When Rogan Allen, a native Nashvillian and local builder, bought his home in Green Hills, he knew that to get what he wanted, he would be taking the home to the ground. He didn’t even keep the foundation. Now he has a new, 6,000 square foot home in an old Nashville neighborhood that has big trees, a wide range of architectural styles and it’s centrally located; all things that appear on many people’s list of what they want when looking for a home. The exterior shows a strong Tudor influence but the overall footprint of the home is very unique. As you walk through the front door - a custom door made of old mahogany with a Gothic arch that mimics the arch in the front porch – you’re immediately in the living room with a view of the exterior courtyard and a beautiful kitchen.

 

Even though the home is new, it was important to Rogan to create a home that had the look of an older house and he did this mainly by using old materials. Throughout the house, Rogan has incorporated reclaimed cedar timbers that came from an old warehouse in Vancouver, Canada. These figure prominently in the kitchen and the dark stain draws the eye to these beams first. The other eye-catching element in this kitchen is the limestone hood over the stove. As Rogan has renovated homes all over Nashville, he has collected foundation stone that would have been considered waste. This stone, called demolition stone, is what he has used in his kitchen. The fireplaces in the living room (top photo, this page) and the screened-in patio both came from a 250 year old farmhouse in Kentucky. Each has an etched design of a cottonwood leaf flanked by oak leaves. For the patio, Rogan used a larger version of the same beams in the kitchen and on the floor he used tumbled marble in a pattern suggestive of a patterned rug.

 

Throughout the home, Rogan used antique lighting fixtures that he had rewired for electricity. Most of the fixtures are iron - a good choice when creating an old look. The chandelier over the dining table was so cleverly wired that we had a hard time finding the evidence! Rogan found a pair of antique engineer lamps that were perfect for the hearth on the patio. You can see both in the bottom photo. And even though the house has state-of-the-art whole house wiring, you’ll have a difficult time finding anything that looks high-tech. Rogan’s TV room doubles as a den, and the television in the front living room is hidden by a pair of 125 year-old doors that came from Bali. They’re each made from a single piece of teak and they didn’t require any work. All Rogan had to do was hang them.

 

One place where Rogan chose to use newer materials that look old, was the roofing material. Rogan wanted a slate look with a product that utilized new technological improvements. The solution was a rubber roofing product that mimics the look of slate. Another antiquing detail outside was the copper gutters. Rogan has a special technique for creating an aged copper patina that is very convincing. The library and master bathroom together comprise one wing of the home. Rogan chose black walnut for the bookcases and paneling in the library and the oriental rug and antique desk complete the aged, comfortable feel here.

 

The master suite is past the library and the central focus here is the barrel vaulted ceiling. It is common today to find vaulted ceilings, but a barrel vault is not something you see very often in Nashville. The barrel vault was made popular in ancient times by the Romans - as was the arch - and both of those forms are found in this home. If you can peel your eyes off the ceiling, you’ll notice that in the master bedroom, Rogan used wide plank river white oaks on the floors. These are logs that have been stuck in river banks since the 1800’s where these old-growth logs have been preserved until now. As we walked through this home, every room had been created with old materials and old furnishings.

 

It’s the combination of comfort and technology with antiques and reclaimed materials that creates a space that is full of character and imagination and this house does that superbly. Rogan Allen has created a masterpiece for himself in Green Hills - a new house that looks old in a beautiful old neighborhood.