Text by Cara Ellen Modisett
Photos by Tim Barnwell
The premise is unusual: Take an artist, his girlfriend, their art collection, inspirations from Mexico and a 1962 ranch house on a three-quarter-acre lot and create something new, beautiful and always changing.
One of our goals with this project was we didn’t want to break the footprint,” says Randy Shull of his ranch house in north Asheville, which looks like your typical 1960s ranch home – at first glance. He and Hedy Fischer wanted “to bring it up to date without just expanding it.”
The solution?
“We completely inverted the house.” Meaning that what’s now the master bedroom was once the kitchen, and vice versa. “The only room that stayed the same was the living room.”
The reason: The house’s original design didn’t “relate” to the 200-degree views of Asheville, N.C. and the mountains. Shull and Fischer, who enjoy bringing friends in for long dinners, wanted to share the view with guests, not keep it confined to their bedroom windows.
Painter/designer Randy Shull’s great-great-great uncle, Frederick Law Olmstead, was the mastermind behind the grounds of the Biltmore Estate and New York City’s Central Park. He considers his bright, beautifully landscaped house part home, part “laboratory,” where he tries out design ideas – and then tries out more.
Shull, originally from Illinois, and Fischer, from Kentucky, did the initial renovation on their home in 2001 and 2002, but the project is perpetual. Shull, who works in furniture, architectural and landscape design (he has been featured on HGTV’s “Modern Masters”), uses his home as a testing ground for new ideas. He replaced the living room windows after two years “because I didn’t like how they looked.” Next he plans to replace the multiple windows in the kitchen/dining area with “a single expanse of glass that will frame the mountain view like a Chinese scroll.”
Click here for additional photos
Click for an exclusive interview with Randy Shull
| 8 TIPS FOR MOUNTAIN HOMEOWNERSHIP |
1. Building Materials. Usually, for both strength and beauty, natural exterior materials are best. Stone and wood weather well and even improve with age; however, always consider your particular location and needs – consult a local architect or contractor.
2. Winterproofing. Check surrounding trees for damage or decay; remove trees that may pose a threat to your home by falling. Store flashlights, batteries, candles, water, dry goods and alternative heating sources. Ensure energy efficiency: check caulking around windows and doors; insulate pipes and outdoor water faucets.
3. Wildlife. Check insulation and cover or fill any gaps or holes you may find in and around your exterior, paying particular attention to the foundation. Maintain professional pest management and keep your home dry with a dehumidifier if humidity is a problem. Avoid attracting deer and bears by sealing and securing trash outdoors.
4. Roads and Driveways. Mountain roads can be winding and uneven, and they are at times subject to flooding or obstruction. Similarly, driveways are often steep and/or narrow. With driveways, try to take advantage of the wind – some areas will naturally blow clear of snow while others will gather drifts. Have snow shovels and sand or rock salt available, and snow chains for tires.
5. Orientation. Southwest tends to be the mildest direction for wind and weather, while the northeast is more tempestuous. The short side of a house should face west and be used for storage, acting as a buffer against late afternoon heat in summer, while rooms with large windows should face south in order to soak up sun in winter.
6. Erosion Prevention. Terrace your hillside or plant along the natural contours of the hill instead of straight up and down or across. Planting a row of trees or bushes as a windbreak can help. Ground covers such as English ivy or creeping juniper hold soil in place. Keep your soil healthy – rich soil supplemented by compost and light tilling is less likely to wash away.
7. Wildfire Protection. Keep your home and surrounding yard free of debris; clean roof and gutters at least twice a year. Keep firewood and other fuels away from your house. Remove unhealthy plants or trees. Avoid using mulch, and consider planting trees and shrubs with low sap or resin content that are low to the ground and easy to maintain.
—Ashley Gilliam
| WEB EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RANDY SHULL |
E-interview with Artist Randy Shull, April 2007
Randy Shull’s Asheville, N.C. home, which he shares with his girlfriend Hedy Fischer, is featured in our July/August 2007 issue.
Cara Ellen Modisett: You’re a painter, furniture designer, architectural designer and landscape designer. Which came first, and how do they intersect/influence each other?
Randy Shull: I studied furniture design in university with a BFA degree from Rochester Institute of Technology, but I grew up with parents who built houses and we always had extensive gardens growing up. I am less apt to get bored with one thing when there is so much to do. Sometimes it is easier to visualize a painting if I’m working outdoors in the garden on a footpath, and say, wow, that arrangement would be great in a painting. I like how there is a constant internal dialogue between the different mediums.
CEM: Tell me about when you discovered your home in North Carolina. Why did you like the house at it was, what did you see (envision) that wasn’t there?
RS: We liked the house for its southern exposure and great views of the downtown to the south and mountains to the east. We simply were ready for a new palette, after having lived in a very original arts and crafts house built in 1917. We wanted a house that could be opened up and lived in more casually.
CEM: Your great-great-great uncle is Frederick Law Olmstead, who was landscape designer for the Biltmore Estate and New York City’s Central Park. When did you understand how significant he was?
RS: Probably in the last 10 years, upon visiting more of the parks that he designed – [such as] five in Louisville, Ky. It is also important to note that the people choosing to set aside this land and bring in Olmstead to do the design were very visionary as well.
CEM: How did/does Olmstead’s legacy and aesthetic influence your own work?
RS: Olmstead was interested in the hardscape and realized that the great gardens were a combination between plantings and well-chosen hardscape. Something that I too am interested in is trying to anchor a house to its site through the use of retaining walls, boulders or terraces.
CEM: In your North Carolina home, where do you spend the most time?
RS: We use it all consistently – love the kitchen when we are cooking and eating the living room reading and typing e mails (now), and Hedy spends a great deal of time in her office. It suits our lifestyle so well and is oriented to the rhythm of the day. The sun wakes us as is gently rises over the mountain in the early morning and warms the house throughout the day. In the evening we gravitate to the front porch and catch up with each other. The bedroom is on the north side so it is darker and cooler that the rest of the house, perfect for sleeping.
CEM: How did you seek to incorporate the outdoor landscape indoors in your North Carolina home?
RS: Color is one way the colors on the inside are consistent with the colors on the outside. We have a fair amount of glass and I am conscious of the importance of sightlines – as soon as the front door opens a niche in the red wall outside reveals on axis with the door a small Bhudda.
CEM: You also have a home in Mexico. Describe its history – how did you find it, and how much of the year do you live in it?
RS: We vacationed once and kind of fell into looking at properties when Hedy and I were in Merida there the first time. Seeing how people lived within the walls was so interesting and rewarding. After about 6 visits we discovered this mid century modernist neighborhood, not just one house but a whole neighborhood! We love the people first and foremost. The light is beautiful; the food is plentiful and cheap. I love the colors of all the buildings and the drive to the beach is about 25 minutes.
CEM: Why Mexico?
RS: Mexico has a rich vibrant history; it is close by but so much different. It is a land of paradoxes – on the one hand you may see a Mayan woman walking down the street in traditional wear with a basket of fruit neatly balanced on her head, and turn the corner to see the latest cell phone advertisement. It is old and mystical and new and vibrant. It helps that we speak Spanish better that any other language besides English.
CEM: How do you live differently there?
RS: We exercise more, ride our bicycles a lot more and live two blocks from a large outdoor sports facility that is free and open to the public. The seafood is very fresh, along with the fresh-squeezed orange juice practically on every corner. We rest more because of the temperature – the siesta was a brilliant idea.
CEM: How does landscape influence the Mexico house differently than the North Carolina house?
RS: The Mexico house interacts with the outdoors more intimately. It is surrounded by walls that define the garden area. The lap pool is something that would be impossible on the mountain slopes at our home in Asheville. The Mexico house has large covered outdoor areas that are perfect to be outdoors in but out of the hot sun. Hammocks, palm trees, marble surfaces, loud birds, great colors.
CEM: You designed furniture when you were a child, according to your website. What was that furniture like?
RS: I made furniture for the neighbors. It was sturdy, made of local hardwoods and is still in use 28 years later.
CEM: What are your current projects?
RS: I’m working on a kitchen design for a film producer that I will install when they are in Europe on a shoot this summer. A city park that is downtown Asheville called Pack Square.
I'm working with a curator on a solo exhibition that will be about crossing boundaries and will include work from 20 years of my career as well as the most current paintings. It will open at The Gregg Museum of Art & Design in Raleigh, N.C. and travel to Museum venues in San Francisco, Seattle, New Orleans.
In July I have a solo Show in Lenox, Massachusetts, at Ferrin Gallery.
CEM: You told me your North Carolina home is a “laboratory.” What’s the next experiment?
RS: Once I get caught up on a couple of projects I will take out the multiple windows in the kitchen dining area and replace them with a single expanse of glass, that will frame the mountain view like a Chinese scroll.
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