“Classic with a New England flair” is how 30-something designer Justin Terban describes the décor of his home in Detroit’s North Rosedale Park neighborhood. He cites Ralph Lauren, movie director Nancy Meyers and Martha Stewart as inspiration and says he believes in buying things that he “could live with forever.”
Terban, of J. Stratton Interiors, strives for interiors that are “collected, and look like they took a while to put together,” in the house he shares with his partner, David, and leans toward blue-and-white china, brass and classic color palettes.
Settling down
Terban grew up in a small colonial-style home in an east side suburb and “always wanted to make it beautiful,” he says. Since then, he has lived all over Metro Detroit. He long dreamed about living in Rosedale Park, an established city neighborhood that he describes as “a coveted and very tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone else. It’s old-fashioned, like I prefer.”
In 2020, he was scrolling a real estate website on vacation in Charleston when he came upon a 2,100-square-foot Dutch colonial with three bedrooms and 2 ½ baths. “I figured, no way would it last,” he explained, adding, “it was idyllic and everything I wanted… it was the ‘Father of the Bride’ house.”
But fate took a hand, and it was his. Most would have considered it “in fine shape,” he said, but as a designer, he wanted to put his stamp on it. The kitchen and baths had to be done — luckily, both are his specialty — and he wanted to unify the color scheme throughout. At the time the couple purchased it, every room in the house was painted a bright and different color. He likened it to “a taste of Rainbow Skittles,” referring to the primary-colored candy.
First things first
They started with the patio for one reason, he explains. “We had a hot tub and needed a place for it.” They moved on to the primary bath, which he says started to leak into the foyer almost as soon as they purchased the house. Other changes included refinishing the floors, renovating the kitchen and adding wainscoting to the foyer, which is one of the designer’s favorite features.
“The reason I love the house so much is that foyer,” he says. It had simple chair rail molding when he started, but he and his carpenter added extensive molding that looks like it has always been there. “I was going for a classic look,” he explains, laughing that “along the way I learned a lot about plaster.”
Kitchen confidential
When they purchased the house, the kitchen was “tired,” he explains, with white glass-front cabinets and soffits. The previous owners had tried to make it look older, but it was not aging well. “It was cute, but not practical, and falling apart,” Terban says. An earlier renovation he thinks was done sometime in the 1950s had added a small addition to the roughly 11-by-13-foot room, carving out space near the back door for a first-floor bath, and a small pantry/closet.
The couple upgraded the space without changing the floor plan, moving the refrigerator, centering the stove and covering the white cabinets with soapstone countertops. “I love black and white in the kitchen,” the designer says. “It’s so classic.” A marble-top baker’s table from Wayfair serves as a handy island in the small space.
The most significant change is the breakfast nook, which Terban created by opening up the tiny closet pantry and surrounding space. Now filled with a small freestanding cabinet and a cozy banquette and table, it’s one of his favorite spots. “I love it,” he says. “Sunlight comes in, and it’s so cozy. Friends come and we eat and play cards.”
Carefully collected
The nearby dining room was his favorite space before he renovated the kitchen and added the nook. It features grass cloth wallpaper by York on the walls and a large collection of blue-and-white china and vessels on the table. He’s a fan of blue and white, crystal, silver and clocks, he says, and an avid seeker of his favorite antiques. “The collections keep growing,” he says with a laugh. The main hall, now white with handsome two-story wainscoting, fits the home’s new timeless vibe.
The living room was bright red when he and David purchased the house, he explains. “It was pretty at Christmas,” but otherwise didn’t work, he remembers. He did like the original bookcases and painted them to make them stand out. Off the living room is a screened-in porch that was “totally dilapidated and used for storage and was full of junk,” when they purchased the house, he says. He cleaned up the invasive ivy, laid a new floor and redid the screens. “That was a project,” he remembers. But it was worth it, he says. The couple loves entertaining there when the weather is warm. “Then it’s the most used room in the house.”
Upstairs appeal
The latest project was the upstairs guest room, now painted a Sherwin-Williams color called “Black Fox.” A contrast to the downstairs, it’s a rich hue that wraps you in warmth. “I was going for a deep, enveloping feeling here,” he says. “I want it to feel cozy with a full art wall.”
A small nearby bedroom now functions as a den/office. Traces of the room’s original aqua color can be seen on one wall. “It’s a work in progress,” Terban says of the room, which features a charming sloping ceiling. “I want to put a built-in bookcase in here.”
The primary bedroom and bath show Terban’s talent at rethinking and maximizing existing space. In the bath, he removed the tub and borrowed from the oversized nearby bedroom and added a built-in closet. “I do a lot of custom closets,” he says. While it looks original to the house, the bedroom fireplace is just decorative, found on Facebook Marketplace.
Backyard bliss
In the backyard, a European-style gravel patio replaced the grass. The couple added a large outdoor fireplace last summer and the seating around it is a popular place to entertain. “The fireplace and the breakfast nook are the best money we’ve spent,” Terban says.
The most recent addition is the wooden treillage that separates the patio from the driveway, something the designer built himself. “I’m pretty handy,” he says. He’d like to add a future portico over the porch with pillars and has been considering adding a greenhouse.
“I love it here, the neighborhood is great,” he says. As much as he loves it, he surprisingly doesn’t see it as their forever home. “I want something like this but bigger,” he says of his dream home. “Imagine this house on steroids with a bigger kitchen and a grand dining room for holidays.”
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Coastal charm shines in Detroit Dutch colonial
Reporting by Khristi Zimmeth, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
