For architect Bryan Mermans, diving deep into architectural history is something that his job requires—but it’s also something he’s passionate about. So when his clients approached him about designing a home with nuanced nods to Scandinavian architecture and a connection to nature, Mermans eagerly went into research mode. “Whenever I meet with a client, we really dive deep into their background,” he explains. “The family, half Norwegian, lives part of every year in Norway, so, for this project, we took a little bit of a dive into Norwegian architecture.”
Mermans immersed himself in the Norwegian culture, making notes about the pragmatic architecture prevalent there as well as how the homes relate back to nature. “These old fishing villages had very simple gable architecture and simple siding on the nomadic structures,” he notes. It was the tie back to the beauty of the landscape that struck a chord with Mermans, as well. “A lot of these historical cottages had natural landscape roofs, which insulated the homes during the winter. And my clients loved the idea of that.”
When imagining the home, Mermans began using the term Skogluft, a Norwegian word meaning “forest air” that refers to the practice of bringing nature and light into a home. For Mermans and his clients, a living green roof was a unifying solution to the design, solving both sustainable and healthy home concerns while providing a historical Norwegian reference into the modern design. The design team, which also included builder Westwood Homes, sought out Asheville-based Living Roofs to design and install the living roof atop both the main home and pool house.
While Mermans worked on the architecture, designer Charlotte Lucas headed up the interior design. Having worked on the family of four’s previous home, Lucas was attuned to the client’s needs and desires for a family-friendly but sophisticated interior. “We elevated the sophistication of the home but also kept it very warm, comforting, and inviting for socializing, gathering, and everyday living,” says the designer. “They love color and a more modern-style architecture and furnishings, so we wanted to give them a contemporary, sleek look with a really inviting feel. Being the second project we’d worked on with them, we hit the ground running.”
Lucas took cues from exterior and interior architectural details, such as the hand-cut stacked Elkstone quarried in North Carolina, and punctuated the earth tones with lime-washed oak paneling on the ceiling and plaster walls in a custom complementary hue. In the lounge, Lucas highlighted the curved wall and designed a custom sofa that hugs its curvature. “We wanted to elevate the design to meet the architecture of that room,” says Lucas, who painted the walls and ceiling in a lacquered dark gray for a moody vibe. “It was really fun to have everything be one color so your eye moves around the room and takes in the greenery from outside.”
Now complete, the home is an oasis for the couple, who gather with their teenage daughters by the pool or on the tennis court, dine with friends in the outdoor living space, or simply unwind together in the den or lounge after a long day. “We wanted something with a lot of light, good use of open space, a modern design, and some Scandinavian elements in it. And we wanted it to be livable and comfortable,” says the homeowner. “We asked Charlotte and Bryan to come up with something, and what they designed was absolutely perfect.”
