A Nod to the Past

A Nod to the Past

A HISTORIC HOME IN DOWNTOWN FRANKLIN IS DESIGNED WITH NEW PURPOSE FOR A FAMILY OF SEVEN

BY HOLLIE DEESE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAIGE RUMORE

Before moving back to Middle Tennessee, Nashville natives Emily and Chris Jenkins lived in a historic neighborhood in downtown Tampa. They fell in love with how each home told its own story.

When they first returned, they lived in a typical suburban home in Bellevue. Then they moved out to Franklin to the Two Rivers neighborhood, where they built a Craftsmanstyle home. But the pull of a historical home took hold.

“As our kids started getting older and moving out, we realized we wanted to be closer to town. So we started looking for a historic home in downtown Franklin,” Emily Jenkins says.

The search to find something that could accommodate their family size was difficult, and they were lucky to find their home off market from a family who suddenly had to return to California.

The Victorian style home was very much not what Jenkins was initially interested in; she preferred the clean lines and symmetrical aspects of the Craftsman. But the historic style was one she leaned into.

“The fact that I ended up moving into a Victorian house with gingerbread is very much not what I was into,” Jenkins says.

The Franklin Road home was built in 1898. Because it was within a historic overlay, renovations could not change the footprint of the house. Retaining the look and feel of home’s past was important to the Jenkins, but so was the functionality they needed for their large family.

Interior designer Kim Kelly was referred to the homeowners by a friend and former client. She jumped right into achieving a perfect blend of history and modern spin with the formal dining room. She was so successful that it’s where the family now has almost every meal.

“Her kids love gathering around the table for breakfast when the morning sun is coming in, and then they come home and they’re having dinner and everybody’s together talking,” Kelly says. “And I just don’t think you do that as much when you’re in a kitchen, where people are prone to get up and move around more. Subconsciously being in a dining room, it kind of nudges you maybe to linger a little more.”

The dining room wallpaper was definitely my favorite, and doing color on the trim really made it feel modern and unique.— Chris Jenkins

The kitchen was a pure collaboration, with the homeowner insisting on a wood island that Kelly would normally want to paint. The result is a space that feels both warm and fresh.

Jenkins says having formal meals as a family wasn’t an easy transition, but it’s one she welcomes now. “It took some getting used to, but I love it now because it does feel like a proper meal when you eat in there, even if it is just pizza.”

In the dining room they added wallpaper and replaced wainscoting that had been damaged by a leak. Between the kitchen and the dining room, they added a scullery pantry and coffee bar.

“The dining room wallpaper was definitely my favorite, and doing color on the trim really made it feel modern and unique,” Jenkins says.

The two decided to replicate lost plaster ceiling medallions, and they rewired period-appropriate light fixtures from Doc’s Architectural Salvation in Springfield.

“He has such an eye for finding weird, unique things,” Jenkins says. “He can look at some random thing in a corner of the shop and tell you the story of the house it came from.”

In the kitchen, Jenkins wanted a walnut island, nothing trendy, which pushed Kelly beyond what she would normally recommend, which would have been painted wood. A

company in Arkansas that does historic tile patterns created a mosaic pattern they felt was period appropriate.

“She trusted me, but she also wanted to have part in it because she was so excited about it,” Kelly says. “But she never told me no, and I didn’t really tell her no either. And it’s great when a design partnership works like that. Everything was sort of selected exactly for the space.”

“We love bold, modern art and things that tell a story,” Jenkins says.

Most of the Phillip Jeffries wallpaper patterns used throughout the house reflect the era, and Jenkins picked up a lot of antiques for the project at auctions and estate sales.

“It was a fun project for me,” Jenkins says. “I felt like Kim was more of a friend who helped me, guided me through the process than somebody who was dictating what the end result should be. I think we did a good job of making it feel like a house where people live.” NI