Brian Neeper is always up for a challenge.
Which is a good thing — as the owner of Birmingham-based Brian Neeper Architecture, the architectural designer often takes on the task of designing and building resplendent, luxe homes on Birmingham’s uniquely plotted and often compact parcels of land.
So when he teamed with builder and designer Hunter Roberts Homes on a new-build spec house on a busy corner plot in Birmingham, Neeper’s goal, he says, was to “orient the house in a way that maximized sunlight by opening the house to the south, providing privacy from the streetfronts and creating a grassy yard with enough space for a nice-sized pool,” Neeper says. “It’s a more holistic approach. I’m always trying to work within all the requirements and come up with something unique, that will stand out but also be very user-friendly and, in this case, appeal to buyers versus working with clients to their specific needs.”
It did, it turns out, appeal to a client’s specific needs: Former NHL player Max Pacioretty was preparing to retire from a decorated 17-season career, often as captain, playing for Montreal, Carolina, Washington, Toronto and Las Vegas. Still living in Vegas, University of Michigan-grad Pacioretty — who planned to take his current position at U-M’s ice hockey program as special assistant to the head coach — as and his wife, former pro-tennis player Katia, decided that Birmingham was the destination to raise their hockey-immersed five children, so Katia began to scout. Thrilled with the lot, she purchased when it was just a shell, so she could finesse to her specifications.
The five-bedroom home was already set up to accommodate a large family, with an upstairs loft area with built-in desks that the family uses for homeschooling.
“The design had a beautiful flow,” Katia says. Never having lived in Michigan, she began researching designers online. Coincidentally, she fell in love with the work of Jessica Neeper, owner of Jessica Neeper Interiors — and Brian’s wife — before ever meeting Brian.
With Max still playing professional hockey in North Carolina during the eighteen-month build, Jessica Neeper became the Paciorettys’ trusted design partner from afar. “They needed somebody to take the reins here and do everything from studs forward,” Jessica says. “We’d do Zoom meetings and they came into town a few times.”
“It’s incredible that she took on everything,” Katia says. “We really had to trust her, and she just hit it out of the park.”
The exterior draws from English Arts & Crafts, featuring brick detailing, graceful arched openings and sweeping wing walls that extend from the gables. “That style lent itself really well to bringing it into a contemporary home, like the stair tower with stacked glass on the front,” Brian says. “It has layers of different styles, giving it a nice clean, easy feel. I’m always searching for a nicely proportioned look — not perfectly symmetrical, but with a nice balance to it.”
With a strong connection visually and physically to the outdoor living space, the house has a “great livable open feel from the inside,” Brian says. Entering from the front into a vestibule, a circular rotunda redirects you into each angle of living space. The open floor plan gives a fresh, airy feel, but each space has subtle demarcation through ceiling design — drop arches and layered tones of wood serve as visual cues, while the kitchen is streamlined and white.
A covered terrace echoes the same fieldstone fireplace surround as inside, creating a seamless indoor-outdoor flow. Multiple access points — from a huge doorwall from the nook, the family room and the library — connect the home to the pool and outdoor spaces.
In the primary bedroom, nickel-gap shiplap and beams on cathedral ceilings tinted oak echoes the engineered oak sand floors. “Everybody was doing really light floors back then,” Jessica says. “We wanted it to be warmer.”
“We really like a house that doesn’t have an inch of wasted space, and we like to use every room in the house,” Katia says. “And Jessica and Brian did an incredible job with that.” Upstairs, the homeschool loft features custom built-ins with V-groove walls, Ralph Lauren sconces and a stained wood countertop. Above the garage, a “bunk room” with an en suite bath — painted deep green with four custom beds plus a daybed for little sister Stella — provides weekend sleepover space. “It’s super special for them,” Katia says.
The family reads together and watches movies (and hockey games) in the library-den, a wine cellar is surrounded by massive wooden beams and stone; in the lower level, a gym and living room flows with an additional guest room.
“We use every single space every single day, but it also feels cozy,” Katia says.
Throughout, Jessica channeled what she describes as “a fresh Nantucket vibe” — a coastal transitional style mixing warm natural tones with pops of blues and greens. The trimwork alone added four months to construction, and every room has wallpaper.
The moody library serves as Katia’s sanctuary. Each morning, she rises before her five children to enjoy coffee while contemplating a custom art piece by Andre Monet — who gained fame creating portraits of Prince William and Kate. Using scraps of old newspapers and books, Monet hid the family’s names and birthplaces throughout a portrait of Marilyn Monroe. “I sit there with my coffee and enjoy that piece of art,” Katia says. “It just makes that room that much more special to me.”