Tamson Milton and Vince Amoroso wanted a home that reflected local Arts and Crafts architecture on the outside — but with a sleek, modern interior.
However, their architect/interior designer Stephen DerMargosian, of SDM Design, worried that the style blend might become a clash. His first question for the couple was: “Are you set on Arts and Crafts?”
DerMargosian didn’t want the house to promise an experience on the outside that the inside couldn’t deliver. Milton and Amoroso, no strangers to building new homes — they’ve done five — were intrigued by the question. The architect had quite a different melding of aesthetics in mind, what he considered a more harmonious union — a mix of Japanese and Appalachian; i.e., “Jappalachian.”
Rather than the hefty craftsmanship of the historic A&C style, the signature characteristics of “Jappalachian” include natural materials, multiple roofs, and simplicity of line. Reflecting that ease, Amoroso remarks: “This project, without question, flowed seamlessly without hiccups and without hesitation.”
But way before there was talk of façades and finishes, the couple (from Sarasota, Florida) had to wipe the slate clean — literally. They’d discovered a forlorn ranch perched on Town Mountain overlooking North Asheville. The home wasn’t appealing, but the neighborhood was: it felt tucked away, yet still connected to the liveliness of downtown.
Meanwhile, the house had undergone a misguided remodel that resulted in the kitchen and dining room ending up on the lower level. Milton and Amoroso made the purchase with hopes of saving the foundation, but in the end, it all had to be razed.
The team signed on custom builder Joel Barto with R-Squared Construction and got to work. Foremost for Milton and Amoroso was the need for all the primary living spaces to be on one level, including two master suites: one for them and the other for their son, Michael. That directive, plus the property’s steep lot, meant the home needed to be long, not deep. DerMargosian masterfully navigated the design challenge, placing the suites at opposite ends and breaking up the exterior with several low, sloping roofs (an important element of Japanese design).
The front of the home represents its own clever style blend, this time of materials. Pennsylvania bluestone and deep-gray stucco clad the exterior walls. The original plan also called for horizontal strips of wood, but Amoroso thought back to the days he spent scouring the wood exterior for their first build, and invoked his personal principle of building: “Don’t make the same mistakes twice.”
He nixed the plan, and their architect/designer came back with a surprise. DerMargosian suggested a new aluminum material, “longboard,” fabricated with a paint process that makes it look just like wood, minimal maintenance required. After installation, Barto took to asking people to guess the type of wood they used. “Not one person I talked to realized it’s metal,” he reports.
DerMargosian says his goal was to “tie the design of the home to a feeling of nature with a gentleness of lines, natural colors, and transparency to the outdoors.” Just as intended, the interior keeps the exterior design promise. Guests are ushered into a modern but welcoming space that makes ample use of windows, drawing the eyes to the back of the home with views into the treetops and beyond to the Grove Park Inn golf course.
From the foyer, an open stairwell punctuated with an elegant spiral light fixture leads to the right, while the dining room is off to the left. If wrongly executed, a long floorplan can have a railcar effect. But in the case of this home, 14-foot ceilings in the foyer, stairwell, and main living area beautifully open the space upward. (The ceilings elsewhere are 10 feet.)
The showstopper in the living room is the fireplace, dressed in raised panels of maple and created by Eric Freirich of Landmark Cabinets. Each piece fits perfectly with the next, for a dramatic floor-to-ceiling effect. A pair of floor lamps by Spruce Pine artist Larry Brown, with curved stems and capped shades, brings to mind mushrooms growing in the forest.
Amoroso jokes that if he and Milton had been in charge of paint, all the walls would be slight variations of eggshell. They were pleased when DerMargosian livened things up with warm, timeless tones that don’t feel too bold or overbearing. In the dining room, the coffered ceiling is glazed and features a mix of gold, brown, and green, creating a subtle shimmer. Set flush in the wall in the same room is a slab of onyx, illuminated from behind. At first glance, it resembles an abstract painting.
From the rugs to the commissioned vase by wood artist Joel Hunnicut, hints of red are sustained throughout the home.
The kitchen bears more of Freirich’s skill in the dark custom cabinets that contrast with the blond maple floors (their color will deepen with age). This room is Amoroso’s playscape. The couple loves to entertain, and the wrap-around design of the workspace faces the living and breakfast rooms, making it ideal for serving and interacting with guests.
A careful selection of kitchen materials includes leathered granite — a wiser choice for the light-filled room than the popular polished granite, so prone to show smudges. With herb beds outside and two large pantries, Amoroso has all he needs to whip up his award-winning stuffed Corsican peppers, among other delicacies.
Milton has her own favorite spot, too: the sunroom off the master bedroom, where she can relax rain or shine and gaze out into the tree canopy. It’s just another room that illustrates how a new house becomes a home when placed in the right hands. “I love it. I feel comfortable in it,” Milton says. “I’ve never felt this way about a house.”