Jacksonville Magazine Clip | November 2014 |Rebirth in the Oldest City

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GETTING TO KNOW TV-4’S
ASHLEY MITCHEM

Rebirth
in the
IN HISTORIC ST.
AUGUSTINE, A
RENOVATION
MARRIES THE
CHARACTER
OF THE PAST
WITH THE
CONVENIENCE
OF THE NEW
Oldest
City
words by Juliet Johnson
images by Wally Sears
uropeans chuckle at what Americans think is historic,
until they get to St. Augustine. This is old, they agree.
For German tech executive Ms. Quigley (who asked that
her first name be kept anonymous), St. Augustine was
the perfect spot to vacation from Silicon Valley and
entertain family—both Floridian and European. She saw
potential in an older house in the storied district of Lincolnville—an
area originally established by the freedmen of the American Civil
War—peacefully sited on small Maria Sanchez Lake.
“She loves the patina of old things,” says interior designer Molly
Cones. “When we met at my [former] store in St. Augustine, she
knew we would be perfect partners in reviving this home.”
104 | JACKSONVILLEMAG.COM NOVEMBER 2014

Enormous green urns add color and dimension to the
lush garden, while black rocking chairs provide visual
contrast and comfy seating on the wide, covered porch.
NOVEMBER 2014 JACKSONVILLEMAG.COM | 105

From top: A chair and accent pillow covered in antique grain sacks (found beneath a barn floor in rural France, naturally) act as
one of the home’s many conversation-starters; The original fireplace was painted white, to provide contrast with the home’s
vintage furnishings.
Cones’ style is a combination of
organic and rustic. She often repurposes
natural materials to enjoy them in new
ways, while featuring their character.
Quigley travels extensively and has been
collecting antiques, curios and art for
years. She has so many collections, in
fact, that she maintains a warehouse,
“heaven” for a designer like Cones.
Architecturally, the house fronts the
lake, but can be accessed via Washington
Street. Visitors enter through a discrete
white gate and immediately step into a
brick courtyard filled with flowering
vines eyed by stone gargoyles.
Overflowing urns blend seamlessly with
a modern pool outlined in coral stone.
Stairs to the right lead up to a secondstory
wrap-around balcony. What was
once the garage is now a detached guest
house. A brick fireplace, which looks like
it’s been there forever, anchors a builtin
outdoor kitchen.

ortunately, the house is
not registered “historic”
and was likely built sometime
around the 1930s.
The lack of an official historic
designation meant that changes
could be made. So, Quigley installed
floor-to-ceiling windows on both the
front and the back, which open and
fold away to allow full-length cotton
panels to waft in the breeze. The new
hardwood floors are actually made of
reclaimed antique granary oak.
Baseboards are finished in flat stock
and walls are kept mostly white, so
that the art and antiques are introduced
without distraction.
Though it might not look it, the
kitchen is new and made from a combination
of repurposed barn wood and
stainless steel appliances (except the
two-drawer dishwasher, dramatic
marble slabs and deep ceramic farmhouse
sink). On either side of the
Viking stove are sea trunks on castors
so that you can wheel over heavy pots
and appliances to wherever you need
them without physical strain. Set into
the marble countertop, next to the
prep sink, is a vintage cutting board
with mottled iron bands on the corners.
A microwave is tucked under
the other side.
The breakfast table—also made of
repurposed barn wood—seats two,
with a comfy bench beneath an
acrylic painting of amorphous figures,
and in between shelves of white
china. The breakfast chairs, says
Cones, are “loosely slipcovered in
linen for a feminine look.” The pillows
are comprised of antique grain sacks,
which Quigley bought in bulk after
finding them beneath a barn floor in
rural France. Though at one point full
of dust, fearless designer Cones
picked through the collection and
hand-washed all that could be used.
Some have become bolsters and
accent pillows, others upholstered
onto chairs. Many of the sacks have
German words—opening speculation
as to their original provenance, which
makes for lively conversations.
The dining room’s custom chandelier
is a wrought-iron frame designed
by Cones and covered with parachute
material. This means that when the
doors are open, the chandelier billows.
From top: The kitchen is highlighted by a combination of
repurposed barn wood and stainless steel appliances;
The chandelier in the dining room is a wrought-iron
frame covered with parachute material; A contemporary
acrylic painting is framed by shelves of white china.
NOVEMBER 2014 JACKSONVILLEMAG.COM | 107

The living room’s mantel is original.
Cones and Quigley wanted the texture
but not the heaviness that so often
comes with a vintage mantel, so they
painted it and the brick surrounding it a
clean, crisp white. More sacks cover
wingback chairs with refinished legs
(which were stripped, sanded and whitewashed).
The wooden primitive figure is
an African artifact; the coffee table is an
old trolley cart.
The fireplace opens to the library,
where shelves hold travel mementos
and stacks of old books—washed, coverless
and held together with twine. Here,
a French sofa was re-upholstered in
antique linen, also with the raw edge
and visible upholstery tacks. The coffee
table here is an antique bench from
Thailand; the rug an antique kilim.
Hides are scattered throughout.
It was Cones’ idea to use an antique
garden urn for a sink in the powder
room. As an antique French Empire mirror
reigns over polished nickel faucets,
natural shells, and smooth coral stone
surfaces, this little room exudes big
personality.
From top: White cotton linens make a fine contrast to vintage touches such as a pair of unusual wooden figurines next to
the bed; A trough sink for two in the master bathroom with a similarly shaped mirror reclaimed and hung from the ceiling.
108 | JACKSONVILLEMAG.COM NOVEMBER 2014

From top: The guest room’s wash basin sits in the room
itself, with the shower directly behind the mirror; Antique
grain-sack pillows feature prominently in the guest bedroom.
Upstairs, the master bedroom features
end tables made from a large tree
reclaimed from the St. Johns River. Cones
had it sliced at a local mill, and then glass
cut to match the exact edge. They make a
sturdy contrast to white, cottony linens.
Eerily watching over the bed stands a couple
of wooden figurines, each three feet tall,
and likely vintage doll dress mannequins.
Antique wooden angels keep spirits at bay
on either side of the French doors leading
to the adjoining balcony.
A guest room features twin beds and an
antique wooden sheep from Thailand. The
bathroom is en-suite—literally. The washbasin
(a hollowed stone sink) sits on one
side of the mirror, the shower on the other.
Cones says her style has been consistent
for a long time. Some might call it “junking”
or “picking,” but she loves the creativity.
For her it’s inspiring to take something with
character and patina and give it life in a
new setting. As for Quigley, when you’re
forging a brave new world in Silicon Valley,
it’s probably reassuring to own a home
richly saturated in history.
NOVEMBER 2014 JACKSONVILLEMAG.COM | 109