Mary Tobias Miller has a talent for seeing the potential in a home that others might pass by without a thought, which might explain why the designer has had such success helping her clients renovate and transform outdated,rundown properties into their dream homes. So when Miller, who owns Abode in Dilworth, and her husband, Rich, became empty nesters and were ready to move on from the traditional white-clapboard Foxcroft home they had lived in forten years, she was certain she could find a diamond in the rough.
They looked at home after home, and, although it took some time, the Millers finally found the one.“This home had been for sale for quite a bit,” she says of the traditional yellow home in Eastover.“It was dark. Dark wood, dark floors, dark rooms. Provincial mantles with fussy tiles and heavy brown everywhere.” Despite the lack of natural light and dark finishes, Miller could see that the downstairs, which had been left untouched by the previous owners, was the perfect blank canvas forthe designer to make her mark.“The previous owners renovated the bathrooms and laundry room upstairs, but they didn’t touch anything on the first floor.” The couple quickly scooped up the home, and Miller began the design process almost immediately.
Miller looked to friend and architect Ken Pursley to help reimagine the facade of the home.“I can renovate anything on the inside of the house, but when it comes to rooflines, it’s not my strength,” she says.“It initially looked like a person whose eyes—meaning the windows upstairs— are too far apart. Between the ‘eyebrows’ were eight entirely unnecessary columns that had no purpose.” Pursley took the previously traditional facade and transformed it into a welcoming entry featuring more modern architectural details and newly painted brick. “Ken filled out the space between the windows in such a lovely way. I was able to hang the lantern I love overthe new glass and light-filled entryway.”
Inside, Miller went to work opening up the downstairs. “I love light, bright, and airy, and feel trapped if there’s not enough sunlight or windows,” she explains. The addition of a new window above the kitchen sink and more windows overlooking the patio and pool resulted in a flush of natural light into the first floor.
Miller put her design philosophy of mixing the unexpected with the traditional and layering with modern elements and antiques to work throughout the home. “I love to include one-ofa-kind pieces to make a home feel both curated and timeless,” she says. In the living room, a hand-printed screen of a port in France, poised as the centerpiece of the room, was an heirloom from her mother. “I love everything about this screen—the painterly style and the soft color palette, which is reflective of most of the homes I design. It just takes me to a happy place. It belonged to my mother, who is no longer with us, so having it in my home is a subliminal comfort. This is what family heirlooms should do for us. Trends come and go, but family heirlooms, along with some modern touches, should reflect the layers of people’s lives. I think that’s true of my home.”
With this home and many of her projects, Millerloves the “flexibility you have to create something unique during the building and renovation stages of a project.” The adjacent kitchen was reworked to be “buttoned up and mostly hidden behind doors. A little more serious than most kitchens but able to exist in the same space as the living room,” Miller explains of designing the kitchen to look less utilitarian and more like a well-furnished room with the oversized quartzite island, the custom cabinetry made to look like well-placed furniture, and the backsplash thatruns the height of the room to mimic a wallcovering.“I love that the anchor of the island is open to the living room, whose focal point is my beloved hand-painted screen.”
Although Rich Millerinitially wanted to fill in the existing pool, now the Millers can’t imagine the home without it.“When I look outside the kitchen or pool-room windows, I feel like I’m at a resort,” Miller says.“Rich and I are both workaholics who rarely take a day off, so if I can look out that window and feel like I’m at a resort, it’s a mental vacation of sorts.” To add to the resort vibe, the oversized Slim Aarons photo of C. Z. Guest is another visual—albeit virtual—escape. And when coupled with the custom built-in barin a lacquered Kelly green, the ’60s-style vintage abstracts by B. Kline, and the custom sectional in a plush lime velvet, the result is a bright, fresh feel that Miller has become known for and loves.
Like most designers, Miller’s home is continuously evolving with small tweaks to each room—a balancing act between new and old, modern and antique. “My design philosophy revolves around how you mix the colors, textures, patterns, and, most importantly, periods of furniture and collectibles to achieve a balance,” she says. “The goal ultimately is for a home to look and feel inviting and to draw people in visually and physically.” Especially so if it’s your own home.