By George!

Stacye Love breathes new life into a Georgian-style home for a young family.

Written by Bridget Williams / Photos by Justin Jordan

While indulging in sepia-toned moments of nostalgia can impart the kind of cozy comfort akin to wrapping up in a plush blanket on a cold night, too much can grate like an LP looping at a scratch. After Shane Huffman and his wife Kimber acquired "Someday," a grand Georgian-style home resting atop 20 verdant acres, from Shane’s grandmother Ethel Huffman, an emotional tug-of-war between preserving Shane’s childhood memories and creating their own vision of "home" for their six children ensued. Enter builder and interior designer Stacye Love, who helped usher the couple through a spectacular transformation.

Originally part of a 1,000-acre farm, the 10,000-square-foot home was built in 1950 and modeled after Mount Vernon, George Washington's home in Fairfax County, Virginia. Neil and Ethel Huffman purchased it in 1974 and made minor modifications over the years, keeping a traditional floorplan and adding lots of wallpaper. "It was exactly what you'd anticipate a grandmother's house would look like," said Love.

Love is unique in that she has developed her skill set to be a soup-to-nuts builder, able to be the point person from the drawing board to selecting bed linens in the finished home. Having grown up in the business and hearing it talked about ad nauseam, she resolved to do something completely different as an adult and became an attorney. It wasn't until she came across what she called a "disastrous but incredible" opportunity to renovate a home in Cherokee Gardens that a lightbulb went off. "It's certainly way more fun than practicing law," Love emphatically expressed. She said that as she moved from remodeling to custom home building, it was a natural progression to marry construction with interior design.

For the Huffman estate, Love brought in architect Frank Pierce to help the couple create the drama they sought. "Frank really exceeded my expectations by incorporating front-to-back and side-to-side views that take advantage of the vast landscape and respect the integrity of the original architecture," she explained.

While they didn't add square footage, there wasn't a room left untouched. "The bones of the house were incredibly giving," Love stated, adding that the ability to gut the ceiling joists enabled removal of the original roofline and the creation of a cathedral ceiling in the new first floor primary suite and kitchen and a dramatic barrel ceiling in the family room that was craned in. In addition, reworking each door and window opening to minimize casement and opting for Crittall-style black steelframed windows and doors lends an entirely fresh look on the outside and enhances the inside's crisp design.

The entirety of the first floor is painted a pleasing linen hue with just enough pigment to keep it from looking too stark.

Acknowledging that HVAC is completely unglamorous, Love nonetheless expressed great satisfaction in relocating the home's HVAC units from their visible perch on the roof to a less discernable ground-level location. No small undertaking, several months of demolition work involved removing "miles" of copper pipe embedded in the plaster walls.

A crane was used to set the trusses for the dramatic barrel vault ceiling in the family room.

Except for a soft grey accent wall in the living room, the entirety of the first floor is painted a pleasing linen hue with just enough pigment to keep it from looking too stark. Love remarked that the bold blue hue of the chenille sectional in the living room was a hard sell to Shane, a die-hard UofL fan, but it has since become a favorite place for the family to pile on. "We had 'museum rooms' in the homes where I grew up, and I have rebelled against that notion as an adult by making design choices that make every space user-friendly," Love explained.

A bold blue chenille sectional adds a pleasing pop of color in the largely monochromatic design.

Removing a closet underneath the curved staircase in the entry exposes its unique architecture and complements the ethereal environs. Furniture and accessories here and throughout the home are deliberate, incorporating natural materials accentuated by flourishes of gold that add a discernable level of warmth to the rooms.

Builder Stacye Love is quick to give architect Frank Pierce credit for devising a floor plan that connects the home with the surrounding acreage.

Created by combining several rooms on the first floor, the primary suite runs from the front to back. Love said that a fireplace in what is now the primary bath and used to be the formal living room created a particular design challenge, conquered by having the wood mantle replaced and the brick covered with large-scale porcelain tile that mimics travertine.

A fireplace across from the vanity in what is now the primary bath and used to be the formal living was remade with large-scale porcelain tile that mimics travertine covering the original brick.

The remainder of the first floor is a largely open concept with multiple access points to expansive outdoor entertaining and recreation areas. Envisioned in collaboration with Pierce and Picture Perfect Landscaping, these include a pool with an integrated spa, a pair of columned cabanas, an outdoor kitchen, and a firepit. The strategic use of pea gravel in pathways and ancillary seating areas softens the abundance of hardscaping. Firebowls resting atop a pair of pilasters mark the stairs leading to the cardinal red multi-sport court. Pierce added gravitas to the secondary entrance near what Love described as a "family heirloom" tree by adding a gabled roof and Tuscan columns that match those framing the front door.

Love opted for a multidimensional rubbed stain finish on the kitchen cabinets, achieved through a meticulous seven-step process. There's palpable symmetry between design elements that encompass an oversized quartz waterfall island, zinc range hood, and an eight-light rectangular chandelier.

This multi-year project isn't the only contemporary home that Love has built, which she sees as an indication that even the traditional Bluegrass State is becoming more open to this style. She added that she enjoys working across different architectural styles and had never replicated a project. "What makes design enrapturing to me is if it's fully developed, whatever the genre, and truly represents the people who live there."