COUNTRY STRONG
PROjECT. brings boundary-pushing design to a 8,000-square-foot, new construction home and pool house high on a bluff near Nashville via meaningful storytelling and bespoke material selection.
When a beloved repeat client purchases ten acres outside of Nashville in Franklin, Tenn., with plans to build their dream home high on a bluff that overlooks rolling hills and magenta sunsets — an 8,000-square-foot, 4 bed/6.5 bath modern home with an infinity pool and a standalone pool house — you gather your girlies and giddy up. And look to the queen for the right attitude: “It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.” – Dolly Parton.
There would be no country clichés here, however — that’s not how PROjECT. rolls. “We had worked with this design-forward family on a previous project, a luxury single-family home in Glencoe, Ill.,” says PROjECT. Founder + Visionary, Aimee Wertepny. “We knew their style — their lifestyle needs for a busy family of three [plus their black pug, Salto, of course]; their penchants and passions — and determined that this hilltop house would have to be a gemini: two personalities, one rocksteady vibe. It would be one part earth goddess [tree stumps and stools, hair-on hides, crystal slabs] and one part rock ‘n’ roll [lacquered accents, stark contrasts, disco balls and fringe for days].”
With Botsko Builders Inc. on the new construction build, PROjECT.’s interior design scope would be both remote and in-person, and include some modest interior architecture moves [i.e. a raw brick archway leading into the kitchen and a hearth install for the fireplace in the great room], full finish and fixture selections [think countertops, tile, flooring, waterworks and statement lighting], end-to-end furniture and decor, and nuanced styling down to the bed linens.
“We wanted to flip the script on the mainstream notion of what ‘country chic’ is. Sure, there are nods to horse country that can be found throughout because of the location and the fact that the wife/mother is an equestrian — for example, a series of Lucite-framed horseshoes that belonged to her horse, Laru; an English saddle slung over the stair railing just so — but nothing is in-your-face. Instead, the references are tempered time capsules that tell the story of their lives and loves in an artfully sentimental way.”
Room to room, the magic is in the details: passthrough custom millwork bookshelves and a built-in bar wrapped with vintage leather belts in the great room, draped and dangling lighting from Apparatus and a gold-studded stairway runner for the foyer, a snake wallcovering for the hallway ceiling that leads to the primary suite, subtle sparkle for the onyx kitchen tile to catch and reflect the sunlight… “One of my favorite rooms is the sitting room located at the front of the house,” shares Wertepny. “Instead of purposing the space as an office or a TV den, which would be the natural train of thought, the homeowners wanted to make it a hangout space for reading and listening to music [a.k.a. the disco room]. So we layered in black leather-wrapped sconces, custom steel-like shelving that looks like it’s dripping over the brackets, linear molding that runs from the walls up across the ceiling, chakra-cleansing crystals, and a sisal rug for a groovy-yet-grounded ambiance that’s edgy, inspiring and comfortable.”
For the natural-light-filled living room, PROjECT. chose wide-plank gray oak flooring that comes to a dramatic point via an angled and exaggerated chevron pattern, blackened wood planks for the ceiling that appear almost charred, and subtly veined stone slabs for the fireplace front to set the scene and create impactful contrasts. “Then we added in a massive low-profile sectional in cream that you can sink into, yinyang coffee tables, and a petrified wood accent table so that the space functions well for everyday living and elevated entertaining.” The adjacent kitchen received a layer of brick [unmortared dry-stack veneer] for the arched case opening, a killer countertop slab that’s embedded with crystals, beaucoup plant babies to bring the outside in, and some statement-making lighting selections: selenite sconces, picture lights from Kelly Wearstler, and a linear pendant above the island with leather accents.
Accessed via a black lacquered door, the primary bedroom finds definition from a silky shag rug that runs across the floor and up over the custom headboard, and a wow-inducing five-foot-high, 40-inch-in-diameter leather chandelier custom made by our friends at Ngala Trading. And to bring a spa-like experience to the primary bath, PROjECT. intermingled a halfmoon mirror over the double vanity, swooping lighting, tile that has the appearance of leather, and gunmetal fixtures. As for the three, secondary bedrooms upstairs, one is for their 16-year-old-son while the other two serve as WFH offices. “I think it’s cool that they didn’t want a guest room in the main house,” says Wertepny. “Every inch of this home is designed to meet their needs — no more, no less — which allows it to feel intimate and cozy despite its size.” [Case in point: The couple’s son is a gymnast, so a training gym with a trampoline was added to the west side of the house.]
The standalone pool house, painted black to serve as a stark contrast against the all-white house, multitasks as a pool house [natch], a dwelling for visitors, and a hangout space for teenagers. “The homeowners worked closely with Rondo Pools to create this incredible outdoor oasis, complete with a covered vaulted patio, a builtin outdoor kitchen, a pool with a limestone pool deck, a spa hot tub, raised fire pits and a water feature,” says Wertepny. “The pool house is like a tiny house unto itself with a living room, a kitchenette, and a full bath. Here, we chose concrete picket and square floor tiles before wrapping the fireplace in a cool wallcovering from Philip Jeffries and adding in this black, shaggy pendant light that we sourced from High Point Furniture Market. During the day, you can grab a towel, a cool beverage or an escape from the rays. In the evenings, it transforms into a teen domain for gaming and getting away from the adults.”
Adds Wertepny: “Feathers, fur, fringe, shag, disco balls, equestrian suggestions, rock ‘n’ roll, sex appeal, and some ’70s grooviness… This house is sexy. You don’t walk in and go, ‘This is a sweet country house.’ It’s bold, unapologetic, and can’t be put in a box or labeled with conventional descriptors. And it really embodies the organic-glam mashup that PROjECT. is known for.”
