HEIRLOOM

TREASURES

FAMILY HISTORY IS WOVEN INTO THE DESIGNS

OF THIS PICTURESQUE BIRMINGHAM RESIDENCE WHERE
HEIRLOOMS AND ANTIQUES SHINE BRIGHTLY AMONG
RICH COLORS AND BOLD PATTERNS.
TEXT ELIZABETH BONNER | PHOTOGRAPHY JEAN ALLSOPP

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or Melissa and
Hanson Slaughter,
the connection to
their 1942 colonial
home was instantaneous. They bought
it the first day it went on the
market in 2005, despite mildew,
mold, and the two-and-a-half
unkempt acres on which it
rested. We saw the round
staircaseit had a little wooden
rail on it, and it was painted dark
redbut you could see the
potential, Melissa recalls. This
house was so inspiring right off
the bat, and I knew exactly what
I wanted to do.
Melissa, who trained at
Parsons School of Design in New
York City, began the renovation
process with zeal and gumption.
My husband and I went away
for a weekend after we bought
the house, and I worked on the
design plans the whole time, she
says. By the time we got back, I
knew where I was going to put
every piece of furniture.
They removed the homes
exterior wooden siding, opting for
a stuccoed French facade with a
mansard roof to complement the
interiors neoclassical design.
Inside, they added a sunroom off
the living room and a master
bathroom and dressing room
above it, but most of the original
rooms remain. One of their biggest
projects involved a full kitchen
remodel. Melissa turned the old
galley kitchen into a butlers
pantry, hid the appliances behind
clever panels, and expanded the
original family room into the
kitchen area to make the space
into a big family room. As a way
to make the home even more
personal, they paneled the whole
room in pinewood from a large
tree they cut down on their land.
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Top Left: An antique chandelier and beveled Venetian mirror shine in the dining room, wallpapered in
custom de Gournay silk. The living room features a Schumacher rug, sofas from Room & Board, and
pillows in Melograno by Scalamandre Lampas; the walls are painted Warm White by Donald Kaufman.
In the kitchen, the stove surround is lined with fireplace tile, and the wood surrounding the hood echoes
the design of the fireplace mantel on the opposite side of the room. The Baker reproduction table was
passed down from Melissas father, and the green leather chairs once belonged to her grandparents.

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In the raspberry-red library, Melissa uses the reproduction black lacquer secretary as her desk. The
artwork depicts two English landscapes on the left and a Paris street scene on the right. In the master
bedroom, Melissa was inspired by fabric, specifically Banbury by Colefax and Fowler. I chose green to
complement the views of the front and back yard from the bedrooms five windows, she explains. The
guestroom walls, curtains, and furniture are all covered in a Pierre Frey toile en suite called Coutances in
Rouge. She adds, smiling, I always wanted to have a red toile room.

The entryway with the

enchanting curved staircase
that initially caught their eyes
has become Melissas favorite
space in the house. They
painted the room a sunny yellow
and installed Alabama white
marble flooring from neighboring Sylacauga. And they
transformed the staircase with
a striking metal banister that
matches the design of their
custom-made double front
doors, an entryway that allows
natural light to shine through
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openings in the doors stately

iron design. When we bought
the house, it was just a wooden
door, wood floors, and a wooden
staircase, Melissa says. As a
family with active children, we
come in and out of the front
door all day. Its a treat to walk
into a light-filled space.
The entire renovation
process took less than a year,
and by 2006, the family of four
were settled in their new home.
Melissa purchased little
furniturejust two sofas and

two chairsinstead making

their home a tribute to
generations past. Some of her
favorite inherited pieces include
an antique beveled Venetian
glass mirror in the dining room,
an 18th-century red japanned
English pub clock in the front
hall, and a collection of old
photographs from both sides of
the family displayed in a collage
of simple black frames covering
one wall of the study. Although
the design industry today is
trending toward neutral hues,

Melissa feels that her antique

pieces work best when paired
with color. The Louis XV
fauteuils in the entryway are
covered in the Melograno by
Scalamandre Lampas fabric
that became her primary source
for color inspiration.
For Melissa, filling their
home with family heirlooms has
a greater purpose than securing
a fabulously fashioned cache of
rooms. I sit in our library and
look at a portrait of a horse that
belonged to my grandfather,

Melissa says. There are two

chairs in here that belonged to
my husband and were the only
furniture he had when we got
married. The coffee table is a
Louis Vuitton trunk that
belonged to my grandmother,
who actually traveled with it.
I think living with memories
is important. Southerners tend
to keep their families treasures
around them. Thats what weve
done with our house
surrounded ourselves with
family things.
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