A client with more than a passing interest in design is rare, but a client with a connection to a renowned 20th-century architect is next level. A physician couple relocating to Cary, North Carolina, had insight to the design process from a previous renovation they had undertaken and, more extraordinarily, from a personal tie to a pioneer of Modern architecture: one of their grandfathers was a protégé and then business partner of Mies van der Rohe.
During a planning meeting with the Raleigh Architecture Company (RACo.) and the Raleigh Construction Company (RCCo.), the owner with the distinguished connection brought drawing scans of her grandparents’ Modern residence in greater Chicago and fondly recalled her time there as a child. RACo. principal-in-charge Craig Kerins, AIA, knew then that their new residence would “honor her lineage and fascination with architecture.”
Another project objective, more related to logistics, was to keep the house’s public and private areas separate. The clients’ demanding careers meant they needed as much undisturbed sleep as possible, particularly when they are working different shifts.
Integrated but Distinct
Located in a walkable neighborhood buffered by woodlands, the home’s trapezoidal site slopes gently from the road down to a stream at its northern edge. Public and private program areas interlock as L shapes, but the latter spaces are distinguished with rounded corners, softening the 2,050-square-foot modern ranch’s otherwise orthogonal plan. Outside, private spaces are clad with a light-colored siding with fine vertical striations, while public spaces are rendered in darker cladding.
In section, the interior evinces the sloping site topography. Intimate gathering spaces such as the living room and primary bedroom nestle into the hillside a few steps down from the main level. A sloped ceiling reaching 13 feet high in the open kitchen and dining area transitions into a 15-foot-tall volume in the sunken living room, which offers full-height views of the wooded yard. “The roof lifts up as a lid to an aperture toward the rear [of the house],” Craig says.
Welcome In
A full-height mahogany front door opens to a foyer illuminated overhead by one of the home’s five skylights. Daylight from clerestory windows and a north-facing window wall washes curved walls and bounces off angled ceiling planes, basking the interior in a soft glow. “We try to get as much natural light into our houses as possible,” Craig says. Fenestration in the guest bedrooms is limited to minimize views from the street, but a circular skylight in the primary bathroom highlights a round soaking tub, a nod to the design’s occasional curve.
A favorite space of the owners and their beloved dogs is a north-facing three-season room that tucks within the home’s rectangular footprint. A curtain wall of black-framed screens provides a permeable barrier to the outdoors. “It is critical to have screens because the mosquitoes are bad,” Craig explains. “We found a local vendor that builds the large-format screens in place like a storefront. From the outside, it blends seamlessly with the windows in the living room.”
The primary bedroom fulfills its nickname as a “sleeping chamber” with the help of an owner-made, full-height, blackout curtain that wraps the curved perimeter wall and shrouds the room in darkness. “You can cordon off the entire room and turn on the white-noise machine, and it [becomes] a very cave-like space,” Craig says.
Durable Goods
The owners wanted their house clad with natural wood siding, but the project team recommended against it: North Carolina’s climate and intense ultraviolet exposure will quickly deteriorate wood unless it is rigorously maintained. Instead, RCCo. installed an off-the-shelf synthetic product that emulates wood but needs little care. The installers cut the vertically furrowed panels into shorter widths to ease them around the structure’s curved corners. “When it goes around the corner, it’s a lot smoother,” Craig says.
One advantage of overseeing their projects’ design and construction is the ability to “get close” to the materials, Craig says. “While we’re designing, we can also be calling our subcontractors to understand their limits.” For the expanses of dark, smooth cladding panels, the team used exterior gypsum board.
Bold Surprise
White oak floors and cabinetry contribute to an interior palette of whites, blacks, and natural wood commonly seen in modern residences. But the owner’s charge to not “be shy about bold colors for this house” upends the predictability, Craig says. The first sign is a custom sectional upholstered in a rich blue textile that peeks up from the sunken living room. The second is more obvious: The kitchen’s upper cabinets and steel powder-coated backsplash are finished in a bright and unapologetic pink. The effusive hue pops even more with its juxtaposition against white oak pantry cabinets, polished gray dolomite countertops, and a custom white oak dining banquette by RACo. and RCCo.
A vibrant floral quilt hanging prominently on the kitchen end wall inspired and informed the pink color. The artwork was crafted by the owner’s spirited grandmother, about whom the owner had many memorable stories. Though the pink finishes stand out vividly in the modern interior, they ultimately won over the architects. “It’s totally outside of our comfort zone,” Craig says, “but we all love it.”
Dark cladding indicates public areas. Light colored, striated siding clads the curved walls of private spaces.
A composite wood deck leads to the sloped yard. The neighboring three-season room and living room offer full-height views outside.
Daylight permeates the house through skylights and clerestory windows. The ceiling transitions from 13 feet high in the dining area to 15 feet in the sunken living room.
The owner’s admiration of the 1980s Memphis Group of Italian architects and designers inspired the whimsical lighting forms. Bright hues enliven a palette of whites, grays, and blacks.
A skylight mirrors the round soaking tub. Owner-made curtains black out the primary bedroom. Striated siding wraps curved corners.
Click image to view full-size gallery.
AC/BD Residence
Cary, North Carolina
Architect: Craig Kerins, AIA, and Robby Johnston, AIA, principals in charge; Taylor Medlin, AIA, project architect, The Raleigh Architecture Company, Raleigh, North Carolina
Builder: Craig Kerins and Bryan Davis, The Raleigh Construction Company, Raleigh
Structural engineer: Chuck Lysaght, Lysaght & Associates, Raleigh
Project size: 2,050 square feet
Site size: 0.38 acre
Construction cost: Withheld
Photography: Keith Isaacs
Key Products
Appliances: Fisher & Paykel (range, refrigerator/freezer); Zephyr (ventilation hood); Bosch (dishwasher)
Backsplash: Custom, powder-coated steel
Cabinetry: Xylem Custom Woodworks
Cladding: NewTechWood (rainscreen); Nichiha (cement board)
Countertops: CRS Marble & Granite
Doors: Southwood Doors (entry); Cortizo (large slider); Cavity Sliders (pocket doors)
Engineered lumber: Boise Cascade
Fasteners: Simpson Strong-Tie
Faucets: Brizo (kitchen); Kohler (primary bath); Jaclo (secondary bath)
Fireplaces: Regency Fireplace Products (living room); Majestic (three-season room)
Flooring: Rizo Tortora (bathrooms); solid white oak
Hardware: Emtec (front door handle)
Housewrap: Huber Engineered Woods ZIP System
Insulation, acoustical: Rockwool
Lighting, exterior: WAC Lighting
Lighting, interior: Hafele (undercabinet lighting); Tim Rundle (kitchen pendant); &Tradition x Vernon Panton (dining pendant); Schoolhouse Electric (bathroom sconces); Modern Forms (bathroom)
Lighting control systems, wall plates, switches: Leviton Decora
Paint: Sherwin-Williams (exterior and interior)
Radiant flooring: Schluter Systems
Roofing: TPO membrane
Sinks: Kraus (kitchen); Kohler (primary bath); E.L. Mustee & Sons (utility)
Skylights: Velux
Structural system: Custom framing; Trus Joist I-joist
Subflooring: Huber Engineered Wood AdvanTech
Tile: Daltile (bathroom floors and walls)
Toilets: Glacier Bay
Tub: Kingston Brass (primary bath); Kohler (tub filler)
Vanity: Nameek’s (bathroom)
Window wall system: Cortizo (storefront glazing); PCA Products (large-format screens)
Windows: Windsor Windows & Doors
Click image to view full-size gallery.