Family
Treasure
Tom and Michelle Ridge fill their 1930s
Tudor-style home with antiques, heirlooms
and newly acquired art
By Alice Leccese Powers
Photography by Bob Narod
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Home &Design September/October 2008
Before Tom and Michelle Ridge
bought their Tudor-style home
(opposite, bottom), it had only
changed hands once since it
was built in 1933. In the former
Governor’s office (opposite,
top), a portrait of Tom Ridge’s
parents based on a 1940s photograph hangs on one wall. The
entry foyer furnished with a
Maitland Smith chest of drawers (pictured here) ushers
guests into the home.
D
uring her search
for a new home
three years ago,
Michelle Ridge
fell in love at first
sight with her
Tudor house and
its Chevy Chase
neighborhood of Kenwood, noted for
the riot of cherry blossom trees that turn
its streets pink every spring. The home,
in typical Tudor style, had British baronial details: a stone exterior, heavy woodwork, an impressive fireplace, original
oak floors and exceptionally high ceilings in the living room. It also came with
an interesting history.
Built as a custom home in 1933 by an
architect who had worked in Colonial
Williamsburg, it was designed to be much
larger. But the Depression hit and forced
the owner to scale his plans back. Soon
Interior Design: Danny Christmas, ASID,
and Shannon Woodward, Interior Magic, Chevy
Chase, Maryland.
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Home &Design September/October 2008
Interior designers Danny Christmas (left) and her daughter Shannon Woodward (right) helped Michelle
Ridge (center) furnish the home. The Ridges were drawn to the living room, with its
beamed ceiling and original fireplace (top). The homeowners and designers searched for art
that was representative of the Tudor period, including the dog portrait (opposite).
The dining room (opposite and above) is paneled in native sweetgum, a domestic wood used throughout the home. Michelle Ridge’s mother purchased the silver set and candelabra in Germany, where
her family was stationed after World War II. A large portrait of a woman in white holding a violin
hangs above the breakfront.
after, the owner and his wife divorced. In
the middle of a poker game, he casually
called out to those assembled, “Anyone
want to buy my house?” One of his poker
buddies came forward and the house
changed ownership on a handshake. The
home was not on the market again until
2005, when the second owner’s daughter
put it up for sale.
Michelle Ridge was ready to move
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Home &Design September/October 2008
in on the spot, but first she had to persuade her husband. Tom Ridge, the
former Governor of Pennsylvania and
the first Secretary of the Department of
Homeland Security, at first considered
the three-bedroom house too small and
its rooms too confining. Michelle Ridge
asked him to stand in the living room
with its beamed ceiling, generous proportions and view of the manicured gar-
dens. “Is this too small?” she asked. The
deal was done. The Ridges moved into
the house in 2006 and retained Danny
Christmas and Shannon Woodward of
Interior Magic to help them transform
it. (The mother-daughter design team
had also worked on the couple’s previous
residence in Bethesda.)
Both the Ridges and their designers
agreed that they wanted to maintain the
Kenwood house’s Tudor aesthetic. The
Ridges also hoped to incorporate the majority of the furniture, art and antiques
they’ve both collected over the years into
their new home. “Danny and Shannon
will take the pieces that you love and treasure and work them into a whole interior
design plan,” says Michelle Ridge.
The living room mixes family pieces
and new finds. Three nested tables with
intricate marquetry are from Michelle
Ridge’s family. Her father was stationed
in Germany after World War II and many
of the antiques her mother purchased
there, including these tables and an ornate grandmother clock, are now in the
Kenwood house. Another small table to
the right of the fireplace was designed by
Lord Spencer, Princess Diana’s brother,
based on reproductions of furniture from
his family’s Althorp estate. “We met him in
New York,” says Christmas, “and he signed
[the table].” A painting of Venice over the
mantel, purchased in New York, represents the style of the Tudor era in subject
and color scheme.
The Ridges have an intuitive sense of
art and they collect what appeals to them
aesthetically and emotionally. The portrait of dogs in the living reflects their
love of pets; another painting depicts the
west coast of Ireland, part of the Governor’s heritage.
The dining room is paneled in native
sweetgum, a domestic wood used throughout the home. It also contains a sideboard
from the Althorp collection and an oval
table with complementary chairs. The ornate German silver candelabra and coffee service are heirlooms from Michelle
Ridge’s mother. A large portrait of a woman in white holding a violin hangs above the
breakfront; on another wall a portrait of a
young man seems to follow visitors with his
eyes. “This room is very actively used,” says
Michelle Ridge, “and Tom’s study—with
the desk chair that he used when he was
in the Cabinet—is right off the dining
room.”
The only major structural change the
Ridges tackled was renovating the Florida room. Once a screened porch, it had
been winterized by previous owners, but
still felt like an exterior room. The Ridges
wanted to integrate the light-filled space
into the rest of the home. Now called the
garden room, it boasts a new ceiling, walls
and molding. Most of the furniture was
reupholstered and the heavy drapery rods
from the Ridge’s previous home were cut
down into “goblets,” attenuated rods that
visually widen the room’s windows. Over
the breakfront is a large painting, a favorite of the Ridges because it reminds them
of their beloved Pennsylvania. “I know it’s
not of the Scalp Level School [a group of
Pennsylvania artists who painted plein air
landscapes in the 19th century], but it reminds me of them,” says Michelle Ridge.
Tom and Michelle Ridge appreciate
The Ridges renovated the garden room (above), which
was once a screened porch.
Over the breakfront (left) is a
large landscape, a favorite of the
Ridges because it reminds them
of their beloved Penn­sylvania.
New upholstery (opposite) integrates the light-filled space into
the rest of the home.
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Family Treasure
continued from page 113
Manicured gardens surround the Ridges’ home.
their home’s legacy—and the quality
that prevails in buildings of its era. A frustrated cable installer recently reminded
them of its strong bones when he asked,
“Do you know how thick these walls are?”
With the help of their design team, the
Ridges are happily settled into their residence, where their favorite furnishings
and art are all quite at home. v
Washington, DC-based Alice Leccese Powers
is the editor of the In Mind series for Vintage
Random House, including the best-selling Italy
in Mind. Bob Narod is a photographer in
Sterling, Virginia.
Resources
FOYER—page 107
Chandelier: Murray Feiss. Chest of Drawers:
Maitland Smith. Rug: Stanton.
LIVING ROOM—pages 108, 109
Pair of Chairs Near Fireplace: Custom. Chest
Near Fireplace: Theodore Alexander. Occasional
Table Near Fireplace: Althorp. Table Lamp:
Clients’ Collection. Sconces: Original to the House.
Stool in Front of Fireplace: Custom. Art Above
Fireplace: Yullen Gregg. Female Portrait by Window: Andrea Piron. Dog Painting: Victorian Era,
C. Millet.
DINING ROOM—pages 110,111
Table: Mutual Specialty. China: Limoges.
Crystal: Waterford. Flatware: Towle “Legato.”
Sideboard: Althorp. Silver Set & Candelabra:
Germany 1950. Chandelier: Fergusons.
Console: Theodore Alexander.
SUNROOM—page 112, 113
Sofa: Custom. Corner Table & Rug: Statton
Furniture Co. Chandelier: Murray Feiss. Cabinet:
Russell’s of Waterford.
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Home &Design September/October 2008