RETIRING IN STYLE
Retiring In Style
Designing on a clean slate
By Deborah Salomon
Photographs by John Gessner
The Browns’ favorite décor color does not appear on any rainbow. Instead, Frank and Becky Brown chose a sandy French vanilla with flecks of oatmeal and cocoa throughout their uber-contemporary retirement residence that answers to simply stunning. Here, the old is missing but not missed. With the exception of a grandmother’s desk furnishings, fixtures, objets and art are new, selected for this space by Becky on the advice of Pinehurst interior designer Angela Budd.
“We had traveled, moved around so much (for Frank Brown’s career in beverage distribution management) that we decided to give everything away and start fresh,” Becky says.
No way could she manage such a task from Colorado, their final post. Budd, in consultation with the Browns, created a subtle, sophisticated environment based on a color softer than white, easier to live with than primaries. Even the 4-inch oak floorboards throughout reflect this hue.
All new, soup to nuts, minimum legwork, professional advice, what a lark! Frank calls the finished product “calm,” while running his hand over a rich chocolate brown coffee table of the fashionable “stacked” genre.
“I love this table,” he says with a smile.
The then Florida-based Browns had friends from Raleigh who, after golfing in Pinehurst, decided to move here. Frank and Becky visited, fell in love with the area and chose the Country Club of North Carolina for retirement. Downsizing wasn’t their goal. They required something one-story on a spacious lot partially fenced for their dogs — a house that didn’t need a structural overhaul or floorplan rearrangement. What they found was 3,400 square feet, built in 1986 on 1.6 acres. It was so right they purchased it from photos, boots on the ground unnecessary.
Next, Becky needed an interior designer who could translate generalities into sofas, chairs, tables and a kitchen that blends sophistication with practicality. “I had never worked with a designer before,” she says, let alone making decisions influencing what she calls their “forever-type house.”
Budd, of Angela Douglas Interiors, was recommended by a previous client. The responsibility of starting fresh was not new to her, nor was the “clean, soothing, calming” mandate. These were active, young retirees. Angela and Becky shopped high-end High Point furniture vendors for the most comfortable, thickly upholstered pieces. A 120-inch sofa anchors the more formal of the home’s two sitting areas, separated by a double-sided fireplace wall with framed flat screens and built-in shelves. The tables in two dining areas — one closer to the kitchen — have graceful curved tops. One expands seating by replacing chairs with a banquette, useful during visits from their two children and four grandchildren.
Charcoal and paler grays punctuate sandy neutrals in the seating areas, where Frank and Becky relax after supper. Every so often, particularly in chairs, Scandinavian modern shapes popular in the 1950s reappear. The kitchen itself, with island, concealed refrigerator with black interior, wine cooler, Zline luxury range and coffee bar has only drawers, no under-counter cabinets. In contrast, tall walnut backlit cabinets displaying the Browns’ wedding china and crystal rise from the countertop. Shiny gold ping pong ball-sized drawer pulls provide pops of color throughout.
Much thought was given to making spaces flow into one another, including two living/dining screened verandas. With entertaining in mind, Budd created a talk-of-the-town powder room. Squares on a deep brown grasscloth wallpaper are outlined by hundreds of hand-applied metallic rivets. Unusual brass sink fixtures, sconces and a narrow, towering skylight make every visit memorable.
As in the kitchen, built-in storage units dominate an entire wall of the master suite, where an upholstered rectangular headboard illustrates the softened geometrics visible throughout, including a low upholstered bench at the end of the bed, similar to Victorian slipper chairs, where ladies sat while lacing up their tall shoes.
Bedrooms on the guest end of the longitudinal layout will be finished with bunk beds for the grandchildren. An office has been mentioned, as has a sauna. No pool required — the CCNC clubhouse is a few minutes away.
Budd also helped choose the art, from framed black and white photos to several abstract canvases. Frank, who grew up sharing an 880-square foot one-bathroom apartment in St. Louis with his parents and three siblings, smiles and shakes his head at the painting over the living room sofa.
The Browns purchased the house in March 2024 while posted in Colorado. They were able to use the bedrooms a few months later, when Becky and Angela visited showrooms, discussed colors and details. The renovation/furnishing was completed in February 2025. For The Reveal, always emotional, Budd illuminated lamps and fixtures, put flowers on the tables, food in the fridge, wine in the cooler. The coffee bar was stocked. Linens covered the beds, and towels hung in the bathrooms.
Thrilled doesn’t even come close to what Becky Brown felt during the unveiling. She still plans to buy new pots and pans, dishes, glassware and cutlery. Small adjustments are inevitable. “But I always dreamed of living in a home that reflects who I am.”
And now, thanks to serendipity, professional advice, resources and friends who blazed the trail to Pinehurst, she does.
