Captivated by the idea of a vibrant atrium for his plants, despite the home’s outdated and dark layout, this homeowner reached out to Trove Homes to transform his house into an elegant space that now features a bright European revival style. Photographer, Craig Keene, beautifully captured every detail of this light-filled haven including the remodeled solarium perfect for entertaining.
From the designer… This home sat on the market for quite some time due to its awkward layout, lack of natural light, and dated appearance. The homeowner first fell in love with the home because of the potential to create an indoor atrium for all of his plants. And who doesn’t want to host a cocktail hour in a plant filled atrium all year round? The overarching remodel vision was to create a more natural flow throughout the home while incorporating more light. The homeowner enjoys world travel, cooking, horticulture, and entertaining, so the more specified remodel vision prioritized: the addition of a massive prep kitchen; refining and highlighting the indoor solarium; implementation of old-world European architectural design elements, and creating plenty of spaces for people to congregate.
The existing kitchen was very dark and awkward. Adding more light in the kitchen, a serving station in addition to the island, and space for produce all played to the client’s culinary obsession. Creating a sizable prep kitchen was imperative but we didn’t want to sacrifice any of the existing square footage so an addition was made to the home. We were able to use the existing back porch framework to create this space. The homeowner really wanted the prep kitchen to stand on its own but still have harmony with the kitchen so we landed on a paint color called “Herbal Escape”. We love how the name fits the space because this is where a majority of the herb pots thrive, and the color complements the kitchen so well.
The original stone fireplace was another reason the homeowner fell in love with the house but, sadly after much deliberation, the decision was made to demo this structure as it completely blocked the kitchen from the dining room. However, this really was the inspiration to clad the walls in the kitchen in stone and the result is perfect. We also love how these old houses give us so much inspiration and the opportunity to give a nod to a time from the past but is still relevant as we reimagined and recreated a space.
We were challenged with the conversion of a largely inaccessible and awkward library nook into a sizable brick barrel vault ceiling hallway that leads from the atrium courtyard to the great room. Structural limitations kept the barrel vault hallway from falling on center with the line of sight to the living room cast stone fireplace. The use of three, varying sized spherical chandeliers allowed for an optical illusion to the sub-conscience that visually re-centered the barrel vault hallway on the living room.
We wanted to the solarium to have a garden feel but to also hold its own with the more elevated feel through the house. The decision was made to purchase simplistic garden pavers for the floor in the atrium and use an enhancer on them to give a more dramatic color pallet for the green plants to contrast against. We created intimate seating in this space where guests could enjoy a glass of wine at the end of the day and backlit three “plant sconces” on the wall overlooking two cozy chairs to create this moment within the space.
The existing primary bathroom was sandwiched between the atrium and the closet so there was absolutely no natural light. Again, the homeowner wanted to be able to have plants in the bathroom and natural light, so we decided to flip the spaces and move the closet to the existing primary bathroom location and add more windows for plant features in the new bathroom space. One of my favorite decisions in this space is the teak wood floor in the shower which serves as a perfect anchor for the stone walls and planter beds.
Like what you see? Take a peek at the talent behind the story… Interior Design, General Contractor and Styling: Trove Homes · Photography: Craig Keene
