A Century Home on Cleveland’s Lake Erie Shore Blends Contemporary and Traditional Influence

The first thing Taylor Lavigna’s client showed her during an initial interior design consultation was a midcentury modern chair and ottoman reupholstered in tufted fuchsia velvet that she’d put in her office. 

It represented the change the woman and her husband were looking to make in the decor of their 1914 limestone colonial on Cleveland’s lakefront. The previous owner of the 12,000-square-foot residence had decorated the place in neutrals and pastels that just didn’t suit the woman’s vibrant, fun-loving personality. 

“She wanted to (respect) the tradition of the home, the classic qualities of the home, but bring in her own personal style at the same time,” explains Lavigna, owner of Chagrin Falls-based Lavigna Interiors. “She and her husband definitely lean toward (contemporary) furnishings. So she needed someone to bridge the gap.” 

The dining room actually served as Lavigna’s audition for landing the whole-house design project. She painted the mint green walls and unusually high pickled oak wainscoting in a unifying light ivory and papered the 12-foot-high ceiling with a bubbly Romo Fabrics print in dark teal, slate blue, lavender and gold. The latter move drew the eye up and introduced color in what Lavigna calls “a more mature, subdued way.”

“It was like you took the color palette and you almost put a gray wash on it,” she says.

The dark teal was repeated in the herringbone patterned rug and velvet upholstery of bucket chairs surrounding a dark charcoal-stained table. A pair of Poltrona Frau steel-blue leather Archibald chairs and a marble-topped brass cocktail table were arranged in front of a bay window overlooking Lake Erie. 

“(The client’s) husband was very adamant about having these chairs in the house somewhere,” Lavigna says. “They were at a hotel, and they fell in love with these chairs in the lobby.”  

One of the first decisions made for the great room was to paint the solid-cherry fireplace overmantel and panel wall in Sherwin-Williams Still Water, a deep teal that matched the veining in the marble fireplace and made them a focal point in the off-white room.

As in the dining room, the color found its way into the ivory geometric rug, onto velvet swivel chairs and the lumbar pillows on gray-and-white tweed sofas facing off over a putty faux shagreen cocktail table.

An Hermes scarf that the client purchased in New York City, which features an image of a horse, is framed and placed on the fireplace mantel. It supplied a splash of orange — a vibrant shade repeated on vintage horse-print Schumacher accent pillows scored at an estate sale. Lacquered martini tables added cranberry, a color pulled from striped velvet pillows on charcoal velvet club chairs gathered in front of a bay window.

Cozier still is the family room, which Lavigna warmed by painting the walls, built-ins and fireplace mantle a dark taupe.

“The built-ins have a sheen,” she says. “The sheen makes them look lighter.”

The forest green velvet sofa and light caramel leather swivel chairs reflect the colors in the plaid rug, while the felt flannel and velvet accent pillows subtly pull in the bright counterparts the client loves. 

Lavigna placed two large charcoal-stained cocktail tables side by side to expand the surface for snacks and drinks. It is a feature, like the oversized comfortable furniture, that serves the couple and their two teenage children well.

“They love to entertain,” Lavigna says. “So this house is perfect for them.” 

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