CARMEL CONVERSION

Reimagining a classic ranch

Written by Neil Charles / Photographed by Andrew Kung

From the street, in a leafy neighborhood in northwest Carmel, our featured home looks to all intents and purposes identical to many others in the area. A simple stone-clad ranch from the mid-1970s, it sits well back from the street amidst mature trees, sprawling lawns, and neatly tended flower beds. “It’s a typical, classic neighborhood,” says owner and well-respected designer Dianne Wright, who with her husband, musician Tim Wright, have transformed this modest abode into an absolute gem of functional elegance.

Dianne Wright in the gallery she co-owns

“We had been living in an apartment for a number of years,” says Dianne. “Two of our three daughters and nine grandchildren were living in east Carmel, so we began looking for a house in that area.” Outbid twice, in 2017, the Wrights expanded their search and eventually found a home in the Village of Mount Carmel that fit some of the designer’s requirements. “It had to be a ranch with a brick or stone exterior,” she says.

There were a thousand other ranches in the area that looked the same, but the thing that made this one different was how far the home was set back.

Walking through the house for the first time, Dianne was struck by how compartmentalized the layout was. Measuring a typical 2,000 square feet, the space was cramped, with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. “For our needs, it was not livable,” she says. “But when you do what I do, you learn to see through walls. You see things not as they are, but what they have the potential to become. But it did have good bones, so I didn’t pay any attention to what I saw.”

The open kitchen is a hub for entertaining. A stunning marble backsplash is a kitchen focal point.

By replacing load-bearing walls with a structural beam and creating a cathedral ceiling in the living room area, the designer completely transformed the feel and character of the home. The previous owner had recently installed new windows, and roof repair was negotiated in the sale, so some of the major costs were mitigated, but it was a vast project nonetheless. “There was so much that needed to be done,” says Dianne. “As a designer, sometimes it’s very hard to make decisions as I know that there are so many options.” Four bedrooms became three with a luxurious his-and-hers master bathroom, and storage space was built in wherever practical. For his part, Tim kept mostly to the sidelines.

The dining area feels separate, though part of the open layout. The fireplace adds a cozy feel to the kitchen/dining area.

I don’t tell him how to make music, and he doesn’t tell me about design, she says.

The master bedroom is luxe, yet restrained, with a soothing, earth-toned palette.

With a wish list that included soapstone countertops, a beamed ceiling, and white oak floors, the designer set about creating exactly the kind of environment that she and her husband wished to inhabit, with ample space for her children and grandchildren to visit on weekends. “It’s a very communal home, and I love that. My daughters both have large houses, but they all prefer to gather here.”

Drawing her influences from all over, Dianne does not adhere to a particular design style. “The designing is what I personally like,” she says. “You don’t have to adhere to any hard and fast rule.” Combining modern, traditional, French, West Coast, you name it, her home expresses a truly personal aesthetic while allowing function to share top billing. As in her own home, so with her business, Dianne encourages her clients to follow their own instincts and personal tastes. “As a designer, it’s not important to have my stamp on a project. It’s their home, and I want it to look collected and to represent what is interesting to them. I don’t want someone to look at the home and recognize this as a Dianne Wright project. It’s not about me.” Wright advises clients to “shop at home” initially, picking through their own fixtures and furnishings before resorting to purchasing anything new. “There’s no challenge in just designing everything and buying it at the store,” she says. “It’s just not interesting.”

Ornately framed paintings provide an interesting contrast to rustic furniture.

In addition to operating her own design business, Dianne is co-proprietor with Jane Eckert of Coats Wright Art & Design at 1057 E. 54th Street in Indianapolis, where she offers a highly personalized selection of art and artifacts for her clients. “I believe that art should provide the foundation for design,” she says. “I start with art; the colors in a piece of art will inform the color palette in a room. What’s trending is of no interest to me. Good taste is what should guide you, not what is fashionable.”

High ceilings give the living room an airy, open feel. The stone fireplace anchors the room and echoes the feeling of the home’s exterior.

Certainly, good taste and judgment never grow old. A well-known designer confided in us a few years ago that his biggest fear was that his work would become dated; however, when it comes to the design aesthetic of Dianne Wright, “timeless” is the perfect description.