The House That Summoned | The Shore Life Magazine

By Mary Lou Baker. Photography by Path Snyder.

Chestertown residents Laura and Kirk Wade couldn?t ignore the hunch that a house was somewhere inside them, just waiting to be built.

The winding drive leading to the residence of Laura and Kirk Wade, at the end of a cul de sac in Chestertown, is a fitting introduction to a home designed with motion in mind.? ?We wanted the rooms to have a natural flow,? says Laura, who believed so strongly that she ?had a house within her? that she put the couple?s historic Water Street property on the market and made her dream house a reality in 2010.

The couple, he an international lawyer and she the office manager of a government relations office in Washington, D.C., bought their first Chestertown house in 1995 as part of a long-range, 10- to 15-year plan to retire there. For three years, they spent most weekends overseeing a loving restoration of a long-neglected property on the town?s fabled Water Street, which they made their permanent residence in 1998, quickly becoming active members of the local community. ?The scale of the town and its welcoming attitude reminded me of where I grew up in south Texas in the 1950s,? Kirk says.

Despite feeling at home in Chestertown, Laura couldn?t kick the nagging feeling that she ?had a house within her,? a dream with an origin dating back to her love of Kirk?s grandmother?s grand residence in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Kirk?s family home in Dallas. Laura first visited Kirk?s home when she was 17, the year she met her future husband. Sharing a keen aesthetic sense and a closeness cultivated during 44 years of marriage, Laura and Kirk struck just the right harmony when designing their new home from the ground up.

The meticulous structural planning of the Wade?s distinctive home reflects the couple?s impeccable taste. Among the countless amenities are the graceful open archways throughout the house, guiding guests from the spacious parquet-floored entry hall through the other rooms of the 4,000-plus-square-foot residence. Subtle touches are everywhere, with ceiling heights shifting from 10 feet in the entry hall to more than 12 feet in the vaulted beamed ceiling in the dining room, then dropping to nine feet in the library before leveling out to just more than eight feet in the rest of the house.

Heavy-paneled oak doors welcome visitors to an impressive entry hall, where a striking white marble sculpture resembling a Grecian goddess?a surprise Christmas gift from Kirk to his wife?is mounted on a pedestal. When designing the house, the couple agreed to avoid a showy center hall stairway to the upper floor, choosing instead to install a modest stairway defined with wrought ironwork in an unobtrusive location one passes en route to the den and kitchen.

Without children, Laura and Kirk did not want the now-popular great room, opting instead for spaces that are self-contained yet without doors. Glass doors on the natural wood cabinets in the kitchen contribute to the Proven?al feel of this well-equipped room, where countertop heights are designed to accommodate the Wades, who both are tall in stature. The kitchen opens to a hallway decorated with framed restaurant menus that memorialize the food and wine highlights of the couple?s world travels. Each one has a fascinating backstory?dating from the menu Kirk saved from the ship on his first Atlantic crossing at the age of 13 to several from the couple?s most recent trip to Italy.

But the piece de resistance is Kirk?s personal wine room, where his collection of more than 2,000 bottles are catalogued and stored at a constant temperature of 55 degrees. It looks like a library, complete with steps to access the highest shelves, but instead of books, its treasures are potable. A windowed wine refrigerator just around the corner is reserved for Champagne, as well as bottles appropriate for complimenting casual meals.

It?s a good bet that an invitation for dinner at the Wades is a coveted commodity. Their luxurious dining room is a work of art, its color scheme inspired by the handsome linen drapes that incorporate 16 colors suggesting Provence, France, a favorite travel destination of the Wades. ?I wanted a country French feel for this room,? says Laura, who has put her own stamp on the style by incorporating family antiques into the d?cor. A massive Welsh sideboard that once belonged to Kirk?s grandmother is a stunning accent piece. A pair of huge hurricane lamps that once belonged to Kirk?s mother also helps bring the past into the present.

One of Laura?s favorite pieces is the magnificent crystal chandelier hanging over a custom-made dining table that seats eight. Guests at their frequent dinner parties are seated on early 19th-century American Chippendale chairs discovered in a Savannah, Ga., antique shop. Laura credits her sister, Linda Paisley, a well-known interior designer in Dallas, for finding the handsome lighting fixture, as well as the Lee Jofa drapery fabric that inspired the room?s color scheme. An embassy-size Oriental bought in Chestertown adds richness to the room, where a formal portrait of Kirk?s mother contributes to the elegant ambiance.

Walls glow with a golden decorative finish artfully created by local craftsman Syrta Yvonne. Yvonne?s handiwork extends to the olive walls of a spacious butler?s pantry adjacent to the dining room, where Laura?s orderliness is obvious in the artful arrangement of fine china and crystal sparkling behind the windowed cabinets.

The country French theme carries through to a charming living room in the center of the house. Silken window drapes in varying shades of yellow accent the deep-paned windows at the center of the house, furnished with couches and chairs that create two separate conversational groupings. Striking artwork on the walls range from a watercolor still-life painting of three vases the couple purchased years ago in Bath, England, to fine works from local artists Sue Tessem and Marcy Dunn Ramsey to several paintings by Kirk?s late mother, Madeleine Wade.

A bank of arched windows and French doors frame the entrance to a spacious verandah and the carefully landscaped back yard. A 40-foot lap pool stretches in front of a long wall of custom-cut gray flagstone built by local craftsman Bill Lewis. The wall is artistically accented with a border of the lavender plants so popular in Provence. Kirk says guests like to play a whimsical ?parlor game? that involves identifying various animal or bird shapes they see in the blue-gray stones?much like when children lie on their backs and see ?visions? in the cloud formations above them. ?This is the Southwestern Zen side of the house,? jokes Kirk, whose own ?vision? was the wall and pool.

Mature trees outline the far boundaries of the rear grounds, with new plantings of Korean boxwood and clumps of impatiens adding color to the scene. A bona fide potting shed is at once functional and decorative, providing a convenient workspace for Laura and landscape designer Dorian Lewis. ?With this new house, we deliberately designed the gardens to be low maintenance, so we have ?retired? most of our gardening equipment,? Laura says.

Doors from the verandah lead to a spacious screened porch, with another portal connecting to the den and the kitchen. The Wades treasure this attractive indoor-outdoor setting, lit with custom-designed lanterns and simply furnished with a rustic table and chairs.

Kirk loves to create food and wine pairings for small gatherings, but the Wades depend on Kelly McIntire of Occasions Catering for larger events. Known for their hospitality, the couple recently opened their home to the musicians of the National Music Festival?held in Chestertown in June?with three of them spending two weeks in their second-floor guest rooms.

Every room in the Wade?s house has a personality of its own. In the cozy den, a portrait of a young boy by Catalan artist Mallol Suazo was acquired in Barcelona, Spain, in 1960 by Kirk?s grandmother. Its vibrant colors inspired Laura to rescue a favorite Oriental out of storage, using its dominant shades of red to interact with the same colors in the portrait. Family photos of Laura and Kirk?s families are displayed in a room that is as warm and welcoming as the owners of this enchanting house.

The luxurious master suite at the far end of the house begins with Kirk?s well-appointed library. Beyond, lies their bedroom, with a more than 11-foot tray ceiling, pale green walls and handsome green and cocoa brown drapes framing several windows that overlook the lap pool. Off the bedroom are his and her closets, as well as individual vanities and spacious dressing rooms, a cleverly designed space lit with an overhead skylight, electrified to permit air circulation. This master suite is a study in serenity, with all of the components joined together like Legos.

Overnight guests are pampered in two well-appointed guest rooms on the second floor. One is decorated with a favorite Oriental that blends well with the attractive Pierre Deux curtains and custom-made quilts on the twin beds. A balcony overlooking gardens at the rear of the house adds panache to one of the chambers, each of which has its own bath.

Laura was delighted to show off the two department store-size rolls of gift wrap on paper cutters in a small second-floor room she calls her ?wrap station.? The paper cutters were yet another thoughtful gift from her husband?a welcome surprise for the recipient but the source of some jokes from her friends, Laura says with a smile.

Following Laura?s instinct that she was destined to build a house of her own, the Wades have created a private paradise for themselves, as well as for their friends and family, who share in the results of their dream house. Striking just the right balance between beauty and functionalism, this home not only has ?good bones,? but ?great vibes,? as well.

Source: http://www.shorelife.com/2012/10/10/the-house-that-summoned/

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