Text by Holly Seng
Before Lucy Watson and her husband purchased their home 47 years ago from the grandchildren of the original owners, the property served as a family-owned hunting and fishing camp since its construction in 1926. As the first to make it their full-time residence, and with their young family to consider, the couple set out to rework the kitchen to better suit their needs while staying true to the home’s roots.
“I wanted it to look like it had always been there,” says Lucy of the kitchen’s redesign that drew inspiration from the house itself and the surrounding property.
With a stately stone fireplace, high ceilings featuring wood beams, and wide oak floors in the main living spaces, the home’s architecture exudes the old-world grandeur of a European lodge. With that in mind, Lucy let English cottage style set the tone for the kitchen, where the original cabinets are coated in a deep hunter green and outfitted with brass knobs that strike a contrast with the serene shade. From woven baskets and jugs to a lamp showcasing a fox dressed in hunting attire, layers of thoughtful touches lend warmth and further convey the theme.
Originally two distinct spaces, a kitchen and a butler’s pantry, Lucy opened the rooms to create one expansive area that lends itself well to entertaining. “I didn’t want to be the person in the kitchen [while everyone else is] in the living room,” she says. “We can have several people in there cooking and doing other things and not be right on top of each other.”
Below a wall of windows in the former butler’s pantry, lower cabinets and a sink were replaced with a built-in banquette. Lucy made cushions and pillows out of a fetching plaid fabric that caught her eye, and she notes that, with the help of a protective spray, the pieces have held up through two generations of children.
However, it’s the custom table she had made by the late Larry Lehman Jr. that is her favorite treasure. The Greenville, Alabama-based Master Craftsman of carpentry and fine woodworking used repurposed wood to create what would become a primary gathering spot for her family. “I wanted a table big enough for us to entertain on, to do homework on, to do art projects,” Lucy says. “That table is where we spend the majority of our family time—whether eating, being creative, or sitting and talking.”
With its timeless aesthetic steeped in tradition and an expanded layout ideal for simultaneously cooking and entertaining, Lucy achieved her goal of honoring the home’s past while meeting her family’s needs.
