Carolyn Peterson, née Sullivan, climbed out on the roof of the one-story ranch house in Warson Woods that she and her then-boyfriend, Marvin, were considering buying. She wanted to see the views and how the sun moved, and she didn’t want to see directly into anyone’s windows. Surrounded by the foliage of sugar maple and oak trees, Peterson knew she’d found the one—a house that she could fill with windows and where she could build a sun-filled second-story master suite.
“I grew up in a house out in the country in Illinois,” Peterson says. “And my mother didn’t cover the windows. It was really kind of a fishbowl. So I can’t have that closed-in feeling.”
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So she and Marvin (now her husband) bought the house and gutted it, tearing out most of the interior walls and the roof to add the master suite. Working with architect Lauren Strutman and builder Rich Terbrock of Terbrock Building Company, Peterson extended the kitchen, put another powder room downstairs, added some windows, and swapped in glass-paned doors for other ones.
Now the house is not only flooded with light, but also completely open. From the entry, almost the entire first floor is visible. There’s the wet bar near the basement steps, with burled walnut cabinets, a black granite countertop, and glass-paned cabinets sparkling with stemware. To the left is the cozy living room, with black leather couches and chairs and a shag rug. The living room’s focal point is the fireplace, which is surrounded by the same walnut that runs throughout the house, as well as a mirror-like set of stainless-steel tiles.
But the first floor’s centerpiece is the large kitchen island, with its clean, white, seemingly 4-inch-thick (it’s really a drop overlay) Carrara marble countertop. With the sleek, backless chairs tucked underneath, the surface appears to float amid the sunshine in a house where the few walls recede and the ceiling is dotted with mostly recessed light fixtures.
“I have a friend who calls it the marble top,” Peterson says. “She’s like, ‘I need to have a wine night at the marble top.’” Peterson is happy to oblige. She and her husband love hosting parties, and the kitchen island is the gathering place of choice.
The Petersons hosted their first party at the house on Christmas Eve, just two days after they moved in—before the kitchen sink was even installed. Using the sink in the butler’s pantry (which also has a dishwasher and the same Archway Cabinetry and Design custom walnut cabinets as in the kitchen), Peterson made a beef filet with a red-wine reduction that came out perfectly on her Wolf range in the kitchen. “I felt so good about the party,” she says. “And everyone had a great time.”
Peterson’s brothers and sisters were tense at first about bringing their kids into such a minimalist space. “I was like, ‘Why wouldn’t you touch anything?’” Peterson says with a laugh. “‘It’s fine. It’s just glass, you know. You can clean it.’”
She’s laid-back about fingerprints, but not about clutter. “I just don’t like a bunch of stuff out,” she says. She uses her husband’s cigar boxes to sort her oversize kitchen drawers and has her pantry shelving divided into squares. “Everything has a place,” Peterson explains. From the white dishes on display in the butler’s pantry to the white tile on the pantry walls, the entire home feels as smooth as its marble centerpiece.
The master bedroom adds more texture. The upholstered Z Gallerie bed faces a wall covered in Ralph Lauren crocodile-print leather. The slate-gray wall behind the bed and the darker carpet contrast with the dark wood and mostly white walls downstairs. But this space feels just as expansive, thanks in large part to the windows flanking the bed and the stairs.
The bedroom and bathroom have no doors, but the toilet is in an actual water closet behind a pocket door. The his-and-hers vessel sinks—white porcelain from Soulard Plumbing Supply—are flanked by further walnut cabinetry. Though the room isn’t big, the oversize brown marble–and–glass shower (“I opted out of a bathtub,” Peterson explains. “I can’t tell you how many people tell me they buy the Jacuzzi tub and never use it”), large mirror, and windows extend the space.
Peterson gets ready in her walk-in closet, where she set up a vanity. The cabinet doors beside it slide out of the way to reveal her makeup and appliances. Peterson designed the closet and had Archway build it in walnut.
It takes guests a while to realize that there’s no dining room. In its place, there’s an open space with a butterfly installation by artist Paul Villinski. A long, thick table of old rafters rests there sometimes, though in the summer, it’s usually outside. “The timbers were probably already over 100 years old,” Peterson explains. “And they were of course black and ridden with nails.” Her husband took the nails out, planed it down, fixed any rotten bits, and put a finish on it, per his wife’s design instructions. Now, like the rest of the house, it’s a clean, new gathering place where friends can toast, celebrate, and enjoy good company.
