5280 Home – August 2019

continued

Tell us about some of the interior details,

starting with the living room fireplace.

MJ: We wanted the hearth to feel like

the center of the home; we wanted it to

feel warm and cozy, but also, again, modern

and minimal. So we had this idea of

exposing a cast-iron fireplace and raising

it up. This whole area is kind of what

we built the home around. The layout of

the windows was taken from lots of old

houses, which would have high windows

by the fireplace for air circulation.

What inspired the unfinished-plywood

“headboard wall” in the master bedroom?

MJ: One of my favorite artists is Tom

Sachs, who does work in plywood. I like

the philosophy of using things that are

raw and utilitarian and meant to be

hidden. Like the raw steel of the stairway,

[the idea to incorporate] plywood

came from that feeling of using

a simple material that maybe isn’t

expected. This [bedroom centerpiece]

was actually an ordeal, because

working with plywood is not what

most contractors are used to. We did

this piece almost three times. It was

a struggle.

The room’s layout is pretty unusual too.

MJ: We like a lot of openness; we’re

not particularly private people. The idea

started when we considered that there

could be a central “structure” that works

on the one side as a headboard and

that also separates the sleeping area

from the bathroom.

Left and below: Kimberly

Johnson gave the one-of-

a-kind walk-in shower a

whimsical finishing touch

by hand-glazing the

colorful tiles herself. A

Capiz Honeycomb chan-

delier from Serena & Lily

hangs above a Signature

Hardware tub.

Bottom left: The

staircase treads have

the appearance of

polished exotic wood,

though they’re actually

scraps and chips of wood

bonded together in an

engineered product

called glulam—another

innovative money-saving

design element with high

visual impact.

continued

Tell us about some of the interior details,

starting with the living room fireplace.

MJ: We wanted the hearth to feel like

the center of the home; we wanted it to

feel warm and cozy, but also, again, modern

and minimal. So we had this idea of

exposing a cast-iron fireplace and raising

it up. This whole area is kind of what

we built the home around. The layout of

the windows was taken from lots of old

houses, which would have high windows

by the fireplace for air circulation.

What inspired the unfinished-plywood

“headboard wall” in the master bedroom?

MJ: One of my favorite artists is Tom

Sachs, who does work in plywood. I like

the philosophy of using things that are

raw and utilitarian and meant to be

hidden. Like the raw steel of the stairway,

[the idea to incorporate] plywood

came from that feeling of using

a simple material that maybe isn’t

expected. This [bedroom centerpiece]

was actually an ordeal, because

working with plywood is not what

most contractors are used to. We did

this piece almost three times. It was

a struggle.

The room’s layout is pretty unusual too.

MJ: We like a lot of openness; we’re

not particularly private people. The idea

started when we considered that there

could be a central “structure” that works

on the one side as a headboard and

that also separates the sleeping area

from the bathroom.

Left and below: Kimberly

Johnson gave the one-of-

a-kind walk-in shower a

whimsical finishing touch

by hand-glazing the

colorful tiles herself. A

Capiz Honeycomb chan-

delier from Serena & Lily

hangs above a Signature

Hardware tub.

Bottom left: The

staircase treads have

the appearance of

polished exotic wood,

though they’re actually

scraps and chips of wood

bonded together in an

engineered product

called glulam—another

innovative money-saving

design element with high

visual impact.