How The Refresh Of A North Carolina House Maintains Its Timeless Charm

For architect Ken Pursley, 2005 marked a watershed year, bringing the launch of his now nationally known firm and his first ground-up commission in Charlotte. Tasked by husband-and-wife clients to design a new abode in a venerable neighborhood, he could have made a bold architectural statement to announce his presence. Instead, he invoked what would become recurring themes in his work: classical elegance, timelessness and refinement. “I remember thinking at the time, I don’t want to go in with guns blazing,” Pursley recalls. “I wanted people to drive by and say, ‘I don’t remember that house being this pretty.’ ”

Twenty-one years later, the home he designed has lost none of its charm. With its courtly Georgian-style architecture, understated painted-brick façade, and scrollwork that was inspired by 16th-century Italian basilicas, the structure has what Pursley describes as “a poker face.” He continues, “It’s polite, and you don’t know what’s going on inside.” His statement rings especially true given the property’s recent refresh, which saw Pursley tweaking the architecture ever so slightly as local designer Kim Mauney put a modern spin on the interior furnishings.

The update was inspired by Mauney’s decoration of the couple’s beach house, whose light, airy interiors prompted the wife to seek a similar look for their Charlotte residence—but only for the dining room at first. “She enjoyed the soft palette of the beach house, so that was the jumping-off point,” explains Mauney, who proposed covering the room’s walls in a cream-colored textured fabric while introducing a contemporary light fixture and modern furniture. Yet, she stresses, there was never any question of upstaging the architecture already in place, like the circular plaster ceiling that the architect had long ago conceived for the space. “The goal was to keep everything quiet,” the designer describes. “We wanted the architecture to remain the focal point—the architecture was key.”

It quickly became evident that the dining room’s new look should extend elsewhere in the dwelling to maintain a sense of cohesion. In the living room, for example, Mauney had the walls painted warm white and introduced sleek furniture and upholstery alongside the homeowners’ collection of antiques. The existing hardwood floors and handsome door hardware, however, were left untouched. A similar respectful approach was applied to the kitchen, where walls and cabinetry received a crisp coat of paint and diaphanous curtains were installed for additional freshness.

Although the interior makeover has transformed some rooms into ethereal spaces, as Mauney refers to them, they still feel cozy because of the wood planking that Pursley introduced to walls and ceilings decades ago. “I added it so that the rooms would not get too full of themselves,” he says. “It’s a formal house, but the wood brings that down.” The primary bedroom is a notable example, where the whitewashed planked walls and ceiling—plus windows that wrap around one end of the room—give the space a “tree-house feeling, like sleeping outdoors,” Pursley enthuses.

Despite not specifically requesting any architectural alterations, the couple presented their architect with an enticing proposition. “They asked me if there was anything I would change,” Pursley reflects. Now given the opportunity, he added a stone motor court to the front of the structure, something which he had longed to do. (“It scratched that itch,” the architect remarks.) He also added a larger window to the family room to provide better views of the garden. Otherwise, the home’s graciousness, inside and out, remains as alluring as the day it was built, which is a testament to the skills of both architect and designer. Pursley concludes, “If the bones are good and the soul of the house feels right, it will transcend.”