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photo by Allison Joy Smith
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photo by Allison Joy Smith
Gem and Clay Interiors owner and designer Allison Smith knows good design is about balance. So while her 8,500-square-foot Bath home is a new build constructed by Old World Custom Homes and designed by Schill Architecture, she incorporated many Old World and vintage elements with fresh modern European ones.
“The challenge was to build something from the ground up in modern day that didn’t look as new,” she says. “I like modern European style. I carried that throughout using materials like stone and doing the millwork in a more French-influenced way.”
While a fireplace in the two-story great room is new, the fieldstone she chose has an older feel. “We did an over-grout treatment to kind of make it look more European and Old World,” Smith says.
Bold Sherwin-Williams Homburg Gray on the walls helps emphasize the dynamic design of the great room. “I like high contrast, so I liked the contrast between the light wood on the floor and the dark wall,” she says.
When light shines through the room’s massive six windows, Smith likes how the paint’s natural green and blue tones mesh with the stunning views of Yellow Creek, a pond and a waterfall below. Smith pays tribute to the 7.8-acre lot with a useful and exquisite coffee table featuring an epoxy river, a piece that she designed and her friends, metalworker Jon Bobovnik and woodworker Brandon Jones, crafted.
“I incorporated a lot of vintage and midcentury modern furniture in the great room. I wanted a European feel, but I wanted it to be cozy,” she says.
The sectional is new, the statement chairs near it are Danish midcentury and the brass side table looks antique — yet the elements blend thanks to her carefully curated choices. “I liked the turned wood look on the legs on the sectional. I found this similar brass in the side table,” Smith says.
photo by Allison Joy Smith
Stone reappears over the sink in the kitchen, with a slight variation. “This one is Dutch quality Tuscan Ridge in the Winterpoint color. We did the same grout treatment to keep it cohesive, but I wanted something a little bit lighter in the kitchen,” she says.
White perimeter cabinets juxtapose a charcoal island, both custom made by Troyer Cabinetry in Amish Country. She chose a light quartzite for the countertops for an airy common thread. “It has subtle color. It’s a great alternative to marble because it has kind of similar veining, but it’s so much more durable,” she says.
To offset the contrast, she needed midtones. “I was looking for ways to warm up the kitchen, ‘cause it can easily get a little cold, especially when you are going with white,” she says. “We decided on a wood ceiling and to stain it a dark walnut to tie in with the doors and dark wood accents on the rest of the main floor.”
Mixed metal accents — such as brass cabinet hardware and a polished nickel faucet — and wooden midcentury Wishbone chairs surrounding the island also help warm up the kitchen. Patterned rugs and houseplants heighten coziness. “I like that it is botanical but in a bit more of an abstract way. It makes it look a little more modern,” Smith says of the rug by the black range hood.
Tuscan Ridge stone also frames a dining room wine wall Smith designed, which includes shelves holding vintage wine crates and an inset wallpapered in a vibrant Lazy Bones covering. It’s a modern take on art by a botanical painter from an old book. “The orange that’s in the wallpaper is going to perfectly match the table,” says Smith. “The table is made out of cherry wood, so it’ll darken over time to match that orange.”
She has embraced the comeback of wallpaper and especially loves the paper with tulips in the powder room that complements the floating vanity custom made by Troyer and white porcelain tile herringbone floor.
“It reminded me of the old beautiful dark, moody paintings from Dutch masters,” she says. “I’m very selective in what wallpaper patterns I choose. I feel like if there’s somewhat of a vintage feel in the wallpaper, then it’s a little bit more timeless.”
A tulip inspired the bed in the owner’s suite that Smith collaborated with Sawhorse Woodworks in Cleveland on. She’s all about usable space, so she added a pocket to the headboard, mimicking the flower. “I love the opportunity to make anything functional and beautiful,” she says.
Jones and Bobovnik crafted a wood slat TV cabinet Smith designed that’s built in over the fireplace as a tasteful disguise. “They’re bifold doors that close over the TV and hide it,” she says. “It kinda looks like a cool piece of art.”
These bespoke flourishes strike a balance between beauty and usability, with custom spaces for everything her family loves — from an art studio for her photography and watercolor paintings to a half basketball court in the garage and a basement recording studio for her husband, Justin. Every space is utilized because it’s uniquely made.
“It was a dream to build something that was all of the things I was imagining,” Smith says. “We wanna get every ounce of use out of this amazing home. We wanna always feel inspired.”
