A step or two up from the living area, but part of the great room, is the columned dining area designed specifically for the Coles’ elegant and gleaming furnishings. “We like to entertain with small dinner parties,” says Terri. “We enjoy opening our home to friends and associates, and the galleria space is wonderful for entertaining.” The kitchen and morning room continue the circular motif. The granite-topped island is round, encased in exquisitely crafted convex drawers mirrored by the concave drawers of the cabinetry completing the circle. Custom touches are a built-in wine cooler and a space designed for a handsome clock. The morning room, or breakfast area, is of light woods, a Chaco-style stone wall and a wide sweep glass. The effect in this part of the house is serene, practical and innovative.
One of the advantaged of a house designed in a radiating pattern is that rooms spring into intriguing shapes, like the simple and friendly pie-shaped study. Completing the downstairs is the “grandchildren wing,” a suite of bedrooms and baths that the Coles have dedicated to visiting family. Such fortunate grandchildren, too, with rooms full of kid furniture and toys and a bathroom gone completely Mickey Mouse. One of the primary motivations in the design of the house was to have space for grandchildren, currently numbering five, aged one to five.
The second floor of the home is filled with surprises. Off the master bedroom, the bath’s irregular shape offers some interesting treats for the eye; pride of place is given to a magnificently gleaming long claw-footed tub. Bath and bedroom are done in pleasant, soothing pale sand tones. The bedroom features a peninsula fireplace and views to the south and the west and northwest to the Jemez Mountains.
