One of the first things you notice when you enter Dick and Sallie Klingman’s home is the beautiful Tuscanstyled garden that lies just beyond the French doors in the solarium.
Immediately in the foreground of the sun-baked patio is a wall of Tea Olive trees that beautifully frame the view of a lawn sculpture and a sitting area that is off in the distance. There is a formality to the design of the patio that lies right outside the doors, yet on further inspection, you notice the casual nature of the sculpture that lies deeper in the yard.
Sallie loves a traditional style and Dick favors things that are more contemporary. Over the years, they have blended both and this “opposite of things” is a constant theme throughout their home. The end result is a beautiful blend of old and new, traditional and modern, yin and yang.
I n Chinese philosophy, the concept of yin and yang is used to describe how polar forces are interconnected and interdependent. Yin and yang are complementary opposites within a greater whole, yet the end result creates balance. So too is this blend between the opposite decorating styles of Dick and Sallie.
“We don’t invest in anything for the home unless we both love it,” says Sallie. “Sometimes that means going without, but it is not a compromise. The net result is a very personal living space.”
“I visually absorbed a lot growing up,” Dick said. Interested in design since childhood, he has a lifelong creative streak. With his formal education in interior design, Dick’s career was shaped by cultural influences in furniture design, art and space planning – all of which have witnessed incredible changes over the last 20 years.
Dick managed Herman Miller, a respected furniture manufacturer, in the southeast for 12 years before he opened KlingmanWilliams, a Herman Miller dealer. Two original Eames chairs (Dick calls them potato chip chairs) flank the Barbara Barry designed credenza. This credenza is where Dick and Sallie’s remodeling journey began.
“We owned this beautiful Barbara Barry piece and were originally drawn to the horizontal ribbing that graces the front of the drawers,” said Dick. “When our kitchen was remodeled, we knew we wanted to repeat the pattern on the face of the kitchen cabinets. The credenza sits in the solarium and is a focal point of one the most used areas in our home – the kitchen and built-in eating area.”
T he Klingmans discovered the home in 1993, after sitting for sale for over three years. “The house was originally built in 1951 and designed as a guest home of the Bill Van Every estate,” said Dick. “This guest house was never intended to be a main residence and needed quite a bit of updating. I think that scared off many buyers, but to us, it was an opportunity to create exactly what we wanted.”
T he single-level, 4,000-square-foot home is anchored by the formal living room, which is in the center of the house. The solarium boasts concrete tile floors which lead to the open kitchen. Throughout the home, French doors and banks of floor-to-ceiling windows frame the woods and gardens outside. The solarium is bathed in natural light that filters through a glass KalWall ceiling. A cozy sitting banquette is off of the formal living room and beautiful marble countertops grace a semi-circular banquet that anchors the home.
“Yes, it’s a marble countertop and we love it,” said Dick, admitting that people often ask about their concerns of stains and durability of marble. “I’ve been to Pompeii Italy and seen the ruins of Italian kitchens that are thousands of years old. They had marble, and despite Mt. Vesuvius erupting, they still look great.”
T he couple hired architects Thomas Paul Bates and Jeremy Corkern of Birmingham, Alabama to create the first phase of the remodel. Dick, along with long-time friends Cindy Smith, of Circa Interiors and Ed Starr, a Fellow ASID designer, came up the finishing touches of the house plan, the remodel and subsequent interior design.
“Dick and Cindy absolutely feed off each other,” said Sallie. “It’s so fun just to leave them together and see what design ideas they come up with.” Dick adds that they aimed for balance in the decorating.
“We came together on everything in our home. The mantra that opposites attract really holds true. The house reflects the things we like together and how we choose to live.”