It was an ominous string of calls on a blustery winter night that changed everything for one Boulder homeowner. In an unfortunate twist of fate, Lisa Watson’s landmarked home—just weeks away from the completion of a major renovation— was on fire. The cause was never determined, but the Chinook winds howling down nearby Mount Sanitas that night caused it to spread quickly. Firefighters saved the house, but structural and smoke damage meant that she and her design team—helmed by Onyx & Oak interior designers Kristin Losey and Felicia Bushman in collaboration with architect Neal Evers and project manager Karen Ramsey—would have to redo much of the project.
Overwhelmed by the idea of starting over, Lisa looked for a new house, but nothing had quite the same character as the circa-1900 yellow clapboard Edwardian home she’d come to love. Thankfully, there also came unexpected good news: While assessing the damage, Ramsey discovered that the fire had burned away drywall to uncover original red brick walls. The revelation became a silver lining reigniting the homeowner’s excitement for the project.
Fast-forward to today and Lisa will readily point out char marks on the interior’s now-exposed aged bricks. “They add character,” she muses. “It helps tell the story of this house.” Originally from Virginia and landing in Boulder after a stint in what she refers to as a “super contemporary” Los Angeles abode, she was ready to embrace a layered and collected aesthetic. “I grew up in a house full of art and antiques,” Lisa says. “For me, color is everything.”
Losey and Bushman had taken big swings right from the start, before flames forced the project to a halt. “Lisa loves color with a curated mix of old and new,” observes Bushman of her client’s taste for going bold. With that in mind, the look of the top-floor primary bedroom initially kick-started the design scheme. “That hand-painted wallpaper was one of the first things Lisa fell in love with,” recalls Losey of the exquisite, vibrant green wallcovering they had found for the owner’s personal sanctuary (and which, by a stroke of luck, was still en route from France when the fire occurred). “She had to have it, so we went from there.” Antiques and vintage-inspired furnishings, plus pattern-forward fabrics and blue paint on the ceiling, were added after the fire to complete this layered space.
Lisa had also expressed enthusiasm for an intricate parquet floor and hand-painted blue-and-white tile, which are now both used in the elegant kitchen. Coupled with a custom copper hood and gold-accent light fixtures, they make the space feel both design-forward and rooted in history. “Our client gave us the freedom to think outside the box and loved seeing new and unexpected ideas,” shares Bushman. “We wanted to be respectful of both the home’s architecture and historic charm and of its owner’s lifestyle and aesthetic.”
Evers also hewed to this view, switching up the setup of a powder room and collaborating with the designers on the kitchen’s revised layout and a wet bar. Built-in shelving and structurally enhancing details such as the ceiling beams of the kitchen and family room further adapted these interiors to the homeowner’s needs.
While the goal was to create a visually stunning and comfortable home for Lisa, her young son and their dog, what really takes these spaces to the next level, per the designers, is her art collection. The walls display pieces by giants of the contemporary art world: Rita Ackermann, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder, to name just a few. There’s a playfulness to the collection, too. Take the framed Hunt Slonem bunnies adorning the staircase. There’s also a skateboarding Bart Simpson mural on the basement wall by Denver graffiti artist Jolt and an Annie Leibovitz portrait of the Blues Brothers in the powder room. “When you walk inside this house, the effect is jaw-dropping,” Losey says. “There are unexpected surprises and eye candy at every turn.”
On the exposed brick wall of the dining room, a pair of glittery-red Damien Hirst butterfly artworks now serve as a metaphor for the house’s metamorphosis. They’re a reminder that, with enough time and intention, almost anything can reemerge anew.
