Carefree
COUNTRY CLUB LIVING BY BARB WILSON
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNE MATHEIS
Custom-designed from the ground up, this stunning villa reduced the owners’ living space by half, while preserving their expansive lifestyle.
This page: The breakfast room bay was repositioned to allow for a spacious rear deck with lake views. Opposite page: A custom-designed wool rug by Davis & Davis unifies the great room’s sophisticated black-and-gray palette. Complementing the Century sectional is a Marge Carson table, and a pensive image by Richard Hall tops the arch to the breakfast room.
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AFTER 20 YEARS in their spacious Frontenac home, the owners were ready to scale down, savor their achievements and enjoy a less-demanding lifestyle. Privacy, easy-maintenance living and “good neighbors” were at the top of the couple’s list as they searched for a new location. Ultimately, the country-club atmosphere of a luxury-villa community, under construction by custom builder Simon Homes in West County, met the couple’s qualifications. Decision made, “We hired Eddie first” says the husband. The “Eddie” he refers to is Edwin Pepper of Edwin Pepper Interiors, one of the region’s best-known and most-respected design fi ms for more than 50 years. Pepper had worked with the couple on a half dozen of their previous homes, including the Frontenac residence, and had become a good friend. Indicative of their warm relationship, Pepper was on hand to conduct SLHL’s tour of the completed villa. Working closely with Simon Homes president Barry Simon, Pepper and the owners began the custom-design process, which took 14 months. Set on a lovely site with a lake view, the 5,500-square-foot, 1.5-story floor plan features a side entrance, generously proportioned living spaces, a two-story great room, main-floor master suite, finished walkout lower level and an oversized three-car garage. According to Pepper, the primary challenge was to consolidate the furnishings that had filled 11,000 square feet in the owners’ prior
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