arts&life

at home

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But on this particular tour, she visited a
detached condo in Bloomfield Hills that she fell
in love with.
“I kept my eye on it,” she says. “Every now and
then I’d check the listings to see if it came up.”
And one day, it did.
“We went to see it the same day,” she says.
“My husband was so excited that I was willing
to move that he didn’t even look at it — he just
sat in the living room. When I was done touring
it he said, ‘You want to buy it?’ I said ‘Yes.’ And
we made an offer.”
After years of house touring for fun, she
knew who to call to make her own house a
home. “Whenever I saw a house I liked, I asked
who the designer was, and Jeffrey’s name
often came up,” she says of hiring Jeffrey King,
president and owner of Jeffrey King Interiors in
Birmingham.
“I really didn’t know what I wanted. But he
got to know us and our style, and I was very
confident giving him the reins,” the homeowner
says. “I don’t think I vetoed a single thing he
presented to us.”
“[The homeowner] knows what she likes and
doesn’t like,” King says. “Once I knew how to
tickle her fancy, I knew how to get her excited
about it. Even when I get as much freedom as
I did on this home, I don’t want people to look
at it and say, ‘That’s a Jeffrey King.’ It’s all about
bringing their visions to reality.”
The development was done about 20 years
ago, “and it was done very well,” King says.
“It’s classic, with timeless building materials.
But technology has changed so much, we had
to update everything — the appliances, the
plumbing. It’s a 2018 house that got tied into a
1998 house, but it flows seamlessly. We’re really
proud of it.”
Because the couple’s children and grandchil-
dren visit often for holidays and family gather-
ings, they wanted to be sure the home was
entertaining-friendly — which meant room for
everyone to be together and be comfortable.
“I love how Jeffrey created a flow from room
to room,” the homeowner says. “It’s really
cohesive. It’s not pretentious — he made a very
homey home — that is also really beautiful.” •

PREVIOUS PAGE+RIGHT: Soaring ceilings fill the sunroom
with light, while drapes and Roman shades — plus walls
covered in grasscloth — in neutral tones provide an
enveloping warmth. An oversized (12 feet) sofa fills the
space comfortably and the gold antiqued patina of the
center cubes brings depth to the room.
TOP+INSET: The great room in the middle of an enormous
central space takes the place of the living and family
rooms. King had a console table covered in faux leather
and nailheads; a pair of curved sofas back up to each
side of the table for double-sided seating. “I love that the
home is so open but still flows to each room and has a
very warm and cozy feel,” King says. “A lot of contem-
porary homes can be very cold. The whole color palette
here is timeless and neutral, but it still hugs you.” King
and Ady Peleg, co-owner of the Danielle Peleg Gallery
in Bloomfield Hills, brought in a graphic mixed-media
vertical triptych by Beiton. “It was created on three pan-
els to make one whole image,” Peleg says. “This way
it becomes one installation to allow it to come into the
home as a whole.”

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May 10 • 2018

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