I know. GORGEOUS, right. Just look at the window treatment with the pom-pom fringe, isn’t that fabric to die for?
With all the lovely snow this weekend, our pace at home slowed down considerably. Sports events were cancelled and no one wanted to be on the road which meant that I was able to indulge in visiting a few interior design websites. I came across this home in Richmond that completely captured me. It is elegant, yet playful – and the type of home that’s glossy and chic but also a place that looks inviting. I wanted to share the Traditional Home article with you and all the images of this amazing home!
Article from Traditional Home: Though not quite adrenaline junkies, Sasha and Mike Hogan do lean toward the extreme. She’s a marathon runner and world-traveling mountain climber, summiting Russia’s Mount Elbrus last July. He’s an investment banker, but also a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who did a Desert Storm tour shipboard on the Red Sea. So while it’s easy to imagine these two debating the latest in outdoor gear, it’s harder to visualize them fussing over floor plans and fabrics for their Richmond, Virginia, home. “Yet that just goes to show there’s two sides to everyone,” laughs Sasha, who approached the renovation of their 1930s English Revival in the city’s quiet West End as another adventure. What started as a small project went the distance as a major renovation that included additions of a new kitchen, family room, and capacious covered porch, as well as dramatic redecorating throughout.
Curb appeal and square footage—the usual catalysts for renovations—weren’t the motivating factors here. The house was charming and wasn’t terribly small. What it lacked was flow. “We enjoy entertaining, and people would get stuck in the library, kitchen, or coat closet,” Sasha explains. The poor layout also meant that entire rooms went unused daily. Sasha and Mike, their two children, and their two big dogs lived, crammed, in just a portion of the home. The house is a 1930’s English revival located in the West End of Richmond, Va. The turquoise front door adds an element of style to the vintage home.
Working alongside Ensminger, designer Kat Liebschwager tried to channel Sasha’s personality to ensure that the new and reworked spaces were a spot-on reflection of her client—colorful, fun, sophisticated. “She has a fantastic art collection and loves color. She was big into pink and orange, but we decided to tone it down to neutrals for the furniture and walls so the art could be the star,” says Liebschwager, whose style Sasha first admired at Ruth & Ollie, the designer’s popular shop in Richmond’s Carytown district. Although their project bloomed big, the Hogans weren’t cavalier with resources. “We used a lot of their existing furniture and accessories and re-covered them,” the designer says.
A large painting in the new back porch set the palette, which, though more neutral than before, is hardly timid. Its richest hue—a true turquoise—is introduced immediately at the shiny front door, which took a new arched shape in the redo. Pops of saturated turquoise leave a trail of accent color from the central hall all the way to the back porch, knitting the spaces together. The foyer and new center hall improve traffic flow.
Glamour also makes its debut in the center hall. “Sasha wanted a more sophisticated, grown-up look,” says Liebschwager, who hired a local artist to paint diamonds on the floor and tone-on-tone metallic stripes on the wall. The hallway settee is gold-leafed. “When the light hits the center hall, it shimmers like a jewel box,” she says. The art is by Sunny Goode, who also painted the walls and floor.
An arched doorway creates a graceful passage from foyer to living room. A pair of Victorian chairs got fresh upholstery: Designers Guild on the seats and arms, Cowtan & Tout on the backs.
Easier circulation between previously cloistered rooms resulted from Ensminger sorting out the spaces like the pieces of a puzzle, adding portals where none existed before. “The architect had a strong vision and did a great job with it,” Liebschwager says. She enhanced Ensminger’s work by repeating glam decorative elements to make the new connections shine. A chunky mirrored cocktail table brings sparkle to the family room addition; a round mirror behind the settee in the original living room forms a shimmery focal point. This new space opens off the living room and also adjoins the relocated kitchen and new center hall. A Patterson, Flynn & Martin rug and Cowtan & Tout drapery fabric create neutrality with the RH sofa and the homeowners’ reupholstered chairs.
Perhaps the most clever space is an arched alcove created in what was formerly the breakfast area. “We preserved the front window, added a window seat above the radiator, and a coat closet on one side and a powder room on the other,” Ensminger says. A crystal chandelier and deep turquoise accents on fabrics, pillows, and pom-pom fringe make the hardworking area as eye-friendly as a full-size room. Robert Abbey lighting adds a dressy touch to the window seat area between a closet and powder room. The space features Designers Guild fabric on the seat and window. Trim on the valance is Kravet.
Repurposed as the dining room, the former kitchen has its own glisten. A pair of mirrored doors open up to the dining room’s new china cabinet—smart use of what originally had been an alcove for the stove. For symmetry, a second pair of mirrored doors was added along the same wall, but these are dummy doors that lead only to greater reflection. Nina Campbell wallpaper makes the major statement in the dining room, a space that previously was the kitchen. A sisal rug calms the floor. White leather backs add interest to tufted chairs. A Currey & Company chandelier gains quiet glam with a single crystal swag. Silver leafing shimmers on the ceiling.
The pure, simple white of the leather chairs and a high-gloss lacquered table in the breakfast nook lets a dynamic blue oil painting by Kiki Slaughter steal attention.
One of the most beautiful rooms, the new kitchen, also is one of Sasha’s favorites. “I love it even though I’m not a huge cook,” she says. “I have way too much ADD to scramble eggs without getting distracted. My son gives me a grade on breakfast every morning!” The kitchen’s elegant but not overdone white cabinetry teams with pale turquoise tiles to transition to the new enclosed porch. An Ann Sacks glass tile backsplash adds cool color to the white cabinetry. Metal counter stools and a pair of glass lanterns continue the glam look of the other rooms. The faucet is by Perrin & Rowe from Rohl.
The new covered porch includes wicker sofas, a Wisteria glass coffee table, and aqua ottomans from Serena & Lily. Here, the turquoise pigment digs deep again, as in the center hall. “This is where we live all summer,” Sasha says.
Beyond the porch off the family room, a spacious flagstone terrace provides ample space for dining, lounging, and cooking.