HDFeb2012_PierreHome

craftsman’s Craftsmanthe

A painter shines a light on period style

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Photos by Long’s Photography339-5799, 702 W. Tharpe St., www.longsphotography.com

Staging assistance by Missy Gunnels Flowers 228-0354, www.missygunnelsflowers.com.

Pierre Moreau and Jan Whatley’s living room shows careful attention to Arts and Crafts details.

ierre Moreau and Jan Whatley say people sometimes walk into their home on Cottage Rose Lane and ask whether the place is old or new.

They consider that a compliment.

The Craftsman-style bunga-low was built in 2008, but its every nook and cranny shows loving attention to the details of the Arts and Crafts movement’s heyday in the United States in the early part of the last century.

Before this house, Pierre explains. ““I was into Victorian.” In fact, former Tallahassee Democrat reporter Dorothy Clifford wrote an article in 1990 about a tract home that he had retrofitted in Victo-rian style.

Now he and his wife are very much into Craftsman, with its clean lines and hand-made look. If the pair had switched styles 100 years ago, they would have simply been changing with the times. The American Crafts-man movement was an offshoot of the British Arts and Crafts movement, which began in the 1860s as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and to the heavily ornamented Victorian style.

As an expert craftsman himself, a professional house painter and color consultant, Pierre can ap-preciate that the two styles share a great attention to workmanship and detail. Pierre says he is shooting

Story by Joni Branch

for a “strong representation” of Craftsman style, not an “authentic reproduction,” at the house in Evening Rose.

Whatever you call it, it’s quite Crafts-man.

First there is the design of the place, a one-story with deep eaves and a generous porch. Then there are its colors, all drawn from a muted, nature-inspired Arts and Crafts palette. Pierre put seven shades on the exterior alone. Earthy browns and tan, along with gold, rusty red and gray, set the tone for the whole home.

Inside, behind a mahogany front door stained dark walnut, walls colored from the same Craftsman palette complement a wide expanse of oak floor in the open-plan kitchen, living and dining areas. Ceilings are not white, but the palest blue. The overall effect is wonderfully homey and warm.

Above the fireplace, a carved mantel inset reads: “A world of strife shut out and a world of love shut in.”

Hand-crafted furnishings, many tracked down or commissioned by Pierre, stud the space. Much of the furniture was made in California in the style of Craftsman icon Gustav Stickley, and two chairs by a dining room sideboard are authentic Stickley fitted with fabric seats rather than the traditional rush. Built of wood stained a rich brown, the pieces are simple, boxy and spare. Stickley’s furniture is often

The house in Evening Rose exudes warmth, with a statue of a spaniel by the front door and, just inside, comfortable seating and a gas-powered fireplace. More spaniels make an appearance on a pillow, while antique-looking stuffed rabbits are settled on a bench. Pierre and Jan have two British cocker spaniels of their own.

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A carved mantel inset reads: “A world of strife shut out and a world of love shut in.”

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popularly referred to as “Mission” style, although he is said to have rejected the term as misleading.

At Pierre and Jan’s, even the wood picture frames likely would meet with Stickley’s approval, and table linens and toppers are specially embroidered in Arts and Crafts-inspired patterns.

“I’m a detail-oriented person,” Pierre says. “There’s no one more particular than I am.”

The plan for the house began as an offering from builder K2 Urbancorp, which is no longer in business. Pierre and Jan worked with interior designer Julian Mathis to refine the blueprint and make the space work for them before K2 began construction.

Jan, who works for State Attorney Willie Meggs, shares Pierre’s enthusiasm for the Craftsman style but lets Pierre lead on many matters of interior design. “He is the creative one,” she says. “He has the vision.”

She likes the “old feel” of their interior combined with its modern conveniences. Her list of wants for the house included a laundry room with a tall, wide sink where she could bathe their two dogs without bending over, and a generous claw-foot tub perfect for a hot soak on a cold

FACING PAGE: Pierre says most of the colors in his house are in the modern painting about the sideboard. The frames of the pieces alongside it, meanwhile, are true to Arts and Crafts style.

ABOVE AND LEFT: While the kitchen has a period feel, it also has thoroughly modern conveniences.

CENTER: Tori the British cocker spaniel claims a spot on the floor.>>>

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winter’s day. “It’s good for just lounging in there and relaxing, clearing your mind.”

And, she says, “I do love my kitchen. I love the gas stove.”

The new house also has a window just right for African violets, and Jan grows

a bevy of them. As Pierre will quickly tell you, she’s the one with the green thumb.

If Pierre’s thumbs are green, he

probably can name the exact shade from Benjamin Moore.

Part of what Pierre first loved about Victorian homes was their color, the fact that it was common to find “five, six, seven” shades on one exterior. “That really taught me to start thinking about

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TOP LEFT AND FACING PAGE: A simple arrangement accents the master bath, where the trim may be near white but the walls are a deep peachy shade.

ABOVE: The master bedroom is neat and spare.

LEFT: Pierre’s office is a real working space.

FAR LEFT: Another bunny rests on an antique trunk in the master bedroom.

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SOURCES & SERVICESPierre Moreau credits these vendors and crafts people for the work on his and Jan’s home: Paint: Eppes Decorating Center, 2849 Apalachee

ParkwayBlueprint design consultation, upholstery

fabrics, and pair of Lee Industries living room chairs: Julian Mathis Interior Design 1123 Thomasville Road

Light fixtures: Tallahassee Lighting Fan and Blind, Tallahassee

Hardwood floor finishing: Phelps Wood Floors, Tallahassee

Mantle and built-in bookcases: Michael Keith, www.aboutfacingcabinets.com, Tallahassee

Mantle carving: www.artofthecraft.com, Wilmington, N.C.

Custom furniture: www.rbwoodworking.com, Three Rivers, Calif.; www.vorheescraftsman.com, Pasadena, Calif.; www.missionliving.com, Santa Clarita, Calif.

Rugs: www.potterybarn.com; www.persiancarpet.com , Durham, N.C.

Stained glass: Florida Stained Glass, 2702 Power Mill Court

Custom picture frames: www.artsandcraftsman.com, Painesville, Ohio; www.finelinesframing.com, Belvidere, N.J.; www.missionguild.com, Mount Vision, N.Y.

Table lamps: www.thebrightspot.com, Westmont, Ill.

Custom table scarfs, placemats, napkins, and pillow: www.paintbythreads.com, Yucaipa, Calif.

Clawfoot bathtub: www.thetubconnection.com, Kirksville, Mo.

Laundry room sink: www.vintagetubandbath.com, Hazelton, Pa.

color, looking at color,” he says.Naturally, all the color sense he has

learned over the years comes into play in his new Craftsman house, where, it should be noted, not a single wall is white. Pierre’s historically accurate palette makes the new house look pleasantly old.

Gustav Stickley would approve.

An eye for color

Pierre Moreau discovered early in his painting career that he has a knack for color, and frequently helps homeowners choose what colors to paint their homes. “Most people are not aware of the options that are available to them,” he says. He works with Eppes Decorating Center, 2849 Apalachee Parkway, to get the right shades. “I’m always fooling with the denominations of paint.” For the exterior of his home, Pierre used seven Benjamin Moore-mixed colors:

n HC-22 Blair Goldn HC-25 Quincy Tann HC-106 Crownsville Grayn HC-19 Norwich Brownn HC-73 Plymouth Brownn Indian Red (a 1904 Monarch Paint

Co. color)n 834 Bright & Early (pale blue on

porch ceilings)To hire Pierre Moreau as a painter or

color consultant, call him at 878-8378.

ABOVE: The house has a covered back porch furnished with a durable outdoor seating group and an all-weather rug.

LEFT: Jan found the tall, old-fashioned laundry room sink online. She wanted a tall sink that would allow her to bathe the couple’s two dogs without bending over. Pierre came up with a cover, not shown here, that pops on top of the sink, turning it into a countertop for grooming the spaniels.

Pierre and Jan in their living room with their two British cocker spaniels, Kirby and Tori

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