enough in love to accept a position at Reid and look for a home that met their str ingent specifications.

Move-in condition was not one of them.

Central Nor th Carolina in the post-war 1950s was no hotbed of architect ural innovation. R anch houses with breezeway and attached garage spr ung up ever y where, interspersed with br ick Colonials, clapboard Victor ians, shingled Cape Cod cottages, a few predictable

split levels or, in gated countr y club settings, ante- and post-bellum Souther n mansions.

T hen, N.C. State Universit y College of Desig n impor ted young Japanese-A mer ican architect George Matsumoto f rom Califor nia, who introduced a st yle soon applauded around the nation: mid- cent ur y moder nism — descr ibed as ang ular, spare, flat, glass, wood and, yes, faintly A sian. Matsumoto’s homes stood in stark, of ten shock ing, contrast to their neighbors. T hey definitely required related lighting and f ur nishings, as well as amenable residents.

Because flower y chintz and wall-to -wall car pet don’t belong in mid- cent ur y moder n.

Matsumoto’s st udents and successors spread the concept through the Research Tr iangle and tr i-state areas. E d L owenstein, another moder nist who revolutionized Greensboro, sent T homas Hayes to Souther n Pines, where Hayes settled and built not only his ow n home, but several others in Weymouth, K nollwood and elsewhere.

In 1952, the all-boys club received a woman’s touch when Elizabeth Bobbitt L ee became the first of her gender to g raduate f rom the N.C. State desig n school. By 1986 L ee, now an established architect, was hired to desig n a house at CCNC.

Like its protot ypes, it was descr ibed as “ver y brow n,” meaning the exter ior faded into the wooded acreage, but its outlines suggest an A sian influence. T he K ims saw beneath the flowered chintz upholster y and wall-to -wall car pet within.

“T he architect ure was way ahead but (the inter ior) was st uck in the ’80s,” Sun Moon says. “We walked in and saw the house as our ow n sanct uar y.” In 2019 the house had been on the market for a while. “It needed total renovation.”

No problem. T hey were young, brave, strong, ready to tack le the job, in par t with their ow n hands. Besides, they found a talisman lef t hang ing on the living room wall: a large painting of a k imono, common in Korea as well as Japan.

“T his is it,” they decided, and looked no f ur ther.

Renovating a 6,50 0 -square-foot house with si x bedrooms (each with a balcony) and eight bathrooms (previously 10) while Sun Moon practiced cardiolog y and Sylvia cared for t wo young children proved a challenge. T hey acted as general contractors, hir ing professionals for plumbing and electr ical, heating and AC, but did much of the desig n and g r unt work — str ipping wallpaper, painting, car pentr y, installations — themselves. Enclosed spaces were opened, a flow established f rom the enor mous family room leading onto an equally enor mous deck, through dining room, living room (with fireplace in the center rather than on an exter ior wall), built-in bar area and hallway to all main-floor bedrooms except the master, which is located of f the family room. In the tr ue spir it of minimalism, this master bedroom is simply a low platfor m bed in a room, with tissue-fabr ic window coverings and a wall decoration composed of slats. No chairs, no chests or tables, no bureaus. Adjoining is a windowless bath- dressing roomcloset suite the size of a st udio apar tment, centered around a double shower with glass walls on three sides. T he entire house, previously car peted (even the bathrooms), is unified by PVC floorboards, a contrast to light area r ugs.

“T his is good for the k ids and the dog,” Sun Moon says.

Because the house is built on an incline the basement is above

g round, with a central room, still empt y, propor tioned for floor hockey or tr icycle races; also a k itchen and t wo g uest bedrooms with bathrooms per fect for g randparents, still in Korea.

Just outside the glass doors, the g irls play on a color f ul g ym set like those found in the best park s.

Realtors suggest a house sink s or swims in the k itchen.

T he K ims are foodies. “We live to eat,” Sun Moon says. Travel destinations include culinar y meccas. T he K ims demolished the or ig inal k itchen — huge, well- equipped by 1980s standards, with light paneled wood cabinetr y — to install a smaller version, desig ned by Sylvia, where ever y square inch has a pur pose, ever y cupboard holds enough, but not an overabundance, of dishes. W here the highest- end appliances work to optimum ef ficiency. W here the A sian aura continues in sleek black, brow n, sand and white sur faces. W here Sylvia and Sun Moon prepare beautif ul, healthy Korean and A mer ican meals.

In a bold but log ical move, this couple decided to leave almost all their f ur nishings behind and star t anew. High Point wasn’t an option. Sylvia measured caref ully, then shopped online for simple pieces, some stat uesque, others spectacular, like the dining-area chandelier. She chose neutrals, avoiding pr imar y colors except in the pr incess-st yle g irls’ rooms in pink and mint g reen.

“I looked at thousands of pict ures for inspiration but I didn’t copy any thing,” Sylvia says.

T he 5 acres sur rounding the K im residence have been lef t au naturel except for a stone walk way link ing the house and t wo ponds, one with a footbr idge, each with a geyser fountain, both large enough to accommodate fish. A nother water sculpt ure stands bet ween the circular dr ive and f ront door, creating an expectation of what lies ahead. Foliage hides the house f rom the road. Moss covers much of the g round. A zaleas and dog woods bloom in the spr ing, but for mal beds would look contr ived.

Minimalism as practiced by the K ims is more than a st yle or a

per iod, f ur nit ure or decor. “I tr y to apply it to general life,” Sylvia says. “I spend time researching before I shop, think a lot about minimaliz ing the amount of st uf f in our lives.” Buying less allows buying better. T his applies to g rocer ies and clothing.

“We want each piece of f ur nit ure to go along with the rest of the house — and let the house do the talk ing,” Sun Moon adds. “We want to breathe the house, enjoy it with five senses.”

L uck ily, husband and wife share the same taste and philosophies. Other wise, “People can get divorced when renovating a home,” Sun Moon says.

Not the K ims. T heir house represents a par tnership moving in the same direction, inspired by an A mer ican feminist trailbla zer who challenged Souther n tradition with an architect ural mode distilled f rom Frank Lloyd Wr ight, George Matsumoto, Scandinavian moder n and classic A sian, which coalesced when a Japanese-A mer ican came to R aleigh in 1948 to inspire a coter ie of architects chafing for change.

“We’ve seen photos of Miss L ee on-site,” Sun Moon says. “I think she would be proud, how we preser ved the stor y of the house and honored the architect,” in par t by ret ur ning the inter ior to its intended k ar ma. “My motto, don’t follow any one trend. Instead, do what expresses us in the best way.” PS