Gerry and Imaging Spence have been married more than 30 years, and have more than a dozen grandchildren. I was worried that they might be snooty or too precious for me. But they were so down-to-earth and warm and real. They were a great joy to interview, and this is one of the houses I had a really hard time leaving when the interview was done.
Here is the arched entrance to the front courtyard. When the couple bought the house, this was a massive "Kmart parking lot," as Imaging put it. But having grown up with her dad being a curator at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., Imaging had a different type of life in mind, a life that included a courtyard like this.
While the house as the couple bought it was too pale and featureless for Imaging, it had a wonderful layout that included a long gallery running through the house, connecting rooms and courtyards.
Here is the living room as seen from the dining room. There is a sense of the world in these rooms.
The dining room, where Imaging made good use of an artist's talents.
The guest room. Imaging was massively involved in this remodel, doing all the design and drawings and some of the sewing. In fact, she sewed this duvet cover.
This is a wonderfully cozy corner in the master bedroom.
This is Imaging's favorite room, the very narrow space she turned into a delightful space for her grandchildren to visit.
The story, page 1
The story, page 2