Story by Lee Rennick
Photos by Erin Kosko and Lee Rennick
Dave Davis answers the bright peacock blue door of his late-1950s ranch home barefoot in a polo shirt and blue jeans. His attire is a hint of his casual, yet sophisticated aesthetic for living. While the outside of his home looks modest – it has been given a bit of an update with the shutters removed and the brick painted a putty gray – the inside has been totally transformed.
I love it when I open the front door for someone and they say, “Wow, I wasn’t expecting this!”
“The main living space feels like a large New York City apartment on the inside. There is a generous amount of warmth and comfort to the room,” said Dave. “My style is a mix of classic and modern that balances simplicity and clean lines. I also designed my home so I can age in place.”
Help from Friends and Family
Dave is the brother of Gray Davis, of the New York design firm Meyer Davis. The award-winning firm has established itself at the forefront of high-end hospitality and residential design practices throughout the U.S. and abroad, through its work on private residences, hotels, restaurants and retail experiences. Meyer Davis clients include Four Seasons, Auberge Resorts, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, W Hotels, 1 Hotel and the Dream Hotel in Nashville. One of their most recent projects was designing the interior spaces of the Seawolf X, a 43-meter Rossinavi yacht.
The home was originally built for the Robert McKnight family. Growing up, Dave was good friends with their daughters, Ann and Mary, and spent quite a bit of time at their home. When Charlotte McKnight passed away, Dave jumped on the opportunity to buy the house.
Dave and Gray collaborated on the design renovation with a shared focus on maximizing natural light. Sunlight pours in from the front of the house and expansive glass doors open the rear of the property, and lead to a terrace – creating a bright and open flow.
The construction was done by Gary Wisniewski of Landmark Homes. He built a townhome for Dave in Riverbend, so he had worked with Gray before, and they knew each other’s work ethic and aesthetic. The pair worked together to provide the new home with soaring ceilings in the main living spaces and the primary bedroom.
“Gary, along with Curt Haynes at Haynes Brothers Lumber, really helped me stay within my budget,” Dave remarked. The three sets of French doors Gray picked to open into to the back patio were a bit out of Dave’s price range, Curt recommended some single-pane fiberglass doors and had a millworker customize them to mimic the look of the three-pane window doors Gray had in mind.
In Meyer Davis: Made to Measure, a coffee table book capturing the work of Gray Davis and his partner Will Meyer, Gray states that houses only become homes when they are full of people and pets, a belief he shares with his brother. Dave made sure that his forever home is pet friendly with hearty materials that are easily cleaned and hide the bit of hair shed by his fuzzy-baby-love dog, “King.”
“Named King by the breeder, I wanted to name him ‘Kermit’ after Kermit Davis. Kermit has just been selected as the new Ole Miss basketball coach after many years as the MTSU coach. The day I got King, my mother said, ‘King is a family name, you are not going to change his name.”
King is pampered, and he rules the roost. But he loves people, and he greets everyone who comes into the home.
An Open Living Space Filled with Light
While visitors originally entered to a dark slate entryway, that is now gone. Now, all of the living spaces, except the bedrooms, have white oak flooring. The open-air plan of the main living space offers a dining area, a living room and a kitchen boasting a wood accent wall reminiscent of one found in one of Gray’s previous lake houses. This one hides a wet bar and more counter space for the kitchen.
Blending handmade natural elements with vintage, modern and antique, a 16-foot table placed before the three large front windows was designed by Gray for Dave’s townhome. Built by a woodworker who once had a shop in downtown Murfreesboro, the rough-hewn table now houses a collection of art and treasured accessories from Dave’s travels. This includes a prized piece of pottery shaped like stairs that Lynn Lien had her husband, Dr. George Lien, carry down the mountain from their trip to Machu Picchu so Dave would not see the gift to him during their descent.
Gray designed Dave’s dining room table using two recycled bookend wood pieces from a 150-year-old white oak tree. It was made by Darryl Emily of Urban Timbers in Murfreesboro. The wood was mounted on a steel I-beam purchased from Restoration Hardware. The table was created to work with a unique light made by a company in New York called Apparatus. The ultra-modern fixture is composed of tarnished silver hand-wrapped in leather. And the dining chairs are from his brother’s new mid-modern inspired furniture line called William Gray.
“Curt helped me a lot with materials,” explained Dave. “He provided the white oak for the floors and the accent wall, as well as the white mahogany door, which is natural on the inside. It was originally the same on the outside until this past week. It just didn’t hold up well with the southern exposure.”
The kitchen offers an island that seats three. To the right of the kitchen is the wet bar area with a sink and counter space. Dave has open shelving for everyday dishes, and a walk-in pantry is tucked away behind a hidden door next to the refrigerator.
Quality Furniture Endures
Gray once worked for designers John Saladino and Thomas O’Brien. With a strong belief in renewing and reusing, Dave brought the Thomas O’Brien couch and chairs his brother helped him acquire from his town house to the new space. Having to choose the fabric for the chairs, which was something new for Dave, he turned to his cousin and friend Miller Caudle from The Peddler to help.
“Miller picked out some fabric and I said, ‘yeah, that looks good, I like that.’ When I learned the fabric cost more than the chairs, I said to Miller, do you think I’m made of money?’ And he said, ’I’ll pick out something else.’ And I replied, ‘No, it does look good.” His favorite chair is a conversation piece made of raw cow hide that he has had for about 30 years.
The built-in bookcase in the living room stores the television. Each shelf is filled with art, books and treasures, including a piece of Lewis Snyder pottery; sports memorabilia; a copy of his brother’s book and a fiddle signed by Charlie Daniels that was auctioned when MTSU opened the on-campus veteran’s center.
Primary Bedroom and Bathroom Offers Spacious Sanctuary
The corridor that leads to the primary bedroom is filled with photos and memorabilia from Dave’s life. A work in progress, on it hangs a photo from his trip to Machu Picchu, a picture of the submarine he served on while in the Navy, a photo of his parent’s wedding, another photo of his family’s houseboat on Center Hill Lake when he was growing up and other family pictures.
The primary bedroom is an addition to the original house. Not wanting hardwood floors in the bedroom, Dave has blue carpeting that keeps his feet warm on a cold winter morning and the memory foam is gentle on his feet.
Overhead, a unique dropdown fan from Circa Lighting hangs in the center of the room, and an oversized piece of artwork from a Nashville artist adorns the wall over the bed. In the corner sits a cozy navy striped reading chair and King’s bed. Miller selected drapery fabric and bedding from the Peddler. The drapery throughout the house is custom-made by Diane Preston.
Planning for the future, the shower was made to be curb less. And all doors are wide enough for a wheelchair should one ever be necessary. “Gray said I had to have a tub in my house,” added Dave. “I have this beautiful soaking tub that I have only used about three times, but I love it.”
Local Artist Helps Choose the Mostly Local Art
Mary Miller Veazie helped Dave find most of his art pieces. He wanted all local work, mostly from Middle Tennessee, but some are from other parts of the South. One spectacular piece, which originally hung in his townhome, was created by Drew Galloway, from Birmingham, Alabama. It is made from burnt aluminum pieces welded together and then painted on.
“You can see the dark burnishing of the fire on the sides,” noted Dave, “and the painting is just in the center portion. The reason I have this is because my parents didn’t really care for my taste in contemporary art. They had asked, ‘why can’t you just have a painting of a beach and the ocean or something?’ So, this has my edginess with the sheets of aluminum, and then they could appreciate the landscape in the middle. This is my favorite piece in the house.”
Two pieces of art in his kitchen came from an artist who created work for The Dutch, a restaurant Gray designed in New York City. The artist makes her colorful abstract works on a small printing press and sells them on Etsy.
He also has pieces from Veazie hanging in the hall that leads to the guest bedroom and bathroom, and one pedestal-mounted piece in the main living space. Dave also has a painting by his friend, Erin Johnson, displayed in the hallway.
Perfect Home for His Needs
Working with his team of friends and family, Dave Davis has created a home that is inviting for guests and uses every space perfectly for his wants and needs. Every piece of art, every chair, every décor accessory has a story to tell of Dave’ life, with space to add new mementoes as the tale continues.
“I use the entire house every day,” said Dave, “except for the guest bedroom and bathroom. It is a perfect forever home for me.”