English Enlightenment
In the study, a cathedral-arched Pennsylvania bluestone fireplace is surrounded by thick, molded-wood panels made of reclaimed oak. (CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE) Just off the kitchen is a spacious, glass-enclosed salon with a barn-wood beam ceiling and oversize French doors. To save space in the kitchen, Pursley recessed all the cabinets into the walls for spacious, nearly invisible storage. The doors, now flush with the walls, are covered in clay-colored leather that Angela found at a fabric closeout sale. The bar in the salon was fashioned from a pair of eighteenth-century bookcases that originated in a European monastery.
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Angela and Todd Newnam became engaged, they had been living in separate condos in South End, formerly an old textile mill area and then an up-and-coming neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina. With a wedding just around the corner, the couple began looking at homes in Myers Park and Dilworth, two of the city’s most popular and well-known neighborhoods. But something was missing. While the homes they viewed were impressive, none were large enough to accommodate the large family the Newnams dreamed they’d one day have. “We really wanted a larger space,” says Angela. “We didn’t want to have to move twice.”
So the couple began looking elsewhere for their forever home. When they came across the 1920s Tudor-style house tucked away in Country Club Acre—the private, wooded area surrounding Charlotte Country Club—they were enamored. Having grown up in a cozy Tudor-style home in Tryon, North Carolina, Angela was drawn to the 4,000-square-foot stunner, and the couple saw the potential to transform the home into the eighteenth-century English manor Angela had always dreamed of. After little deliberation, the Newnams purchased the home, knowing that renovations would be delayed until after they lived in the home for several years. “It was easier to see what we wanted to change after being in the home for a while,” says Angela.
Nine years and three children later, the Newnams were finally ready to tackle some of the longstanding cosmetic issues of the home: an incongruous 1980s addition; a small, dark kitchen; dated Berber carpeting; parquet flooring; and mirror-covered walls. The largest issue to tackle, though, was how the home was situated on the property. “I’d had the idea to flip the home around,” says Angela. “We just wanted to use the space we had differently.” The couple enlisted the help of Charlotte-based architect Ken Pursley to help bring their dreams to fruition.
Knowing exactly what she wanted, Angela sketched out an addition on one side of the home and transformed the existing footprint into an L shape. “We wanted another kids’ bedroom, a study, a larger dining room, and another bath or two upstairs,” she says. “But Ken really took it to another level. He came up with even better placements. I had the initial view, but he came up with a better view.” The crafting and construction fell to builder Ben Collins of the Salins Group.
After reworking the home’s floor plan (which resulted in an additional 1,000 square feet), the first order of business was to address the outside of the home. What was once the backyard pool would now serve as the front entrance to the home, with a 2,400-square-foot courtyard and an English rose garden. The new front door was set in a small turret that housed a spiral staircase in the original 1920s structure. The roses became a hobby for Angela, who admits that at first the garden had only fifteen to twenty rosebushes; today, it boasts fifty to sixty bushes. The former front entrance became a fenced-in backyard for the Newnam children to play in.
Next, Pursley addressed the outdated kitchen. Dark and cramped, the space needed a full makeover, including windows and new cabinetry for added storage. A farmhouse-style sink, a gourmet Wolf range, and gorgeous white limestone counters complement the large, expansive windows, which Angela and Collins buffed to give an irregular, bleached look. To maximize the space, Pursley suggested recessing the cabinets—now covered in clay-covered leather Angela found at a fabric closeout sale and studded with decorative metal grommets—into the walls for nearly invisible storage. A large butcher block serves as the centerpiece to the kitchen, while hundred-year-old timbers were added to the ceiling to further the Tudor-style look.
Because the Newnams are avid entertainers, Pursley also wanted to create a flow to the home to allow the family to entertain inside and out. The result is four outdoor living spaces, which flow seamlessly from the large dining room and living room by way of French doors. “It’s such a great entertaining house,” says Angela.
Both the living and dining rooms were important aspects of the renovation as well; the Newnams wanted the spaces to be larger and more impressive, so Pursley heightened the ceilings (from seven and a half feet to ten feet) and added antique English wood paneling and bluestone flooring for a rustic elegance. Pursley and Collins updated the home’s overall look by hand-plastering the walls and updating the slate roof and stuccoed façade.
Over the years, the Newnams have collected various pieces that complement the Tudor style. Significant pieces, such as an antique console cabinet, which Angela found at a flea market in Charlottesville, Virginia, and an 1810 American sideboard purchased in Baltimore, finish off the Tudor look, which the Newnams wanted to create with the renovation. Stunning Turkish Oushak rugs purchased at Nila’s Antique Rugs, in Charlotte, are spread throughout the home, offering an early–nineteenth-century feel to the home.
