Photography by Alise O’Brien
If the B-52’s changed their hit song’s name from “Love Shack” to “Love French Eclectic Chateau,” the inspiration could be found in this Richmond Heights subdivision. From the outside, Dana Marshall and Kathy Reardon’s lovely two-story home is just that ... a lovely two-story home. But walk in the door of this house, built in the roaring ’20s, and you quickly discover a stunning interior, spacious and beautifully decorated, that’s home to a couple who have been married for nine years but seem more like newlyweds. All of a sudden, an assignment to do an article on a house with a fabulous look turns into a mixture of said assignment and a good old-fashioned love story. The home was one of the first built in this neighborhood just off the corner of Hanley and Clayton Roads. A real-estate developer commissioned the house to be built in 1928, with plans to make it his own. But the stock market crash hit, he lost most of his money and he was forced to rent out the property to recoup some of his losses. One of his tenants was a direct descendant of President John Quincy Adams.
The sunny yellow foyer is impressively large and lavishly decorated. Your eyes jump from the animal-print carpet runner on the steps of the curved staircase to the blue flowered wallpaper in the kitchen. Should the first stop be the vibrantly red formal dining room or the “do you actually allow guests to sit on that furniture” family room? Since family is the central focus of life here, you’re somehow drawn to that room to sit a spell. If Riley the Jack Russell terrier can hop onto the richly covered sofa, why can’t you? With Ms. Reardon’s two children, 20-year-old John and 18-year-old Marya, the house is full of fun, friends and a “more the merrier” policy. The couple encourage guests to kick off their shoes and get comfy. “We want everything to be used. That’s why it’s here,” Ms. Reardon explains.
In a house with more than 5,500 square feet, one room’s beauty is more impressive than the next. Still, the vibe of love and warmth is what you really notice. Since meeting in 1993, the first date for each since their respective divorces, this husband and wife are still on a honeymoon. And while most couples married for nine-plus years would be thrilled with the notion of separate bathrooms, Mr. Marshall was actually sad when he and his wife moved in three years ago and found the his-and-her facilities. He immediately missed the time they spent getting ready in the morning or winding down at night à deux. “We used to brush our teeth together. It was our time together to talk about our day,” Mr. Marshall says. This explains his favorite piece in the house: a small blue chair in Ms. Reardon’s bathroom. “Now that is where I put my shoes on every morning and talk to my wife while she gets ready.” While Mr. Marshall loves that chair, Ms. Reardon says her bathroom/dressing room/walk-in closet is every girly-girl’s dream. There’s a place for everything—with built-in drawers and cubbies for lingerie and handbags, racks for shoes and clothes, and room for all the extras most of us usually shove into nooks and crannies.
But Ms. Reardon’s favorite room isn’t even officially her turf; it’s her husband’s office. Working in the high-tech world, Mr. Marshall travels practically every week. When he’s home, he works from his office just off the master bedroom. The walls were originally a palace blue, but were repainted a rich red, all because of one piece. “There’s a painting in the office called ‘The Contender,’ ” Mr. Marshall says. “We bought it in New York. The room was designed around the painting, so that the colors would go with that picture.” Ms. Reardon, a health care attorney, brings in her laptop and checks e-mail, and Marya makes herself comfortable doing homework and hanging out with her folks.
The house was decorated by Melinda Hagedorn, owner of Interiors by Melinda. Most of the antiques that fill every room of the house are pieces Ms. Reardon inherited from her mother’s collection. Other pieces are Mr. Marshall’s. Ms. Hagedorn made all the items they already had work together through the use of new fabrics—by re-covering existing pieces and fabricating new drapes, cushions, pillows and ottomans. “We haven’t really bought many pieces at all,” Ms. Reardon says. “We had an eclectic collection of furnishings that we both brought that have history and meaning for us.”
Ms. Hagedorn’s main work involved colors and textures: wallpaper, paint and fabrics that bring in light, accentuate the couple’s personality and emphasize the house’s eclectic French look. The decorator knew what she wanted to do the minute she saw the house. “It was very stark ... a sophisticated neutral palette,” she says, “but I knew immediately that this would not work for them.”
The couple entrusted the house to her. “It has her vision and her color scheme,” Ms. Reardon says. “We know what her home looks like. Her sense of color brings a sense of warmth and liveliness. They go with our lively household.”
One dramatic change to the neutral home happened on the porch-turned-family room: a splash of dark color in a room meant for light. Not many would opt for chocolate brown walls in the sunroom, but Ms. Hagedorn says the amount of light let in from the three walls of windows makes chocolate a choice that works, adding a feeling of coziness and warmth. This room is a family favorite on Sunday mornings, with the kids sprawled on the custom-covered sofas watching TV as Ms. Reardon and Mr. Marshall sip coffee and read the paper nearby.
A simple change in paint texture made a huge difference in one stunning detail: the elaborate plasterwork along the upper walls and ceilings, artistic flourishes added when the house was first built. Ms. Hagedorn hired Don Dwyer of Dwyer Custom Painting to bring it back to life.
“The plasterwork was not enhanced,” Ms. Hagedorn says. When Mr. Marshall and Ms. Reardon bought the house, the walls and plaster were both painted off-white in a flat finish. “I thought, ‘We could make this like the era when it was built,’ which was an era of glamour,” Ms. Hagedorn explains. Mr. Dwyer used an off-white eggshell finish on the walls and a white oil enamel on the plaster detail to give some shine and offset the intricate work. “The difference in paint texture makes the detail pop,” Ms. Hagedorn says.
Some of us have lawyer friends who happily give legal advice. Others know teachers who help tutor their kids as a favor. But Mr. Marshall and Ms. Reardon struck friendship gold in Ms. Hagedorn. Their home is not just beautifully decorated; it also represents a lovely family, a spirit of liveliness and unfussy elegance, all rolled into one.
Melinda Hagedorn's five tips for creative use of color
1. Select one color (your favorite) to be used as a link throughout every room in your home.
2. Prioritize where that key color will appear on one of the room’s three basic building blocks: walls, flooring, fabrics.
3. Yellow is a great neutral, and if used in a foyer or entry, creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
4. When using a bold wall color, consider adding a chair rail below painted in a shade of white. This will create a dramatic effect and, At the same time, ensure that the room still feels spacious.
5. When selecting a trendy color, use it where it could be easily replaced when that fad fades—for example in pillows, paint or a rug.
