Brazilian Slate Tiles

South Asian inspiration

Jessica Woll and Don Stewart loved traveling around India so much they named their daughter after the Asian country. India Woll Stewart is now 5 and nicknamed "Indy" by family and friends.

The couple also installed some unusual mementos of India in their custom-built Bloomfield Hills home. Aged wooden doors and a courtyard gate from an Indian estate — discovered in a Toronto antiques shop — lend exotic flair to their wine cellar and a nearby doorway.

In fact, their striking three-level home is filled with art, antiques and accent pieces they collected on — or that were inspired by — their journeys on five continents.

Prized furnishings come from such diverse international spots as Mongolia, Nepal, Thailand, Japan, Bali, Indonesia, Africa, England, Italy, southwest Ontario and Chicago. The couple also chanced upon some treasured pieces by local artists closer to home in Metro Detroit.

"We try to pick up one beautiful thing for our house when we travel," says Woll, who taught English in Japan for a year, toured southern Thailand by motorcycle with her husband and got an inside look at southern India traveling with a friend who grew up there.

Of the latter, she says: "No matter where you've been or how jaded a traveler you are, India still brings that sense of wonderment. It's a very magical place."

Woll and Stewart have created a magical place of their own in the 8,500-square-foot contemporary home they built five years ago on a secluded cul-de-sac just five minutes from downtown Birmingham.

"Our architect (Joseph Mosey) calls it 'Prairie-style meets Bali,'" she says of the Asian-modern design that blends Japanese, Balinese and Thai influences with Frank Lloyd Wright style.

"The esthetic of the house is very simple, clean, not a lot of clutter," explains Woll, a divorce attorney whose days are often stressful from dealing with acrimonious couples.

"This is my refuge, my escape," she says. "It's really important for me to live this way, to clear my mind and turn off the other part of my life."

And that typically happens the minute Woll strolls up her driveway, past a pair of terra-cotta planters sprouting fan palm trees, and opens the front door with its colorful stained-glass panel.

Greeting her is a dramatic vista that extends across the great room and through a trio of soaring glass windows to a built-in saltwater swimming pool and patio flanked by flowers and greenery in seven oversize planters.

Bridging luxury and nature with stone

Nestled in the Willamette Valley of Newberg, OR, The Allison Inn & Spa was designed to reflect its natural environment. The exterior facade of the luxury resort, which recently received LEED® Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, features random-cut pieces of Montana Mossy Rock sandstone, while the outdoor walkways consist of Bluestone pavers with a border of Chinese Redheart limestone tiles. Set among the sprawling vineyards and lush green landscape of the Willamette Valley wine region, The Allison Inn & Spa of Newberg, OR, defines luxury while also reflecting its natural surroundings. The design team at GGLO of Seattle, WA, worked closely with the resort’s owner to develop a design concept that would incorporate all of the needs of an upscale hotel and spa as well as including natural materials to make it a sustainable and energy-efficient structure. With natural stone showcased throughout its exterior and interior design, The Allison Inn & Spa ties in with its surrounding landscape, and it has recently gained acclaim for earning LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

“The resort is part of an overall 450-acre planned development,” said Carol Schaefer, GGLO Principal. “The hotel itself sits on a 32-acre site, and it serves as the anchor of the planned development, which also includes 1,200 new home sites and a retail village.” GGLO was responsible for the architecture, interior design and landscape architecture for the resort, according to Schaefer. “We took the project from concept through installation,” she said.

The Allison Inn & Spa is the vision of Joan Austin, the resort’s owner, whose family has lived in the area for seven generations. “Early in the project’s planning, the owner expressed her vision for the project,” said Schaefer. “Her goals were to give back to the community and be respectful of the land. Those were important goals, so the design team proposed that the project should celebrate the bounty of the earth. The public relations firm working on the project at the time, Leopold Ketel & Partners, came up with the touchstone ‘Feast for the Senses.

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