Sexy, Spacious, Sublime

Owner and realtor Michelle Koeppen describes what it took to restore this mid-century modern jewel, recently included in the 2023 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Memphis’ annual home tour.

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Michelle Koeppen has seen her share of fixer-uppers. As an interior designer, she’s worked in the Memphis housing market for more than three decades, using her eye for color and design to remodel kitchens, produce dazzling faux finishes, and refurbish old homes. She sells property for Ware Jones Realtors and has renovated approximately a dozen houses, focusing on Midtown’s bungalows, Victorians, and the occasional Tudor. Over time, Koeppen has built up a Rolodex of tradespeople to help bring properties back from the depths of despair. But she’s rarely had the opportunity to renovate a masterpiece.

In 2020, when Koeppen learned this mid-century modern home on Park was coming to market, she invited her mother, an enthusiast of the period’s style, to join her. Michelle had shown it to several clients and while all were awed by its chic, split-level design, “they were overwhelmed at the thought of taking on the whole project,” she says.

The whole project was indeed complicated. The acre lot had grown jungle-like. The elegant pool had developed a sandy bottom. And the five-bedroom house? Well, let’s just say it was ready for some TLC. Okay, a lot of TLC.

Yet when the two stepped into the spacious living room, 81-year-old Rita Koeppen gasped. “Ohhh, if I were 10 years younger,” she mused, “I’d live here!” They walked through light-filled rooms, admiring the vaulted wood ceilings and the beautiful use of brick and glass. Both appreciated the way the design invited the outdoors in, creating a feeling of tranquility and ease.

An impressive pedigree

What’s more, the house had stories to tell. Built in 1960 for Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Kahn, it was designed by Alfred Lewis Aydelott, considered the father of modern architecture in Memphis. You’ve likely encountered some of his public work: Memphis City Hall, the Odell Horton (formerly Clifford Davis) Federal Building, Immaculate Conception High School, and Maurelian Hall (among others) on the Christian Brothers University campus. Aydelott even retooled the city’s seal in 1962.

He also built a handful of residences. Aydelott was an ardent modernist who, influenced by Le Corbusier, broke from tradition with designs that emphasized sleek, clean lines and limited ornamentation.

Here he employed an exposed post-and-beam design, which was groundbreaking in its day, replacing bulky support walls with ones seemingly made of glass, notes the AIA’s guidebook, A Survey of Modern Houses in Memphis. The floor-to-ceiling glass walls, which line either side of the living and dining rooms, flood the house with light while offering views of the portico and courtyard at the front of the house and the swimming pool at the back. The result is sophisticated and stately, with a layout that flows graciously from room to room.

But it’s fair to say the house had seen better days. When Koeppen first toured it, she realized unchecked roof leaks had left significant water damage throughout the west wing, bowing wood floors and wholly compromising the downstairs den. The home’s electrical system was outdated, and the backyard had reverted to a more natural state — ironic, since the Kahns worked with Memphis Botanic Garden (where they were generous donors) to allow a garden gate to connect their backyard to the park.

The home’s interior did retain many original features, including the wood ceiling, a tongue-and-groove-paneled wall in the dining room, several floating cabinets in the bathrooms and den, bronze window hardware, and concrete and brick flooring.

Clearly, the buyer would need to look past what was to envision what could be. After touring the house together, Koeppen’s mother called later that afternoon, encouraging her daughter and offering to help out with the purchase.

“I thought the only way I would do this project was if I lived in the house for a while so I could enjoy the work,” Koeppen says with a laugh.

Ultimately, the two pooled their resources and in August 2020, Koeppen became its fifth owner.

Where to begin?

With so many jobs to tackle, she spent the first 12 weeks assessing the greatest needs. Most critical was repairing the roof. Koeppen took a rotted ceiling plank to furniture maker Will McGowan, the wood shop manager at Crosstown Arts, who identified it as cedar. She then brought in friend and architect Christina Ross to produce a technical drawing of the entire house, measuring each room to determine the amount of lumber required.

Each window and beam over the ceiling ran seven or 14 feet “and I didn’t want any short piece of lumber because the strength of the roof depended on it.” She wound up ordering 4,000 board feet of lumber — this, in the midst of Covid, with supply-chain challenges and high lumber prices.

Since the low-pitched roof was tarred and covered with gravel, sections of it had to be peeled back like a soup can and carted away. Tree limbs also had to be removed so the workers could more readily gain access to the structure. The roof also had little insulation left, “so I’ve been able to add several layers,” says Koeppen.

With those repairs underway, she moved on to the upstairs bedrooms. “All three were gutted and rebuilt,” she says, including the upstairs bath, a light, airy room that now boasts a contemporary yet retro look. Next came the downstairs den, with its brick fireplace and private patio, a lovely retreat. The south wall featured a full bar that Koeppen was unable to save, but throughout the project, she salvaged and recycled what materials she could.

A case in point is the kitchen, which was remodeled in the 1990s. Koeppen deftly removed cabinetry that had long walled off the breakfast nook, replacing it with a continuation of the countertop that better marries the two rooms. She harvested the cabinet’s panels and hardware, using both to replace other pieces that had become worn. She also added several more windows, taking the kitchen from dowdy to delightful.

To refurbish the replacement wood in the ceiling, Koeppen hired artist Allison Furr-Lawyer, who spent a week on scaffolding, staining sections with colors she customized to match the existing rosy pecan hue.

Fourteen months later, in late September 2021, Koeppen finally moved in.

“I remember because the huge Mempho music festival took place on October 1st at the Botanic Garden,” she says. The beat of the music wafted enticingly over her patio and pool.

“What I love about the house is the access to outdoors. The entire back is glass with five doors, so I can instantly step outside,” she says. “To think that I’m in the middle of the city and yet here, I’m in the midst of a forest. It sits so far back that you don’t feel like you’re living on a busy street.”

Once moved in, she could more readily supervise the final stages of the project. The downstairs master bedroom, done by architect John Millard in the mid-’90s, enlarged the bedroom, adding a spacious, spa-style bathroom and a custom closet. Koeppen didn’t care for the bathroom’s opulent jade-green tile though she did elect to keep the glass brick walls that enclose both the shower and toilet and the floating vanity. Now, with black matte slate floors and white marble countertops, the room sports a quieter sophistication.

Embracing a modern vibe

Koeppen’s home is an eclectic mix of contemporary furnishings and fine art with pops of colors that harken back to the 1960s. Sprinkled in are several pieces she grew up with, reflecting her mother’s modern esthetic: An original Norman Cherner dinette set; a groovy, tangerine egg chair that invites lounging; and the arc floor lamp, an ultra-modern mid-century icon, which shines forth in the master bedroom.

All were purchased during Michelle’s childhood in Wilton, Connecticut, when the family lived just down the road from jazz legend Dave Brubeck. Her father, Douglas Koeppen, was a pilot for American Airlines and her mother, Rita, a stewardess for the same airline. After relocating to Memphis, Michelle attended Briarcrest Christian School and the University of Memphis, graduating in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in interior design. She went to work in design and faux finishing, gradually providing her services to contractors.

“But when the market crashed in 2008, I realized I couldn’t do that any longer, but I could certainly do renovations as [successfully] as the people I was working for [could],” so she refocused her skills to develop the realty business she continues today.

The last piece of this puzzle was improving the backyard, where a number of drains had filled. “I had my plumber camera the entire yard,” she says, eventually clearing the problem areas so the lot could drain properly. During that process she also discovered a fabulous sprinkler system “which waters absolutely every part of both yards.” While she was a bit apprehensive about tackling the repairs, she’s been delighted with the results.

Though the spacious home is perhaps a bit more than she needs — the 57-year-old shares it with Rue, her adorable one-year-old sheepdog — she considers herself a grateful steward.

“The house hasn’t really been seen in the last 20 years,” she says. “I wanted to rejuvenate, share it, and enjoy it.”

Today, Koeppen is doing just that.

Modernist Alfred “Al” Aydelott

Born in Brasfield, Arkansas, Alfred Lewis Aydelott (1916-2008) began working in Memphis in 1938 after graduating with a degree in architecture from the University of Illinois. He served in World War II, became a partner at Dent and Aydelott, then opened his own practice in 1947, building a modern office at 2080 Peabody.

Aydelott’s rising national prominence in design during the 1950s led to numerous awards and work as a visiting critic at Yale University. There he encountered talented young designers he recruited to Memphis — Francis Mah, Marty Gorman, Francis Gassner, Thomas Nathan, Robert Browne — all of whom would carry the mantle of modernism forward in Memphis.

Aydelott designed public buildings, schools, and even the U.S. Embassy in Manila. Architect Arthur Nave remembers working in Aydelott’s office in the late 1950s while still attending high school.

“He was an intense person; he wanted things done his way. He was breaking new ground, and it took time for people to get used to that,” says Nave.

“You’ve got to think about the time,” architect Randy Haizlip told The Daily News in 2008 for Aydelott’s obituary. “Back in the 1950s and ’60s in post-war America, when there was that surge of industrial pride, there was an ebullience that permeated all of America. The modernist art in architecture movement was a social movement. It was about believing that industrial mechanisms and utilitarian approaches to art and design in architecture could change the world.

“These were the post-war guys who really felt like they were on to something. And to be devoted to that meant to fly in the face of the mainstream,” he says. “Al brought that to Memphis.”

In 1964, Aydelott received the AIA’s highest honor, being named Fellow of Distinguished Design. But he abruptly closed his practice in 1973 after receiving a diagnosis of lung cancer. He was 57. He and his wife, Hope Galloway Aydelott, moved to Orcas Island in Washington. The couple later lived in Carmel, California, where he died in 2008 at age 92. Hope passed away in 2010. Aydelott is survived by two sons and is buried at Elmwood Cemetery. — Jane Schneider

Editor’s note: A collection of Aydelott’s paintings and photographs, done in retirement, have been exhibited at Christian Brothers University, which holds a small collection of his work.