Interior designer Shanon Munn always appreciated the location of the McLean home she shares with her husband, John, and their children, Silvy, 9, and Ean, 6. (Corner lots aren’t easy to come by.) But as time went on, she pictured something that was more “farmhouse modern” than ’70s contemporary, and orchestrated a gut renovation.
When all was said and done, the home felt vastly different. In fact, its front door even faced a different street. Working with a local architect, Tom Sullivan, Munn had changed the façade’s orientation from south- to west-facing to accommodate a larger foyer inside a pivoting mahogany door.
“We didn’t have a really proper entry before,” she explains. The former space “kind of dumped into the living area. Now, the house starts to unfold in front of you.”
Today, visitors are greeted in a light-filled foyer with a rustic stone veneer accent wall. A commissioned pastel painting depicts the plains of the couple’s home state, Nebraska, and is underscored by an antique train-station bench. An intersecting hallway (the foyer forms a T shape) is bookended by glass walls, allowing broad views of the outdoors. They’re among the many floor-to-ceiling windows that were incorporated into the redesign.
“Light is really important to me and what I do,” Munn says. “I wanted the interior to feel connected to the exterior architecture and landscaping.”
Project Credit:
Ambi Design
www.ambidesignstudio.com