Let There Be Light: A Stately Home in Greenwood Village

Interior designers Ashley Campbell and Jodi Cook certainly weren’t inclined to say, “Woe are we,” when they were assigned to refresh and furnish a stately Greenwood Village home—but they were a bit surprised about how the project came to be. The duo, from Denver-based Ashley Campbell Interior Design, was in the midst of an extensive update on their clients’ previous home when the clients suddenly put a halt to their work and announced that they’d bought another house, just a stone’s throw away.

“We understood why they bought this house rather than remodeling the first one, which hadn’t been touched since the ’90s, because this house has a lot going for it,” Cook says. “It’s elegant and quite grand, so we didn’t need to do anything dramatic to make it right for our clients. The home didn’t need a lot of big changes to make it beautiful.”

But Cook and Campbell did have to scrap the design direction that they’d started developing for the clients and start over. The saturated colors and casual furnishings that they’d selected for the previous home just wouldn’t do for this courtly charmer. Built in 2007, the 9,800-square-foot home offers architectural interest galore, well suited for elegant furnishings with a contemporary edge.

The first order of business was to remove the heavy wood blinds that covered most of the windows on the main floor. “Our client feared that the home was naturally dark, but the minute that Ashley started revealing the windows, the house flooded with light,” Cook says. “And the house has the most beautiful views, which we actually hadn’t noticed until the blinds were gone. From the living room, there’s the most gorgeous view of the mountains, and of a charming little field with a bright red barn in it. It’s downright bucolic.”

The designers then introduced a subdued color palette, painting the formerly golden yellow walls a warm khaki to complement the walnut-toned woodwork, and then playing with a whole spectrum of grays in the accents and upholstery. “We also added touches of true color to complement those ‘non-colors’—a little cognac here, a smoky gray there,” Cook says.

The color gray binds the rooms together, lightening spaces and counteracting the dark woodwork. “There’s already so much wood in this home—tons of it—between the kitchen cabinets and the wood trim and the fireplace and the beams, and it’s stained a distinct kind of ruddy red,” Cook says. “We chose a lot of painted furniture, lots of distressed finishes, going really dark or really light or kind of gray.”

The home’s furnishings are not only pretty, but also extremely durable, intended for regular use by the homeowners’ family. “Nearly all of the furniture is new rather than vintage because, while vintage pieces can be fun, sometimes you want something that’s exactly the right size or you need drawers that actually work,” Cook says. “These homeowners wanted the house to be warm and inviting for the grandkids without anything feeling too precious. They didn’t want to worry about putting a glass down on the table or letting children jump on the sofa. The house is so grand that finding that balance was really one of our biggest challenges.”

One simple update in particular changed the mood of the house from grandiose and somber to contemporary and inviting. Cook and Campbell replaced all of the home’s hanging light fixtures, swapping out iron and crystal chandeliers that Cook describes as “chateau, or maybe medieval,” with sculptural, airy fixtures.

The result is a warm, elegant, worldly home, with furnishings and accessories pared down to the essentials—all lit artfully from above.

While interior designers Ashley Campbell and Jodi Cook worked to lighten up the rest of the home, they chose to do the opposite in the dining room, hanging a textured sea-grass wall covering by Phillip Jeffries on the formerly white walls. “It made the room a bit dark and moody, and not so sweet,” Cook says. Anchored by a Shaver-Ramsey flat-weave rug, the Hickory Chair table is surrounded by Pearson host chairs and Precedent side chairs from Ashley Campbell. The chandelier is from Visual Comfort.

Just off of the kitchen, two swivel chairs from Hickory Chair are upholstered in washed linen; a simple vintage trunk offers a rustic juxtaposition to the elegant fireplace and creates a cozy spot for morning coffee.

“This is their nook, where they curl up and watch
TV together, so we wanted it to be really cozy,” Cook says of the dramatic library. The Mr. Brown Home chandelier with bone inlay, Hancock & Moore shearling-and-leather slipper chair and antique warrior vests are all available through Ashley Campbell.

The kitchen, designed by William Ohs, required little change; Campbell and Cook simply installed new Visual Comfort pendants and added Lorts barstools covered in Kravet fabric.

A chandelier made from a reclaimed wine barrel hangs in the breakfast nook. The chairs are upholstered in vinyl and feature an ikat print. “It’s like business on the seat, party on the back,” Cook says.

A John Richard writer’s desk is distressed to look antique and features brass accents, which are echoed in the brass desk lamp and the room’s metallic accents. The Hickory Chair receiving chairs and Jaipur rug add a contemporary flair to the traditional room.

In the master bathroom, Campbell and Cook worked with the existing tub and William Ohs cabinetry, replacing the floor tile and countertop, and remodeling the shower. “The tile was a forest-green marble, circa 1996,” Cook says. The newly installed vein-cut travertine floor tile is from Materials Marketing; the chandelier is from Noir Furniture. The coppery brown of the Ann Sacks penny-round tile in the master bathroom’s shower complements the walnut-stained cabinets.

“The home kind of has a masculine, Ralph Lauren look, I think. There’s a subtle equestrian feel to the nightstands, with those curved pulls with the leather detail,” Cook says. The master bedroom’s Bernhardt bed and Vanguard floor mirror are available through Ashley Campbell.

A small alcove leading into the master bedroom provides the perfect spot for a little extra storage in the shape of a leather-trimmed chest of drawers from Sarreid Ltd.

The living room’s 20-foot ceilings are balanced by substantial seating, a sculptural chandelier and drapery featuring bands of color that draw the eye downward. A Lorts cocktail table features a crocodile-embossed vinyl edge, providing a bold centerpiece for a room of comfortable furnishings.

DESIGN DETAILS:

INTERIOR DESIGNERS: Ashley Campbell and Jodi Cook, Ashley Campbell Interior Design, ashleycampbell.com