By Lee Rennick | Photos by Erin Kosko

Change. Sometimes it is a choice. Sometimes it comes when we least expect it. For Pallie and David Jones, leaving their antique-filled log home of 27 years on 57 acres in Eagleville was a choice. However, the home they ended up buying in its stead was not what they had intended.

“We had bought land just down the street from this house about 10 years before we moved back to Murfreesboro,” said Pallie. “But instead of living in the two-story Mediterranean we had planned to build, we ended up buying a boxy one-story Mid-Century Ultra-Modern Ranch. How we got here just happened. We saw the house for sale one day as we were looking at our property and fell in love with it. I especially love the off-set front door.”

That was eight years ago, and they are still in love. The view of Stones River Country Club and access to the Greenway are two of their favorite things. Former owners had put in an outdoor living space complete with fireplace that allows them to enjoy the natural beauty most of the year. And when outside gets too chilly, large windows let in the clear winter light and sight of the back of the country club looking out over rolling hills.

Home for the Holidays

Minimalistic holiday greens and fresh berries give the brick patio spaces a touch of seasonal cheer, which is repeated throughout the house. Designer Jason Counce, who worked with Pallie on the interior design of the home, used natural elements and personal keepsakes, with touches of black, white, gold and silver, to create a simple and relaxed Christmas feel throughout the house.

“Jason is so talented,” said Pallie. “He made the front door pop.

The front door is the only door that is original to the home. All of the others were replaced when the Jones had the inside of the house gutted and additions built on either side of the initially rectangular house. They increased the size of the master bedroom, adding a walk-in closet and an ensuite bathroom on one side of the home and an office, exercise room and special garage for David’s cherry red Porsche Carrera S on the other side of the house.

“It is a 50-year-old house,” added Pallie. “We replaced all of the electrical, plumbing, windows and doors. We re-roofed it, including the patio cover. The tornado came through here in 2009.  The former owners renovated the damaged kitchen. But we too changed it, added a larger island. Designed it to work with the rest of the house.”

One thing they kept besides the front door from the core design was the very unique two-sided fireplace in the living room. It splits the space into two intimate and cozy sitting areas. Perfect for the small family gathering they are planning this year for the holidays. They converted the wood burning fireplace to gas logs to keep those they do get to see in person safe and warm.

Usually on Christmas Day they do a big brunch, which they did last year. But Christmas evolves over time, and Pallie looks forward to trying a new Gingerbread Martini recipe when having a few people over from their group of friends who have been carefully socially distancing.

“Thanksgiving there were just four of us,” said Pallie. “I love to cook, and I can’t cook any big holiday meals because of the pandemic, so I am cooking things I can take to friends and family."

Decking the Walls

Going from their traditional custom log home to a very modern one was a change both of the Jones were ready to make. Pallie calls it “flipping the switch.”

Shane Reeves was their contractor, they used Henry’s Cabinets in Shelbyville for their cabinetry and Counce provided interior design help.

“Jason is really good with colors,” said Pallie. “We sat down out back and he picked colors that I loved and cabinet designs in about two hours. I don’t like making those kinds of choices. I’m the sort who says ‘wake me up when it’s over.’”

Counce developed a moody pallet of gray-toned shades with Sherwin-Williams Snowbound trim and ceilings throughout the house to add harmony and line. The entry and great room are Keystone Gray, with the fireplace becoming the focal point by using an accent color of Foothills, which is a mid-greige. For the holidays, he added greens, black and white ribbon and favorite holiday collectables, like a snowman that Counce made years ago when Pallie first met him.

One of Pallie’s favorite colors is the Copen Blue that Counce chose for the master bedroom. “I would have never chosen blue for the bedroom,” noted Pallie. “But it is perfect. Friends and relatives have seen the color and used it in their own homes.

Most of the furnishings are new and are from Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams in Nashville. They traded their many antiques for mid-century influenced shapes and a mirrored buffet. Sticking to a canvas of gray, they have painted their rooms with a pallet of blues and yellows as accent colors. The home is grounded on a base of natural woods, including the original wood floor. A soupcon of red can be found scattered about, like with a pottery vase in the hall  lled with fir greens and a slipper chair in the wine room.

The carefully chosen pallet of colors gives the home balance and a sense of scale, as well as a rhythm that flows from room to room producing a sense of space.

A casual elegance touches every item in the house, from the Restoration Hardware farmhouse dining table to the ikat fabric covered footstools in the sitting room offthe kitchen that can be pulled out from under the sofa table for additional guests. At the same time, they have kept everything inviting and comfortable.

Art Filled Home

Both David and Pallie have an eye for art. They have a collection that includes Strayers and several pieces by local artist Ray Kleinlein, including a commission of paintings of David’s running shoes.  They are both avid marathon runners.

Ray Kleinlein is an award-winning realism painter from Columbus, Ohio who now lives and works in Murfreesboro. He trained through “a self-designed program of concurrent study at  e Ohio State University and  e Columbus College of Art and Design and earned a BA in Painting with minors in Art History and English. He earned an MFA in both Painting and Art History at Ohio University in 1998,” according to his website. He has had exhibits all over the country, and he is currently represented by the Paul Thiebaud gallery in San Francisco; Rosenthal Fine Art in Chicago; the Keny Gallery in Columbus; Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts in Binghampton, New York; and Parker Art Consulting.


They also have work from Laura Dunn which they acquired on a trip to Rosemary Beach. She is a Maine artist who creates stylized monoprints, mostly of botanicals. Other work includes pieces that once hung in Cheryl Crow’s home and a piece by local artist Dawn Hamm, who was once homeless, whose work can be found at M&J Home.

Art styles range from abstract to folk art from their previous home, non-objective to realistic, but they all work with the employ of a curator’s eye. There is even a functional art sculpture –- it is a cooler -- on the patio in the shape of an old VW Bus that they found in Florida.

Home for the Future

You can tell that both David and Pallie feel totally in tune with their home, and they have no plans to move again. Both of them have had fun working on the project.

“David is very creative,” said Pallie. “We love the holiday decorations so much that next year I am going to have him recreate them. He is very good at recreating. I know he will be able to do the door and the mantles.”

For now, they will try to recreate as many of their seasonal traditions as they can, like a trip to Cheekwood to see the lights and the Chihuly exhibit, driving around looking at Christmas lights, trying out that new Gingerbread cocktail and dropping off food to friends they will not be able to have brunch with this year.

“There’s just something about putting up Christmas,” added Pallie. “It makes you happy.