A NEW LIGHT

In Sandy’s Pepperwood enclave, a team of pros returns to give their clients’ Tuscan-style home a radiant update.

BY BRAD MEE PHOTOS BY REBEKAH WESTOVER

Floral draperies frame views in the woman’s office, where a light oak ceiling, gray paneled walls, brass fixtures and a herringbonepatterned floor foster the elegance of the decidedly feminine space. The Fontaine Offset chandelier is by Visual Comfort.

OPPOSITE: Beneath a 20-foot ceiling, the remodeled staircase boasts a curved, paneled back wall and a lower front wall detailed with a reeded surface. A stylish speckled runner, white oak floors and a refined custom railing elevate the foyer’s décor.

TTwenty years ago, Tuscan style was having a heyday, seducing the design world with its dark, heavy woodwork, rich colors and ornate flourishes at every turn. The old-world style spoke to a couple building a new house in Sandy, so they hired Tri City Construction and Lucca Design to fashion an Italian-inspired home in the exclusive Pepperwood community. Two decades later, the homeowners decided to teach their residence a new language, and they enthusiastically turned to the same team of pros to help them do exactly that.

“Their home was majestic with its alder cabinetry and finish work, oil rubbed bronze fixtures, travertine floors, granite countertops and rich finishes,” recalls designer Heidi Stewart, principal of Lucca Design. But the owners had had enough of their dark and heavy décor and envisioned something more transitional. “I loved the Tuscan style, but we were ready for a change with lighter colors and woods,” the wife explains. Initially, the plan included fresh paint here and a new fixture there, but it quickly morphed into an extensive remodel with the team taking almost everything down to the studs. “To get this job done right, we knew the first step was a drastic demo that would give us a fresh slate to work with,” says Stewart, who was joined by fellow designers Kaycee Metekingi and Brooke Cude to team with Tri City Construction to reimagine the residence.

The pros began by simplifying the architecture, removing walls that interrupted flow, squaring off archways, eliminating niches and ousting dark woodwork. They also replaced travertine flooring with cathedral-cut white oak and ditched faux-finished walls, gracing their replacements with custom paneling, exquisite finish work and a paint palette of warm neutral tones and textured wall coverings. “We maintained the same level of detail in the home but with a more transitional edge,” Cude says.

BOTTOM LEFT: In the revamped hallway, crown molding and recessed lighting adorn a tray ceiling. Below, the herringbone-patterned oak floor promotes a subtle sense of movement in the space.

OPPOSITE: The dining room opens to the entry and main hallway. To give the space its own identity, the designers painted the wainscot with Sherwin-Williams’ Gateway Gray and repeated the color on new overhead beams. Grasscloth wallpaper delivers warmth and texture to reimagined space.

In the open kitchen, softly veined quartzite, oversized brass pendants and a mix of painted and white oak cabinets give the space a timeless, casual elegance. Faucet by Waterstone, appliances from MLD, and dining chandelier by Visual Comfort.

OPPOSITE TOP: The high-ceilinged family room opens to the kitchen, where a lower, tongue-andgroove oak ceiling helps delineate the space and foster its comfortable scale and size.

OPPOSITE BOTTOM: A creatively disguised Sub Zero refrigerator is concealed behind custom cabinetry embellished with panels of antiqued mirror glass.

In the entry, for example, creamy white walls adorned with custom panels and reeded detailing hug a curved staircase flaunting freshly fashioned metal railings and a voguish speckled runner. In the nearby dining room, wainscoting and a simplified coffered ceiling—both painted warm gray—join grasscloth wallcovering to deliver an updated statement of formal sophistication and transitional style. Stewart explains, “This is a great example of classic traditional elements done in a modernized way.”

The wife’s decidedly feminine office oozes chic, with its chevron patterned oak floors, beamed wood ceiling and classic wall panels dressed in pale gray. “It’s a great place to relax and an even better place to work,” she says. Custom paneling recurs in the tranquil primary bedroom, where it dresses the headboard and fireplace walls with a unique motif echoed by the new oak beams of a ceiling lowered “to make the room more comfortable and cozy,” Metekingi says.