Colonial Icon

Spring 2025

March 12, 2025

Words by Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian | Photos by Matt Kocourek

A century-old gem looks flawless in a classic yet modern update.

arri and Chris Habiger had redesigned the interior of their 1911 home in St. Joseph twice since moving in 12 years ago. When they decided on a third go-around, they called in designer Amy Thurston and handed her a photo of a teal, hand-crafted La Cornue range they’d just ordered.

They wanted the home’s style to reflect the feel and character of the famous French culinary icon with its classic lines and brass accoutrements. The Habigers’ artwork and vintage furnishings, combined with Thurston’s design touches, help accomplish that mission.

“Living in the house for the better part of a decade—before we started this larger approach—gave us an appreciation for what we needed,” Chris recalls. “Our taste evolved over time as well.”

The Colonial-style home now feels classic yet modern—or shall we say, timeless—thanks in part to Thurston’s ideas, which included making sure the picture frame molding in the entry wasn’t crowded by artwork or furniture, that iron doors from Pinkys were indeed the right choice, as it had been Chris and Karri’s dream to use them, and that using Benjamin Moore’s China White as the paint for the main body of the home would allow for more adventurous paint colors to stand out when used in other rooms.

“It’s a very warm white, without being yellow,” Thurston says of the latter point. “I use it a lot.”

The classic yet modern touches begin on the front porch with large iron-and-glass entry doors and the arched transom that crowns them. Their simple modern design plays nicely with the home’s traditional exterior and allows natural light to flood the interior. A black stone lion gazes toward a partner from either side of the wide stairway leading to the front door. In a rather whimsical gesture, each lion has positioned its front paws differently.

Just inside the front entry, the original pocket doors that separate the foyer from the dining and living rooms on either side were also replaced with modernist glass-and-iron doors, both for style consistency and to allow sight lines between all the spaces.

Thurston gave the family room, which gets a lot of natural light, a cozy feel by color-drenching the walls, ceiling and trim in Sherwin-Williams’ Greenblack.

“I love it so much because it transforms a space,” she says. “You change the finishes based on the material. Color drenching, done correctly, to my mind’s eye, is a satin on the ceiling and wood, and matte—or eggshell in some cases—on the walls to either absorb or reflect light.”

Light from a pair of RH chandeliers that bounces off the satin ceiling provides enough moody lighting in the evening that lamps aren’t necessary, she adds. A caramel leather sectional contrasts with the dark walls and fills the center of the room. A game table is placed at one end of the room, while a pair of white swivel armchairs sit at the other end.

“I call these two chairs ‘the ladies who like to spill the tea,’” Thurston jokes.

Black-and-white marble checkered floor tiles from Paris Ceramics add a traditional Euro touch to the room.

Doors on either end of the room open to the much lighter living room. Here, intricate mouldings on the walls and ceilings and a pair of large colorful Sage Barnes flower-head portraits flank an antique Baroque breakfront that had been with the Habigers for years. Thurston declared it the hero of the living room and selected softer lines for the rest of the furniture and design, allowing the piece to stand out and offering a counterbalance to the fireplace on the opposite wall.

Chris says he and his family have a particular appreciation for this room.

“We love turning the fireplace on and having some quiet time there, especially going into fall and winter,” he says. “That’s one of our favorite places to relax.”

Thurston says part of her strategy when designing the home was to “edit, edit, edit” both in terms of decorative objects and paint colors.

“I didn’t want the home’s classic architecture, moldings and luxury fittings to be drowned out by its furnishings,” she says. “So I kept things rather quiet for the most part and then added the occasional loud feature, such as wrapping the powder room in the Gucci Tiger Leaf wallpaper.”

She opted for a simple white custom fireplace mantel that is close in size to the original mantel. She also had bookshelves constructed with slanted shelves to showcase open art books.

Across the entryway, in the dining room, Thurston brought color into play once again by opting to cover the upper walls in a Liberty of London wallpaper in muted shades of sage, gray and teal. The wainscoting on the lower half is painted Farrow & Ball’s Berrington Blue. The modern lines of the brass chandelier contrast yet sing against the wallpaper’s Arts and Crafts print.

Just off the dining room, at the back of the home overlooking the outdoor living spaces, is the kitchen, where the inspiration for the entire home—that La Cornue range—reigns in all its elegant glory.

The hallways to get there comprise showstoppers themselves. A back hall with access to the pool features a wall of built-in wood storage lockers painted teal to match the range.

Another is lined with deep drawers and an upper wall of translucent Luce di Luna quartzite that flows onto the countertop and continues onto the kitchen counters. The quartzite wall is backlit, highlighting its veining and adding a glamorous glow to the hall. A climate-controlled wine room opposite it is separated by a floor-to-ceiling glass wall. It intersects with a bar decked out with a mirror backsplash and brass shelves.

“We wanted to sprinkle in some fun surprise moments for the guest-facing areas, as the Habigers love to entertain,” Thurston says.

Chris notes that they had to give up some space in the dining room to create this high-functioning hallway, but it was definitely worth it.

“Whether we’re doing a more formal entertaining event, or we’re going to keep it casual and hang out in the kitchen, it’s just a perfect location,” he says.

Thurston continued the home’s limited color palette upstairs in the primary suite, where a wall at the head of the bed is covered in a teal and gray Tibetan Tiger print by York Wallcoverings. Vintage Asian artwork, retro fireplace tile and a chinoiserie ceramic bust add personality and timelessness to the serene room.

“Karri has an excellent eye for vintage pieces and using these treasures makes the spaces feel like they evolved,” Thurston says. “That’s why I love collaborating, because the client knows their house the best, and they know the pieces that they love. I love being part of that conversation because then we make it work.”

Interior Designer: Amy Thurston Interiors, @amytkc

Architect: WSKF Architects, wskfarch.com

Contractor: Scott Gann Construction, @scottgannconstruction

Resources

Interior Designer: Amy Thurston Interiors
Architect: wskf Architects
Contractor: Scott Gann Construction
Landscaping: Embassy Landscape Group
Lion Statues: Van Liew’s Home & Garden