Rookwood Vase in Building

I am so happy with my new home! My husband and I recently moved from Connecticut to North Carolina where we have just finished our dream home. We share a love of art and modern architecture and design that we expressed through our new, post children in the house, home. In Connecticut, we were lucky enough to have examples of work from great modern architects like Eero Saarinen, Philip Johnson, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Richard Meier near by. When we came to a point where we were thinking seriously about what we wanted to do and how we wanted to live with our future retirement in mind, we wanted to move somewhere that also valued modern architecture. As a curator, I have been interested in North Carolina's history with involving the Black Mountain College and North Carolina's strong craft and pottery traditions. I have a small personal collection of pottery and ceramics that spans from Rookwood to Mark Hewitt. As avid Dwell Magazine readers, my husband and I followed the two Dwell prefab homes that were built in North Carolina and noticed some interesting articles on North Carolina architectural firms like Tonic Design and Frank Harmon (worked with Richard Meier; one of my favorites!). As we researched North Carolina further, we found that some areas were highly ranked as places to live that offered modern amenities while also offering a low cost of living. The more we learned, the more central North Carolina looked like an ideal place for us to move where we would be able to afford to build the modern home that we have always wanted while still enjoying some of the benefits of city life and university communities. That was the path that we followed and now our home has been completed. We love the way that we can display our art and pottery collections in the house's simple, clean rooms and the way that the large windows and natural materials bring the beautiful surrounding woods indoors. Our architect did a great job of incorporating local materials, something that we appreciated in Frank Harmon and Edward Lowenstein's local architecture. I am thrilled to be able to enjoy modern architecture that provides a beautiful but unobtrusive backdrop for my art and pottery collection in an area that values these interests.

The Barcelona Daybed by Mies Van Der Rohe would work well in this home. Its clean modern lines and status as a collectible piece designed by an important modern architect make it physically compatible, appealing to clients who are collectors like the home owners above, and appropriate for a modern building. The Barcelona Daybed is often seen in leather, mixing a natural material with an industrial one similar to the way this home combines industrial materials and methods with natural materials.

An artifact like the Tiki Lamp is less appropriate for this type of a space. It is associated with highly themed and elaborately decorated interiors and a 1950's feel as well as a less serious and less expensive type of space.

Laura Snoderly