Featured Homes
Come on Down
The style is right in this finished basement.
BY
Andrea Darr
PHOTOGRAPHY
Alistair Tutton

Like a writer staring at a blank page, designer Bill Poole faced the task of turning a cold, gray blank slate that is the unfinished basement into a modern living space — modern meaning both “of the present  time” and the clean-lined architectural style. His Parkville clients, the Woolleys, wanted the usual amenities — office space, living room, media center, kitchen and bathroom — but they wanted a unique look.

With his background in art, furniture and architecture, Bill gave them his definition of modern: refined, classic, with a sense of proportion and attention to materials.

He started by addressing the individual usages, creating multiple environments within one large space comprising 1,500 square feet. “The scale and proportion of the existing volume was so strong that I didn’t want to break it up,” he says.

The linear quality of the space stacks each “room” side by side, divided by architectural features such as the staircase and custom, “ribbon-like” entertainment center made of Baltic birch and walnut. Partial-height walls separate spaces for exercising and dining. A series of changing levels in the foundation created a large landing in between the two levels that became a loft-like playroom, overlooking the lower portion.

Gallery white walls bounce the natural light coming in from a series of tall windows along the back of the house and point attention to a powerful component of the space: a bluff and surrounding forest. “We painted it neutral so they can really observe the seasons,” Bill explains.

He parlayed the materials seen outside by designing a stacked stone focal wall with an off-center fireplace. It rises up three-fourths of the wall in colors of rust and blue-gray and “floats” over the wall to the playroom.

The entire space is outfitted with original works of art, such as a piece by Trevor McIntyre on the stone wall and works by Greg Eltringham (Star Cow) and Bernal Koehrsen (the black and pastel triptych), as well as “investment-grade” furniture that looks good and is family-friendly from Bill’s shop, Hudson Home. He did include a few classics, such as
mid-century icon Eero Saarinen’s womb chair, to give the space a timeless look. He also expanded a postage-sized deck and upgraded materials to make the indoor/outdoor space continuous and congruous.

Although some of the original concrete remains as part of the modern look, the Woolleys now have an anything-but-usual finished basement. 

Resources
Designer: Driftworks, Inc.
Contractor: Jamie Jeffries Construction
Bathroom Tile: Stonetech
Fireplace: Montigo
Stone for wall behind fireplace: Norstone
Furnishings, couches & tables: Bright Chair through Hudson Home
Furnishings & womb chair: Knoll Space