Private Quarters: Allison and Warner McConaughey

Allison, an interior designer for Hammersmith Interiors, and her husband Warner, founder of Hammersmith Home Renovations, live in the 6,000-square-foot home with their three children.

“When we first looked through the house, we didn’t like it at all because there were many small rooms that were cramped and it didn’t have a good traffic flow, but we drove by the house a lot and had an attraction to it,” she said.

The pair ultimately decided to renovate their home in the English vernacular style, a project that took two years to complete.

“As a designer you have to think about how -- spacially -- your family works. Every family is different,” Allison said. “We wanted to have more openings and less doors. Once the walls started coming down, it made more sense.”

It was important to the McConaugheys to utilize the various spaces in the house regularly, and that led to both intimate rooms and spaces big enough to entertain large groups.

“The majority of people who come in don’t expect the contemporary style of the home. They’re very surprised when they come in, after seeing the Tudor style outside, to see bright plaster walls and open spaces,” Allison said.

The home seamlessly merges the old and new with features such as an original limestone mantelpiece and wood banister with modern Venetian plaster walls and stainless steel kitchen fixtures.

“It’s a labor of love for both of us,” Allison says about working as a team to renovate the home. “This is our lifetime home. We traveled extensively before we did this house and we brought a lot of our experiences into this house. It really is a statement of who we are.”