It’s evident even as visitors step past the arched, 12-foot tall French front doors and into a lofty, two-story entrance hall that they’ve just been ushered into a rarefied world of lavish yet approachable comfort. “Since this space is the home’s first statement, I wanted guests to immediately understand that they’re ‘not in Kansas anymore,’” Dixon muses. “Our intents were to blend grand scale with undeniable warmth and interest.” Echoing Carolina, they were recut and sized in an airplane hanger,” the interior designer explains, “and then meticulously installed on site.” Other collected elements, such as loads of 400-year-old, hand-chiseled pavers laid as flooring, as well as a myriad of antique doors and reclaimed stone mantels, lend a readymade mark of authenticity to this newly built home. this sentiment, a sensuous limestone staircase, and ornately forged iron railing wind their way along the hall’s stone-faced walls to the guest quarters above.
More than serving as a foyer, the entrance hall also functions much like a European salon, with distinct, intimate seating arrangements intended to spark relaxed conversation. And in the center of this mingling spot sits a trefoil-shaped ‘round-about,’ which, among various other pieces, was designed by Dixon himself. Further softening the space, lush portiéres (doorway curtains) hang within stone-trimmed passageways and niches for added composure.
