A Second Act: One Couple Restores a Historic Home Earmarked for Tear Down

Though this home was marked for tear down, one couple knew they could sensitively restore the historic home, while adapting it for modern life.

Some love stories are meant to be. Such was the case with Dan and Brandie Meis. The two met at Dan’s office and quickly realized how naturally their talents and interests dovetailed. (Dan is an architect and owner of MEIS Architects, and Brandie is a designer—and both have a deep, abiding appreciation for Mid Century Modern furniture and homes.) They embarked on the grand adventure of marriage, and soon another love story unfolded: finding just the right residences to fall in love with and call home. “I have been practicing for 30+ years but specialize in the design of stadiums and arenas,” Dan says. “Brandie graduated architecture school from University of Southern California. Our experience in renovation has grown from a shared love of mid century architecture and design.”

A High Bar

They relocated from California to New York in order to be closer to Dan’s European projects. The move meant leaving behind an incredibly special Mid Century Modern house located near Malibu, so the couple were determined to find another place that they loved as much. Little did they know just what awaited: a historic home doomed and marked for tear down.

curved skylights and brick fireplace in restored historic home — The glass skylights are a showstopper. “We replaced the original skylights with glass barrel vaults, a detail I borrowed from a Philip Johnson house I had come across,” Dan says. Though the glass vaults were pricier, the couple considered them to be a worthwhile splurge, saying that they deserved a dramatic ceiling. The vaults were supposed to be clear but mistakenly arrived frosted. “In the end it was a lucky mistake, as I fear the sunlight might have been too harsh on my library,” he adds.

When they first toured the residence, it was in terrible shape. “We immediately knew it would be a big project if we decided to buy the home,” Brandie says. Rain poured into the main bedroom, and the structure was afflicted by termite damage and dry rot. “I was a bit intimidated by how much we were going to have to rebuild,” Dan says. “To her credit, Brandie was more the optimist and saw the opportunity in reconfiguring the plan to make it work perfectly for us.”

exterior view at night historic modern home in New York — Leon Greenberg designed the home, and the couple set out to sensitively renovate his wonderful work. A tranquil reflecting pool is on the same grid as the house. “It’s really impressive! When we renovated the kitchen, we moved the kitchen sink to the new island, so now when we are doing dishes, despite the 12-foot deep overhang, we can see the sky—in the reflecting pool,” Brandie says.

Just before they closed on the house, the couple fortuitously ran into the now adult sons of the original owner/architect of the house as they were packing it up. Not only did the sons have loads of information about the home, but they also shared their stories of growing up there, tales which included their parents listening to classical music in the living room and reading aloud to each other at dinner, endless hours in the garden and an impressive feat of planting 1,000 pine seeds on the property. “Having access to the wonderful and fascinating history of growing up in the house was amazing,” Dan says. “It convinced and inspired us to save what was surely a diamond in the rough.”

Mid Century Resurrection

Over the next three years and in two separate phases, Dan and Brandie restored the historic home to its former self, while adapting it for their lives. “We were both very committed to rescuing it and modernizing it without losing the original magic of the design,” Dan says. Originally, the bedrooms were tiny, and the main bedroom was separated from the living room with only an accordion door. Another problem was that the living room didn’t have a logical place for a television. “We literally removed the entire core of the house (roof, ceiling, floor and beams) and rebuilt. Now, the center of the home is the most robust!” Brandie says. “Losing the bedrooms initially was a tough decision, but we weighed that against how important family movie night is to us.”

living room in restored historic home in New York — A frosted screen framed in wood and steel is original to the home. The screen offers privacy and defines the entry. It also focuses your view as you enter through the blue door: Turn right and you catch a glimpse of the dining room; turn left and you see an office that features an original Mayline work desk. At night, when you turn down the entry lights, the screen appears backlit by the living room light; shadows cast on the screen create visual interest from the entry.

Making the home functional for modern living while honoring its history was important to the couple. “The kitchen was one of the areas we decided to modernize as opposed to restore,” Brandie says. Originally, the kitchen space contained the laundry room. By moving that out, they were able to put in a pro kitchen, complete with a six-burner range with a grill, an industrial-strength hood, a wall oven, a built-in wall microwave, a dishwasher and a wine refrigerator. Since Dan is an amazing cook (his parents had a restaurant when he was growing up), it only made sense to give him a place to exercise his culinary talents.

Aside from reconfiguring the home, there were other challenges, like matching the interior wood stain, which varied from one side of the house to the other due to age and fading. By mixing different stains, they worked to find just the right hue that paired perfectly with existing wood finishes. Overall, the project was a balance of salvaging as many historic details as possible and, when unable to, finding the most authentic way to replace and match them. The couple also added to the heritage of the home by replacing the original skylights in the living area with stunning glass barrel-vault skylights.

media room with gallery wall in mid century modern home — A media room now sits in the place of the original main bedroom. Dan and Brandie love having fun with art, and so in this case, instead of wallpaper or tile, they used art to create the accent wall, which is anchored by Barbie on the right.

wood ceiling beams open concept living and dining room — In its first life, the home had bookshelves on either side of the fireplace, but Dan and Brandie rebuilt them to be far more robust and floor-to-ceiling. “The books have been a passion of mine for more than 40 years and total more than 9,000 volumes,” Dan says. “Mostly architecture, art and photography, the library includes some extremely rare and important works on Le Corbusier, Mies, Frank Lloyd Wright and, of course, everything mid century and case study.” He says that for better or for worse, his collection was an extremely important part of their decision-making in buying a house.

mid century modern bedframe and nightstand in historic NY home — The main bedroom is original and features Dan and Brandie’s approach to artwork and collectibles. One of the first things they do when they move is establish art walls. “The pieces over the bed are arranged with structure in mind,” Brandie says. “This contrasts with the layers upon layers of miniature monuments, sculptures, novels and other collectibles that sit on the vintage George Nelson Modular Storing system to the left.”

floating black vanity in bathroom of historic home — Instead of using a traditional Mid Century Modern wallpaper in the powder room, Dan and Brandie opted for an accent wall made from green glass tiles.

renovated master bathroom with view and walk-in shower — Working with a home that has so many glass walls offered its own challenges. On the back of the home, preserving the glass facade was so important to them that they ended up with spaces like the closet and shower that have floor-to-ceiling glass walls. “At first, I was nervous about having a glass wall in my shower, but Dan knew it was the right thing to do. Every day is like showering in nature,” Brandie says.

Together, the couple poured their hearts and souls into their project to restore the historic home. “One of the great aspects of our partnership is that we balance each other out,” Dan says. “When one has doubts, the other is there to remind what a special opportunity it is.” In the end, they transformed a home on the brink of destruction into a one-of-a-kind place that’s full of both history and love.

For more stories of restoring historic homes, Tour the Frost House, a Rare Modern Gem in the Midwest and Restored to Glory: A Mid Century Renovation in North Carolina. For more MCM inspiration, stay tuned to our Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.