Brantley and Ryan Templeton were wrapping up a family lake vacation in Alabama over Labor Day Weekend in 2022 when they received a devastating phone call: there had been a fire at their Eastover home. A dehumidifier in the basement had caught fire. The heat caused a water pipe to burst, which extinguished the flames, but the smoke and flood damage were pervasive.
The Templetons had completed an extensive house renovation almost exactly one year earlier. They felt like they were still settling into the dream home they had created for their family of six. Now they had to return to Charlotte to face the harsh reality that their lives had been completely upended.
Fortunately, Brantley Templeton’s parents live around the corner, so she, Ryan and their four young sons moved with what few remaining possessions they had into her parents’ house. They were overwhelmed by the outpouring of support not only from her family but from friends and neighbors, too.
“People really rallied around us and were dropping off lunch boxes, baseball cleats, clothes, food—things we didn’t even realize we needed,” says Brantley Templeton. “It was such an unsettling experience but amazing to be so supported; I cried tears for so many different emotions.”
The Templetons’ options were either to tear down and build a new home on the lot or renovate yet again. Since the facade of the charming Tudor home, built in 1935, was intact, they opted for the latter.
“We went back and forth and considered tearing down, but the thought of scrapping it and starting over was really overwhelming,” Templeton says. “We love our house and just wanted our house back, so we decided to completely gut it, rehab it and bring it back to what it was.”
The Templetons engaged local interior designer and friend Anne Pearson Hammett of Anne Pearson Design to guide them through the rebuilding process. Hammett worked with them to create new plans and reconfigure some of the spaces to better meet the needs of their family’s lifestyle.
“Anne completely carried us through the process; she was like our therapist,” says Templeton. “She’s so calm and competent and kept us moving forward while we were dealing with the chaos in our own lives.”
Joyce Builders began construction about four months after the fire, and Hammett and Templeton shifted their focus to decor.
“Brantley wanted bold, bright colors with a lot of blue, green and coral, so she selected a few favorite fabrics that we based the design scheme on,” Hammett explains. “We kept in mind that we were designing this home around four young boys and a dog, so we chose a lot of performance fabrics.”
In the center of the house, what used to be the kitchen is now a breakfast nook and bar. Given that it's a high traffic space, Hammett selected a vinyl grasscloth for the walls and vinyl fabric for the banquette cushions around the dining table. She had the cushion fabric laminated for extra protection.
“I had my eye on a different wallpaper for that area, but it all came down to kids and dogs and greasy fingers,” Templeton says with a laugh. “So we used one of my favorite fabrics as a roman shade over the sink in the bar, completely out of reach from little hands.”
Just beyond the breakfast nook and bar is the new kitchen area. During construction, they extended that part of the house out by four feet, which allowed for a larger kitchen. Hammett kept a softer, less dramatic color scheme in this area.
“It’s important to have moments of reprieve as you move from bolder spaces,” Hammett says. “Brantley loves color and pattern, so we interspersed rooms with muted tones to create a break for your eye.”
The family room on the back of the house has an entire wall of built-in cabinetry painted a vibrant grassy green. Hammett designed the cabinets to provide storage for games, toys and sports equipment, as well as a hidden desk area for Brantley.
“No one will ever frown on having extra storage,” says Hammett. “I always advise adding doors to any sort of storage to conceal it so you don’t have to worry about keeping it tidy.”
In the center of the house, the striking blue and green pattern of the dining room wallpaper offers a vivid feast for the eyes.
“Brantley fell in love with this wallpaper immediately, and these colors are definitely the anchor for their design scheme,” Hammett says. “All of the downstairs rooms are connected, so the colors needed to flow well.”
The dining room table, sideboard, mirror and rug — all family heirlooms — survived the fire, which thrilled the family. Luckily, there were other pieces of furniture and paintings that were recovered and could be carefully restored. These personal belongings offered comfort and a sense of place to the Templetons when they returned to their reconstructed home. They moved back in at the end of 2023, about 16 months after the fire.
“When we moved back in, it felt like home," says Templeton. "And I felt like I finally could breathe again.”
The Templetons look forward to spending the holidays in their home with a renewed sense of gratitude and multiple reasons to celebrate.
“We lost so much in the fire, but we still had our health and our family,” Templeton says. “And now we have our home again.”
“We love our house and just wanted our house back, so we decided to completely gut it, rehab it and bring it back to what it was.”
“We were designing this home around four young boys and a dog, so we chose a lot of performance fabrics.”