The Pink House
We purchased the original Leyden St house in 2016. After 5 years, starting a business, and working from home, we outgrew the 1500sft 1930’s Tudor. We originally thought we would pop the top but, as our architect stood in our basement with his head cocked to the side (he was too tall to stand up straight), explaining that to structurally reinforce our home we would completely lose the use of our basement, we decided that it made more sense to start from scratch. We worked with Paul and Bill at Bormann Eitemiller to design a home that would fit us perfectly.
The Pink House was Inspired by Jacques Benedict’s Italian Renaissance Revival homes and public buildings, and Italian villas. We wanted a home that could: entertain a lot of people, a kitchen that is closed off from entertaining spaces, a basement that my husband could run on a treadmill on an incline, a primary suite that someone could get ready and leave without reentering the bedroom, an easy way to get my business’ uv printer into the house, and a dinning room that could fit my grandmother’s dinning table (she’s still alive, and is aware of my plans).
The Original Leyden House
Peter always said, “this house was built by Spanish communists on a Friday.” If you are unfamiliar with 20th century Spanish history, the house was poorly built. The fireplace was not centered. The beams in the living room were not equally spaced. There was a quarter the amount of insulation in the attic. Multiple holes in the exterior walls. The wiring literally fell out of the ceiling. The beams in the attic (the ones holding up the roof) were charred. The kitchen sink dripped for so long the kitchen cabinets and kitchen subfloor had rotted through. When you sat on the toilet you could put your feet up on the bathtub (it was convenient when you had food poisoning). The furnace was “pre-1970s” and only serviced by a retired man in his 80s. There was a hole in the floor of the linen closet that we could communicate through. One of the pipes leaked sporadically and the solution was to hang a home depot bucket from the ceiling. You could feel the wind blowing through the windows, etc… But, it was in our dream neighborhood, chocked full of charm, and it was ours.
House With Initial Renovations
Our Favorite Parts of The Pink House
I feel like I should address the large elephant in the room… why pink? Pink is my favorite color. I have a pink car, pink engagement ring, so why not a pink house? Peter has always encouraged me to go all out when I’m designing something. He found over the years that when I picked things based on what I thought others would like, over what I really wanted the design never felt complete. I have always been drawn to pink and apparently would gasp if I saw a pink kitchen or pink house on Instagram. My dream of a pink house was further cemented when we traveled to Italy. Part of Italy’s charm is that all of the homes are different colors. Ultimately we decided on pink when we found out that that was the color of Machiavelli’s villa, which was designed by Michelangelo (and who am I to question the taste of a master of the High Renaissance).
I had been searching for decorative doors for the pantry at architectural salvage shops for over a year. I had not found anything that I thought would work in the US, Canada, UK, and France. We were on a trip to India when our guide and Jaipur asked me if there was anything I was looking to purchase. I immediately responded, “Yes! a door”. The tour guide said that he knew exactly the place and he hit the nail on the head. I would like to note that Peter had not taken my quest to find a decorative pantry door seriously up until this point and was really shocked when I actually bought one. There were many moments when we were worried that it might have been a scam but 9 months later a gigantic crate from India arrived. The pantry doors are decorated with hand hammered brass on both sides. They are truly works of art and the craziest souvenir I have ever brought home.
While many women receive jewelry with the baby’s birth stone, diamond eternity bands, or engraved pendants with their baby’s name for their push presents, I got wallpaper. And I could not be happier with our bedroom wallpaper. It’s made up of 14 different panels depicted classic chinoiserie scenes. Inspired by Gracie wallpaper without the Gracie price tag.
I was having trouble finding a piece of art for over the fireplace. I came across Michael McConnell, a local wood carver, on Pinterest and fell in love with his work. We commissioned the mirror overtop of the fireplace. Its an incredible focal point to an already beautiful room.
I’m obsessed with our steam shower. I had always been a bath girlie and love the bathtub I picked but, the steam shower is really a heavy hitter when it comes to relaxing at the end of the day. 10/10 I recommend adding a steam shower.
Interested in the paint colors? You can find the list here.
Thank you to all of our incredible vendors who built our dream home!
A note about the front yard. We are working towards a tapestry lawn. We were told that the woolly thyme would grow like a weed, it is not. Please excuse the mud while the thyme is taking its sweet time to mature.
