By Deborah Mann Lake
Houston Post Design Editor
With two adjoining lots and two growing kids, Bill and Len Slusser could have done what a lot of West University residents have done and demolished their old house in exchange for one of those red brick boxes that dot the area.
But the Slussers, who moved into that home 20 years ago, weren’t into living in a modern box. Instead, they spent the years making the interior of the home as functional as possible and when they did expand for two teen-agers, they did it with a separate pool house designed to blend with the original home. In fact, it can’t even be seen from the street.
“We made a deal with each other when we bought the house 20 years ago that we would stay in the house and not substantially expand it. We would do what we could to make it livable,” said Bill Slusser, a senior partner with Baker & Botts. &Financially, it may not have made sense because you can put a lot of money into a little house that you’ll never be able to get out. But we did it for personal reasons. We felt more comfortable in the older home.”
Since he was an engineer before he was a lawyer, Slusser saw space where none had existed before in the early 1940s 1 1/2-story cottage. The attic, which had already been a large den area, was converted to bedrooms for the kids, each with a small bathroom. The area around the stairwell was filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and turned into a cubbyhole office.
When they redid the kitchen six years ago, they called in German cabinetmakers who designed floor-to-ceiling storage space. Even the area underneath the cabinet at floor level became pullout drawers.
Architectural designer Bill Hall of Front to Back reworked the flow of the house. Since the kitchen was rather small, the back door was closed off there — to allow the cook (Len Slusser) more work space — and moved the dining area. There, French doors were built to open up into a small, light-filled sunroom filled with plants and potting materials. The opening between dining area and kitchen was enlarged to give the entire space an airy feel.
The bathroom was also remodeled with the countertop raised to a comfortable level, which also allowed for more cabinet space underneath. A cabinet was even built over the end of the bathtub (away from the shower head) with tile covering the slanted side and bottom.
But the Slussers still felt they were simply passing through the dining room and not using that space wisely. Then two years ago, their longtime interior designer, Kelly Amen, suggested they switch out the living and dining areas — which are two parts of the same long room. While some people might have balked at having the dining room table in the same area as the fireplace, it has added up to a warm, inviting space for a meal. And at the other end of the room (which is adjacent to the kitchen), small sofas and a family antique chair make for a cozy seating area.
“I don’t like anyone in the kitchen with me, but having the sitting area adjacent to the kitchen makes it easier to chat,” Len Slusser said.
Furnishings have evolved with the house. They got rid of the original formal cherry dining room set and replaced with a roughhewn harvest table and Windsor chairs that have a rustic twist. A large Texana antique armoire hides the electronics in the living area space while the antique chair — in the family for 150 years — was given a crackle finish and new leather seat by Amen.
One recent acquisition is the Afghanistan rug that Amen found, a discovery that warms up the dining room and ties it into a contemporary mural painted in the entrance area by artist Todd Kington.
Overall, the look is a casual one, which fits into their lifestyle. “I love a simple look,” said Len Slusser. “No baroque and no frills.” In fact, the Slussers began working with Amen 20 years ago after they saw a friend’s house and liked its “undecorated” style.
Three years ago, when son Adam was 13 and daughter Joanna 11, they decided to build the pool house, which cost twice as much to construct as the 1973 purchase price of the house. But it would allow space for the teenagers and their friends and still leave the original house untouched. It also wouldn’t take too much out of their available yard space because they also had access to the yard next door.
When the house next door came up for sale 12 years ago, the Slussers purchased it and divided the back yard so that they had a large playing area for the kids. They leased out the house until recently when they decided to have it torn down because of the expense of needed repairs. They plan on converting part of the property to a porte-cochere and the rest to more green space.
Designed by Hall, the pool house functions as an entertainment space — with a pingpong table and large shower for after pool use downstairs — as well as a guest house with fold-out sofas and a screened-in porch upstairs. A sleeping loft in the attic area was also designed into the plan for the children of friends and relatives. Interior colors, picked out by Amen to show off Hall’s architecture, are seafoam, peach and gray, making it visually a more playful space than the main house.
On the exterior, antique brick was used so that the new structure would look as though it had been there a long time. The end result of the two buildings is more of a charming compound, a miniature Hyannis Port, they joke.
“People have asked us if we were going to tear down the house, as though it was taken for granted that we would,” Len Slusser said. “But I like charm more than luxury.”
