Mad for Midcentury Modern

Hunting for a house that would match their vision, the Wogomans fell head-over-heels for this stylish stunner.

by

Scott and Edna Wogoman’s passion for all things midcentury modern started innocently enough. After moving to Memphis from El Paso, Texas, in 2017, Scott found himself roaming an antique mall during a visit with his brother, Mitch, in Denver. There he spied a stylish teak breakfast tray and something about the design — its rich color; its sleek, simple lines — spoke to him. Scott hesitated momentarily, but Mitch cheered him on.

“So I bought it, and had the tray shipped back to Memphis,” he says.

From that humble beginning, a fascination for all things midcentury took root.

“I started going to estate sales and antique stores looking for midcentury-modern items,” says Scott. “The agreement was that Edna could decide what stayed and what moved on.”

The couple had been drawn to contemporary furniture over the course of their marriage, but gradually, their tastes began to shift. The bold colors and clean lines of midcentury-modern decor, which emphasizes craftsmanship, natural materials, and functionality, “really spoke to us as a couple,” says Scott. “The colors are better. They’re warmer, more vibrant.”

It also felt like coming home. As a child growing up in Juarez, Mexico, Edna’s mother had been an early fan of the movement, which began in the late ’40s and continued into the ’60s, furnishing their home with bright, bold decor. Edna would frequently tell Scott, “My mother had this chair or that glassware.” Slowly, the couple amassed an eclectic assortment of their own: molded chairs by Herman Miller, quirky ceramic lamps, period tumblers, and of course, the ubiquitous fondue set.

Finding a Fit

So when Scott and Edna met Marx-Bensdorf realtor Margaret Mikkelsen, their one pressing question was quite simple: “Can you find us a house to match our furnishings?” she remembers with a laugh.

It turned out Mikkelsen shared an affinity for the midcentury vibe, an architectural style that’s become one of her specialties. “It’s what I live in and what I love,” she says.

Mikkelsen has familiarized herself with the Midtown and East Memphis neighborhoods where these architectural jewels were built. For two years, the Wogomans did much the same. Mikkelsen had even approached the previous owners of their now-home, which is nestled in the Yorkshire subdivision, about selling several years earlier, but that couple had politely declined. So, when the house unexpectedly came up for sale in the spring of 2023, Mikkelsen immediately called her buyers.

The Wogomans already knew the house, which was custom-built in 1956 (its architect remains unknown). “I would buy that house without even seeing it!” was Scott’s comment. Edna agreed. They walked through it that weekend and what they saw left them impressed.

The house telegraphs a stylish presence, sitting as it does atop the hill of the half-acre lot. When you step into the foyer, crystal sconces glisten on the entry wall above a floating credenza, and terrazzo flooring leads you into the great room. Its beautiful paneling and gracious size are highlighted by a soaring vaulted ceiling ribbed with wooden beams. The back wall of the room features stacked brick laid in crisp, vertical columns. Look across the room and a wall of glass beckons you outdoors to the inviting patio space and private backyard complete with a decorative pond.

For Scott, the house contained plenty of “wow” factor. “From the height of the ceilings to the floor-to-ceiling windows, this house just checked a lot of boxes for me.”

But Edna’s response was more muted. During their visit, “I pulled her aside and said, ‘Do you want this?’” She held her poker face. “Yes, if we can make some changes,” came her reply. “I was concerned because the house appeared very dark.”

“But that’s because all the natural light was being hidden by the heavy window treatments,” notes Scott. “What I saw was the beauty of all this wood.”

Indeed, the plentiful use of natural wood here is breathtaking. From the great room to the bathrooms, the bedrooms to the kitchen, you’ll find tongue-and-groove Paraná pine paneling, a softwood found in southern Brazil. Its buttery warmth gives the house a rich, sophisticated feel.

In the front of the home, the architect elected to have the paneling laid vertically, which draws the eye upward to the vaulted ceiling of the great room. In the back, it’s laid horizontally in places, creating a more restful sensibility for the bedroom and bath. The vaulted ceiling is also done in two tiers. The first reaches 11 feet over the den, which lies between the kitchen and great room. And though subtle, it adds to the visual excitement of the additional height of the great room, where the ceiling soars to 12-and-a-half feet.

Common among midcentury modern homes are banks of windows in each room which bring the outdoors in. Here, textured glass walls in the hallway and den invite diffused light to brighten the space. Scott also appreciates how much recessed lighting is used throughout the house, which casts a softer, ambient glow. Another handsome appointment is the foyer’s floating credenza, a section of which extends through the wall into the master bedroom where it functions as a shelf above the bed.

Decisions, Decisions

After a brief discussion over the weekend, the couple decided to tender an offer. Though they had to walk a financial tightrope for several months, their other properties eventually sold, which enabled them to begin tackling the repair to-do list.

The house had been fairly well maintained over the years — with only two owners prior to the Wogomans — but it definitely needed some TLC. First on the list was repainting the great room’s ceiling, as the acoustic tiles had yellowed with age. The job was neither easy nor inexpensive, given the ceiling’s height — but the results make the space feel more stately and light.

The second job required removing the great room’s cork flooring. The couple had noticed a musty odor that lingered in the house but didn’t know its source. As it turned out, it was the cork, which had absorbed moisture and odor over the years. Thankfully, pulling it up proved relatively straightforward, and once removed — voila! — the musty odor disappeared. Today, the great room’s floor features oversized ceramic tiles in soft dove gray, echoing the terrazzo and flowing graciously into the back of the house.

The decision-making process that takes place when you’re doing renovations requires patience and compromise, particularly when you’re trying to honor the design of distinctive home such as this.

“Scott is a fast decision-maker. For me, it takes more time,” says Edna. “And he doesn’t always have that much patience.”

But the couple have worked together, ultimately arriving at decisions both can live with. One change Edna insisted upon was removing the master bathroom’s original turquoise tile, some of which had degraded over the years. They opted instead for a clean white subway tile, stacked vertically to echo the brick of the great room. They also snapped up two original Knoll credenzas at Flashback, the Midtown vintage shop, and hired Ernie Donati, the owner of The Counter-Fitters, to pull it all together. By removing the cabinet’s legs and placing the credenzas side-by-side, he created a fabulous floating vanity. Topped with a sleek slab of white quartz, it gives the entire space a feeling of serenity.

“I knew we could do it!” Scott happily observes. “When we decide together, we don’t miss.”

One of Edna’s favorite elements of the house is its bola, a beachball-sized light fixture that hangs playfully at the front entry of their home, nodding to its hip origins. For Scott, it’s been tapping his woodworking skills, a talent he developed learning how to build furniture with his father. In fact, it was his dad who introduced him to the work of architect Fay Jones, the famous Arkansan modernist. He borrowed inspiration from Jones when refurbishing a closet in the great room. One side featured a home bar, and Scott retrofitted the other cabinet to match. Taking off the Formica countertop drove home the house’s craftsmanship, “The countertops fit so well, they weren’t even caulked,” he says.

So what does the couple consider the best feature of their home? “That we live in every single room,” says Edna. “Before, we tended to be in the living room or bedroom. But here, it’s every room. We were looking for a special house — and we found it.”