A Storied Space
STORY BY KATE REYNOLDSPHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID DIETRICH
She has pictures of the place at the turn of the 20th century, proudly displayed in the long entrance hall. “Here it is around 1915,” she says, pointing out a horse drawn carriage. “And in this one, there’s a model T parked outside — that was probably around 1929.” Sure enough, it’s the same building — sitting in the midst of a bustling street scene, one of a row of storefronts on Hendersonville’s Main Street. You’d never know it, sitting in Barbara and Harry Moore’s well-appointed residence, but this space has had other, more proletarian lives: a hardware store, a furniture store, a doctor’s office and, rumor has it, a meeting place for Woodsmen of the World, the lumberjack union.
The history delights Barbara — she smiles broadly as she shows you some of the ephemera that she collected during the process of transforming the raw space into a home: a photography magazine from the 1920s, a Department of Health advisory from 1937 and an undated, typed lonely-heart’s club newsletter listing eligible ladies and their merits — “winsome little widow of means, farm lady…has car.”
The Moores are happily ensconced in the 3,200-square-foot loft, and in the vibrant downtown that has become their neighborhood. Both are quite a change from their former lifestyle. “When we took an early retirement from the corporate world and suburban living in the Washington, D.C. area, we found that our love was boating and moved to Hilton Head. For ten years we traveled up and down the coast — New England, the Bahamas, the Keys, the Abacos. We would live for three months at a time on our 39-foot powerboat — and our marriage survived. So we figured we could live just about anywhere.”
When the demands of the sea-faring life became a bit too much, the Moores decided to become landlubbers again. They liked the mountains, but a sense of community was a vital component — Hendersonville seemed ideal. “We like the excitement of the Main Street environment,” Barbara explains. “There’s always something going on. We chose a loft because we wanted to age independently and we like being very active. So, here, we can do both. We can walk to everything. We sometimes go a week without getting in the car.
“From the minute we stepped into this building, it was love at first sight. But I’ve never worked with anything old before; I’ve always built new houses. So this was a challenge.”
The couple enlisted architect Bill O’Cain to plan the conversion. “Bill’s challenge was to maintain the integrity of the original building. To keep the spirit intact, yet incorporate open space. And we needed lots of storage.”
“We did several lofts back in the ‘80s,” says O’Cain, “So we felt we were well equipped. The key is to use the space to the optimum. A large part of the challenge relates to the ‘shotgun’ aspect of the building — with windows only on the front and the back. The trick lies in creating bedroom spaces and living room spaces — they both need to have windows. In the Moore’s case, they chose to have the bedroom on the street side.
“Barbara wanted to be sensitive to the history, and this space had some real character. With many commercial spaces, when you strip them out, there’s really nothing there. But here, we utilized the staircase and the existing wainscoting.
“We created the space arrangement to meet the Moore’s needs,” O’Cain continues, “and then Harry took it from there and created the atmosphere.” The ‘Harry’ he refers to is Harry (Harrietta) Deaton, the interior designer who worked with the Moores to fine-tune the loft’s appointments and furnishings.
Deaton shared Barbara’s passion for savoring the vintage flavor of the space. “I encouraged her to keep the old floors and retain as much as we could from the building,” she says. “Some of the floors and doors had to be replaced, but much of that material was recycled into creating the living room wall unit. We broke through the plaster and exposed the bricks on the walls. The little day bed was also made from the old floor.
“These materials are so beautiful, you can’t just destroy them. So we kind of fought for all that stuff, and it paid off.”
They didn’t have to fight very hard. Dennis Dunlap, the contractor on the job, has a fondness for old buildings and was eager to work with the homeowner and designer to integrate restoration and renovation. “The building was structurally intact,” says Dunlap “and Barbara knew exactly what she wanted. We took it down to the joists, but we saved most of those great heart pine floors — lots of people would have just torn them up — and as much of the molding as we could.”The existing molding became the template for the trim throughout the home. “The recreation was actually assembled from five separate pieces,” says Dunlap. The cove lighting in the entrance foyer presented another challenge. “It had to look old,” Barbara recalls, “but most of that type of lighting looks like it’s in a movie theater — very structural and square — and that wouldn’t do here. It needed to have layers. So we spent easily three days with Dennis’ crew creating samples. But they were very patient.”
Creating brightness through the dwelling was a key element in loft’s design. Barbara works in stained glass and her creations have been incorporated into the design of the loft, gracing the transoms above the doors — providing both light and luminescent beauty to each room. Old skylights were cleaned and resealed.
The design team made good use of reflective surfaces throughout the residence: in the master bath, glass blocks define the shower stall, stainless steel and granite gleam in the kitchen and the arched bar that forms the segue between the kitchen and the home theatre is fitted with glass shelves, which display a fine array of crystal. “Friends have asked ‘why do you want to have to dust all those glasses?’ but we do it together because we just love the look,” Barbara says with a smile.
This open bar configuration allows an unobstructed view of the 112-inch projection screen television from the great room and kitchen area — a vital amenity for the Moores, who love to entertain. “We’ve had parties here, including a Super Bowl party with 30 or 40 people, and it never felt crowded,” Barbara observes.The generous kitchen is well equipped to handle a crowd. Designed by Christy Cooke of GBS Lumber, it makes use of the high ceilings to provide plenty of storage and features commercial grade appliances, including a trash compactor. “It’s 26 steps down to street,” Barbara notes, “so that’s a necessity.”
Double cabinets under the island provide clever storage and the 10- by 4-foot-6-inch granite top offers ample room for preparation as well as a seated audience. Installing the massive granite slab called for some deft maneuvering. “We had to park a crane in the alleyway and lift it in,” says Dennis Dunlap.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking when the slab was dangling up there in the air,” recalls Barbara, who was on site for the entire renovation process. “ I was here six hours a day, every day — it became my job, and the more I got into it, the more I loved it. We had to keep our costs contained, so I had to be here…you didn’t know what would come up.”
Once construction was complete, Harry Deaton and Barbara set about creating a cozy, livable environment, integrating the Moores’ existing furniture with new pieces. “Harry is really good at using what you have and putting it back together again,” says Barbara appreciatively. Picking up on the bricks and the warm undertones in the wood, Deaton established a palette of autumnal shades — and plenty of red.
“Anyone who knows me knows that red is my trademark color,” says Deaton. “I selected colors by starting in the entryway and laying them out so they are visible all the way through. You create connection with color and define spaces with color.”
Deaton even managed to reuse the custom drapes that Barbara had brought with her for the home theater — the most decidedly masculine room in the home. Here Harry Moore can enjoy his beloved football games amid memorabilia from all his former lives. “Harry had to have all his stuff,” says Barbara, “his Green Beret stuff, his Redskins stuff, his boating stuff. He told Harry [Deaton] ‘Don’t mess with my things — I want it all,’ and she really did a good job of pulling that together for him. She put every little thing in the perfect place.”
There’s continuity in that. For the Moores, honoring history is a part of living well in the present, and with this thoughtful and resourceful renovation they have written another charming chapter in the chronicles of this storied space. 