When Whitney Kenter finally moved into her remodeled 1950s brick ranch in the heart of Glendale, last December, she couldn’t have foreseen just how much time she’d be spending there in the coming year.
Kenter purchased the home in November 2018 and in January 2019 embarked on a complete remodel and addition with friend and interior designer Annie Brahler of Euro Trash. The house has become a serene haven for the single mother of three during this challenging time.
With two teenage sons and a preteen daughter, Kenter needed a house that gave her family room to both gather and escape. Most of all, she wanted a space that really suited her personality.
“The house I moved into after I got divorced didn’t really reflect me,” Kenter says. “It was new construction, and it just didn’t feel right. It was a good lesson in figuring out what I like as a person. This house was me coming into me.”
Photography by Alise O'Brien
Collaborating with a close friend with whom she had experience on past projects made the process much easier. Kenter mostly stepped back and let Brahler do her thing.
“She knows me and gets me,” Kenter says. “It was kind of special for both of us because I would come over and I would say, ‘This is amazing,’ and she’d get giddy because she was surprising me.”
Finding the house was itself an achievement. Kenter was convinced she’d never find what she wanted in the Kirkwood/Glendale area, where she was hoping to live. She dreamed of a house with a large lot that was also secluded, surrounded by nature and up on a hill. It seemed too good to be true when she stumbled upon the home’s listing online.
Alise O'Brien
Then she and Brahler went to see it. Kenter was immediately drawn to the acre lot on a hill, with a creek running through the front yard and woods on three sides. It was in a neighborhood, yet felt tucked away. She loved the brick and Midcentury look. The next step was figuring out how to make the house work for her family.
“I have to give Annie all the credit for the vision,” Kenter says. “She immediately saw how we could add on and have it look like it blends in.”
Brahler and her team at Euro Trash drew up plans for a renovation plus an addition, working with NJL Custom Homes and MooreHouse Development on the construction. Rather than building up, they bumped out the existing footprint, designing a two-story glass staircase leading to a new lower level, which allowed them to create 10-foot ceilings and an outdoor courtyard.
Alise O'Brien
They removed the interior walls and drop ceilings in the original house and installed vaulted ceilings. A new wall of windows in the combined living and dining rooms overlooks a new deck and brings the beauty of the surrounding woods inside.
The addition more than doubled the square footage of the house, from 1,780 to 5,600.
“I wanted to make sure we integrated the outdoor and indoor spaces,” says Brahler. “There’s a creek that runs through the property—so we nicknamed the property Queen’s Creek.”
Alise O'Brien
Indoors, Brahler married rusticity with glamour. It’s a look, she says, that is “absolutely Whitney.”
“I have an earthy hippie vibe but also a classy, simple Audrey Hepburn style,” Kenter concurs.
Using sustainable materials was of utmost importance to Kenter. Brahler incorporated reclaimed lumber into every carpentry surface, including the herringbone wood floors by Willow Architectural Salvage and the custom kitchen cabinetry and custom range hood by Woodhaven Woodworks. Even the kitchen’s main appliances were salvaged and refurbished. The old appliances they replaced were donated.
“It felt good that while I was getting rid of stuff, it wasn’t going into a landfill,” says Kenter, “and with this house, I love the idea that these appliances are 20 years old but still relevant.”
Alise O'Brien
An avid cook, Kenter took a keen interest in the design of the kitchen, whose oversized island has become the heart of the home. Topped in Imperial Danby marble with a waterfall edge, it seats four while providing plenty of work space for the chef.
“It’s so functional,” Brahler says. “She can be cooking this huge meal and one of her kids can be working on a science project at the other end.”
Reclaimed floating wood shelves by MooreHouse are mounted on a wall of brass, which matches the statement fireplace wall in the nearby living room. Covering walls with brass was new even to Brahler; Kenter was hesitant at first but now loves the finished product, created by Architectural Elements.
“I wanted to keep going with natural materials but wanted to put a glamorous spin on them,” says the designer. “Using it in this way, I was able to keep that natural vibe but make it sexy.”
Alise O'Brien
The cozy conversation pit facing that brass fireplace wall is complemented by an elegantly curved sofa from Restoration Hardware that surrounds a Swirled Drum coffee table from Anthropologie.
Kenter prefers neutral tones to bold swaths of color, so Brahler drew a thread of deep emerald green, in homage to the outdoors, throughout the house. The color is seen in velvet kitchen barstools by Everly Quinn and the velvet-upholstered platform bed by Mercer41 in the main bedroom.
In the suite, Brahler also adorned a wall of built-in shelves with Buddha statues of varying sizes and materials to make a statement and, she says, “give the whole room a really pronounced sense of calm.”
The room’s accompanying bath, with a freestanding Aqua Eden tub by Kingston Brass and a separate shower, is a sanctuary, lined in white matte beveled tile from Kirkwood Flooring. Fanciful mirrors flanked by floral sconces lend a feminine touch, as does the framed photo of Hepburn, Kenter’s style inspiration.
Then, there’s the home office, a must-have for Kenter, who is a consultant. Brahler selected a premade mural of trees and birds for one wall, layering it with a taxidermy peacock and a vintage lioness table lamp found at Cool Stuff Period. A pair of bold custom leopard print armchairs add another punch of excitement.
“My office has been an absolute haven, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it really suits me and my transition,” says Kenter.
She says the remodel and design exceeded her expectations, from the creative mix of materials used to the raised beds and crushed oyster shells on the garden surface outside. “A lot of it is letting go of that fear or need to control,” says Kenter, “and seeing what happens as a result of [hiring] someone who is an expert and someone you trust.”
