Story by Lee Rennick | Photos by Erin Kosko and Lee Rennick

Neither the architect, Craig Richardson, nor the designer, Sharon Barrett, asked McGuire and his wife Vickie about what they wanted the house to look like, instead, they talked with them about how they wanted to use the house. 

“We just talked for about an hour,” explained Jonathon, “and then he just had the perfect drawing a few months later with everything you could possibly imagine.” 

“Craig asked, ‘what do you do in your house,’” added Vickie. “I said, ‘I want to be outside.’ He designed where the pool is going to lay. He did more than what a normal architect does because he thought through so much of what we wanted. For instance, we both work all the time, so he put our offices on opposite ends of the house. Which I thought was great.”

Sharon did the same thing with the interior design. Knowing Vickie wanted the feel of the outdoors within the home, she drew her color pallet from the pool using lots of blues, greens and other organic shades. 

“Like Craig, Sharon did so much more than just the interior designing of this house,” said Vickie, “she did interior design, set up, stocking, organizing, building, project management…Sharon’s hands were into everything. When I think of interior designers, I think of picking drapes and stuff, but Sharon was so much more. If there was a problem during the build, I just told everyone to call Sharon.” 

“Our styles are similar,” explained Sharon. “I call it Transitional, but it is a little bit of everything. Eclectic has a bad connotation right now, but this home is really lots of different styles. A lot of playful spaces. A lot of bright energizing spaces, too. 

Customizing Everything from Seating to Cigar Ventilation

Since the McGuires are very generous with their home, entertaining frequently, Sharon wanted to make sure every space, inside and outside, was comfortable and conducive to long conversations. And she knew that Jonathon wanted everything to be touchable, so she designed to draw people into the home, and then feel relaxed enough to sit down in one of the many conversation spaces. 

“She provided us with a classy, great design and it is also comfortable,” said Jonathon. “One of the things I said was that I didn’t want anyone to feel like they can’t sit down on something, no matter where they are. If there is a seat, they need to be able to sit. It ‘don’t’ need to be too formal.” 

“I grew up with a white room and no one was allowed to sit in,” added Vickie. “Who wants that?”
“When my friend from San Diego was visiting, he asked me, ‘how many places do you need to sit down,’” joked Jonathan about the many seating areas. However, the first weekend after they moved into the house, every room in the house and the cabana were full of company.”

Sharon was also careful about providing a variety of seating. Jonathon likes to sit more uncomfortably than most people, he likes to sit straight up with his feet on the floor, while Vickie likes to lounge. Therefore, every room has a seat that Jonathon is comfortable in and a seat that Vickie is comfortable in, as well as their many guests. That is how detailed the customization is within the home. 

In their old house, they had to work everywhere in the house. Vickie had work everywhere. Jonathon had work everywhere. That is why Craig took the time to make sure there were plenty of spaces outside of work and designated spaces for work. Their offices are also reflections of their personalities.

Designing Vickie’s office began with a photo Sharon received from her of the Graduate Hotel in Nashville. Known for its funky, colorful, inventive interiors, she knew Vickie wanted a blend of colors, textures and patterns. They started by “stealing” a wallpaper design used by the hotel and playing off of that. Sharon incorporated art from Market Place Interiors and pottery from Revelation and Uttermost. 

“I love my office,” said Vickie. “It is my personality. It is busy and I am always busy. Always moving. And I like new things. It gives me a good vibe.”

Jonathon is equally emotional about his office, although the vibe is completely the opposite. It and the accompanying bathroom, are very masculine and calming. The star of the office is the unique bourbon lockers that Sharon had built based on photos of something similar Jonathan had seen in a restaurant. 

“I got all choked up when I saw the office, and I am not an emotional guy, but it is my personality wrapped up into a couple of rooms,” said Jonathan. “And Craig built a porch off of the office so I can smoke cigars in the evening. He put in shower fans above the porch and double-pitched the wall so no smoke gets into the bedroom, as Vickie hates the smell of cigars.” 

Sage green walls are the base for the very male office with lots of wood, metal and a large screen television set up to accommodate four screens for teleconferencing. 

“This is my office and office space,” explained Jonathon. “People can come in the house and just be in this space and then leave. I often have meetings here instead of meeting people someplace offsite.”

The Art of Blending Multiple Styles into a Seamless Design

While Sharon brands the McGuire home as Transitional in style, there are rooms with styles ranging from ballpark kitsch to bohemian to Mid-Century Modern, with a dash of coastal grandma and a soupçon of Victorian. 

“I like a lot of different styles and I like to mix them,” noted Sharon, “and they like to do that, too.” 
Not everyone can mix styles. It is not easy, but Sharon has a couple of rules that keep her on track. First, for every room, she has to find a jumping-off point, whether it be artwork, a piece of fabric or a piece of furniture. Once she has one, it is just a matter of pulling things together that work. Second, to pull off mixing styles, she says you almost have to go ridiculously far to one end and then pull yourself back with another style. 

“It is not about safe decisions,” said Sharon, “it is going outside the safe realm. It is countering the different styles in every room and every space until there is a balance.” In this case, a coordinated color pallet pulls the entire house together, regardless of the many styles. 
There are bold designs throughout the home with unique focal points in every room. In one space it is a bold lighting choice, in another it is a long desired one-of-a-kind piano and in another is it is the adventurous wallpaper.

Case in point is the formal dining room. It is designed around the golden-toned rare African amber wood grand piano. It is a piece that Vickie saved for over many years to give as a gift to her husband.

“I’ve been wanting one since I was five years old,” said Jonathon. “My mother always told me she’d get me one when we had a place for one. But we never did.”

“We got to all hear Jonathon play a hymn when it was delivered,” noted Sharon. 

“I usually stay up later than everybody else and the house is built so well that once they go to bed, I sit down and play piano,” added Jonathon. “I just sit there in my happy place.” 

“I love everything,” said Vickie, “but I love the kitchen and the dining room the most. They were designed to look to the outside. Sharon just did such a good job of picking up the blues and just making sure everything flowed. I have gotten to where I sit on the small porch, off the living room, where I sit and hold my new baby granddaughter or watch television or even work.”

A room that they both enjoy is the game room. It was initially “extra space” that Sharon turned into the game room with an exercise space off to the side. Vickie loves baseball, and as you enter the room, there is a photo on the wall from a famous game between the Royals and the Yankees. The room contains a custom card table and billiard table that are blue, instead of the traditional green. The walls are Sherwin Williams Granite Peek, which was chosen to match the smoky blue cabinetry, which includes a beer tap. Stools in the room are made from game-used bases from Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City where the Kansas City Royals play.

“When they arrived, dirt came out of the box because they had not washed them, just pulled them off the field and put them in the box,” said Jonathan. 

Their 16-year-old daughter Abbie’s favorite room is her bedroom. It is pure Boho, with a stage for the musical theater lover and pale mauve accents. It also has access to a balcony that looks out over the pool and it is close to the upstairs den area that offers bunk beds that her friends can use if they want to stay over. Abbie is the only one of their three children still at home. Her sister, the mother of Jonathon and Vickie’s first grandchild, and her husband live close by. Her brother is currently in Richmond, Virginia. 

Sourcing from Local Artists to National Brands

Furnishings and décor come from a number of places. Sharon’s favorite sources for furniture are Lee Industries and Hooker Furniture. 

“Any wood pieces are from Hooker,” explained Sharon. 

There are many spectacular light fixtures from Curry and Company and Ferguson. Ferguson is also the source of the black bathtub that is the focal point of the master bathroom.
“I didn’t know what else we were going to do, but on one of our first outings together to look at things for the house I saw that bathtub and I knew it had to be part of the design,” said Vickie. 
“Kenny and Company in Nashville is my go-to for tile because it looks different from everyone else’s,” added Sharon.

Several pieces of art, accessories and all of the fine china came from The Peddler in Murfreesboro. Also, from Murfreesboro is a piece of art by local photographer Carla Lynn. It is the first piece that she sold of her abstract art. The rawness of the abstract art works well with the African leather light fixture hanging above the landing seating area on the second floor. 

Technology and Landscape Design

Technology, installed by Total Home Creations, is also all over the house. It includes surround sound hidden in the walls, framed Apple TVs in every room and diverse forms of lighting. Controlled through an app, Jonathon gets a kick out of creating mood lighting for different times of day and in different rooms. In the evenings, he is always finding lights that he needs to dim down or turn off. Or turn on in twilight hours. 

“I am having a lot of fun with that,” added Jonathan.

All of the landscape design was done by Vickie’s friend Jennifer Smith. She also worked with Sharon to ensure the design was cohesive with the rest of the look of the home. 

The Design and Building Team Became a Family

“We were originally trying to move just before COVID hit,” explained Jonathon. “We were supposed to put a contract on a house the day the world shut down. The day that I say COVID started is the day the NBA stopped their season, March 13, 2020.” 

They ended up buying an empty lot instead of the house they were going to buy because they wanted to be out in the area where they currently live. Then, working with their builder, Charlie Livesay, they figured out their home design was not going to work on the lot they had purchased. They ended up swapping the land they had purchased with the lot where they are currently located, which had belonged to the builder. 

Although the build took three years, because the land is in a flood plain and had to be built up, the McGuires are ready to work with their team of architect, builder and designer on some other projects. 

“They say that when it is over most people do not want to talk to their builder again,” added Jonathon. “We do not feel that way, we are going to have them all over. We are going to cook out.”