Photography by Alise O'Brien
The master suite of a 1930s Tudor home in Ladue was less than ideal, comprising small inefficient rooms and awkward room shapes, specifically an L-shaped half-bath that projected into the master bedroom from the adjacent hallway. This projection played havoc with the layout of the master bedroom and its relationship to the exterior architecture of the house. With these challenges in mind, the homeowners hired Greg Worley, principal of ARCH-WORX, to design a master suite that would include a bedroom, bathroom, closet, and laundry room.
“Our goal was to create spaces that worked with the existing architecture of the house,” says Worley.
The first task was simplifying that L-shaped half-bath. Then, by forgoing the traditional bedroom-bath-closet layout, the team was able to fit all the necessary functions into one large room without the need for transitional spaces. “This way, we have a room that is on scale with the existing house, including the new master bedroom,” says Worley.
In the master bath, Worley placed an island with custom mirrors anchored into a marble countertop in the center of the room, allowing the other functions to coexist in the same space while maintaining simplicity and organization. “We designed the mirrors to free the space around them and matched the details of the mirrors to the adjacent plumbing fixtures,” he says.
The custom cabinetry of Lyptus hardwood, comparable to maple but fully sustainable, in both the bedroom and bathroom bears a dark grain like that of the home’s oak flooring. “The color, the quality, and the visual appearance of the wood grain in the cabinetry were key factors for the owners,” says Worley.
“They wanted to enjoy the quality of the wood, rather than just a stain color,” continues Worley. “It also visually worked very well with both the oak flooring in the master bedroom and the marble tile flooring in the master bath.”
Not wanting to disrupt the integrity of the home’s architecture, Worley elected to keep the existing window where it is. Centered as it is on the gable end of the house, he says, moving the window even slightly would have ruined the architecture of the exterior.
“If we had divided the room with a wall or run the mirrors to the ceiling,” says Worley, “this would have cut the space in half and destroyed the quality of the light.” Now, light from the window above the tub floods the space.
Standout Feature: Placing the island vanity in the center of the room allowed architect Greg Worley to keep the window in its original location. The island’s placement also yielded space for a laundry closet and for placement of the tub and shower as integrated elements.
