ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512300009
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Antiques & Artistry
SOURCE: BETH DAY PASHLEY
Walking through the thick walnut doors into the elegant foyer was like stepping into a different era.
That's what Kathy Sue and David Grigg said when they entered the Princess Anne-style house for the first time. They could sense the history of the place.
The Griggs and their pets, four dogs and a cat, have lived in the Elizabeth Kasey House, circa 1870, near Roanoke for 1 1/2 years.
"They don't build homes like this anymore. You can almost hear whispers of days gone by," Kathy Sue said. "Since the house was built after the Civil War, you know ladies wore hoop skirts in here."
The first occupants of the house were the land developers who built it. Since then it has been home to a headmaster and then a judge. After buying the house from a couple who had lived in it for about three years, the Griggs became the fourth family to own it.
They found the integrity of the home had been kept intact: original picture and cannon-ball molding, doorknobs, transoms and 14-foot-high ceilings.
"We still have push button lights," Kathy Sue said. "We say, `PUSH the light on.'''
Grigg loves antiques and decorates with a sense of humor. She wants things comfortable, not stuffy. "My antiques are to sit on, not just look at," Kathy Sue said. "Family and friends can come in and feel comfortable."
She is the Antiques & Designs columnist for this paper and an associate with Surfaces Inc. of Roanoke, a residential and commercial floor-, wall- and window-covering retailer.
With her feet tucked under her, Grigg sat in the front foyer on her favorite loveseat: an 1850 French Victorian loveseat with gold-leaf trim and wooden rollers.
"It is heavy and sturdy, yet, delicate with fluid lines. I think of how many hands have rubbed the arm rests and how many couples have courted on it." Love seats are some of Grigg's favorite pieces.
"Many people ask me how I do what I do [decorate}." Kathy Sue said. "I think about it constantly."
Grigg, born in Norfolk, was raised there in a circa 1901 10-bedroom Victorian. Her mother intrigued her with the history older things, such as her grandparent's belongings.
"When your mother gives you something, such as a picture frame and says this belonged to your grandparents, it's history and there's always a story. Be sure to ask where the item came from and obtain all the details you can. Then it becomes history to you. That 's what makes a piece important." she said, "Knowing who had it gives the piece its charm, not the dollar amount of its worth."
"Put things out to live with them and enjoy them."
A pink metal toy Cadillac and a teal Buick, which is a 1920's Art Deco planter, graces the mantel of the den. The abstract oil painting above the cars is a surpise in such a formal home. It has swatches of terra cotta, red, black, teal and blue in it.
Grigg advises clients to think of an object that represents that color so it becomes tangible, and she emphasizes the importance of color in creating the right mood for a room.
For example, yellow can be butter yellow, saffron (orange-yellow) or banana yellow .
She uses warm and cool colors throughout her four-bedroom, three-bath home to connect rooms. In the living room, there are sage walls, white-upholstered furniture. Red accents - Oriental rug, mahogany chairs and knickknacks - add richness.
In the eighth grade, Grigg molded a head out of clay which sits on the mahogany serpentine-front chest. It evokes both her sense of fun and history.
The dining room's floral wallpaper is sage and cranberry with touches of yellow. The dining room table and chairs are mahogany.
From the the dining room one can see navy blue, green and cranberry floral wallpaper. There's a circa 1850 mirror against one wall and two ornate mirrors on the opposite wall.
"Mirrors do neat things with light; mirrors reflect light and they give rooms depth. Always have a mirror in the foyer."
The downstairs bedroom has teal walls, teal Roman-style shades and gold, teal, cranberry and purple swags.
About her color scheme, Grigg said, "It works. Actually, I'm analytical about color. I think about it, twist it, turn it and play with it."
Also, from the dining room you can walk through the butler's pantry into the kitchen. "The '30s through '50s-themed kitchen has energy," There's ripe red tomato-colored paint on one wall and primary colored wallpaper with a cup and saucer print on the facing wall.
Black and white accents - the wooden zebra head from a shop in South Carolina and the Art Nouveau statue lamp by the sink - are fun. The centerpiece, a cabinet maker's workbench, becomes the kitchen island. The island and the chrome kitchen table sit on black and white floor tiles. A baker's rack keeps her husband's gourmet pots and pans organized.
As one walks upstairs from the center foyer, light can be seen pouring in through two tall church-like windows illuminating the trundle bed in the central upstairs foyer and three bedrooms.
One bedroom is called Aunt Etta's room - her portrait is above the mantel. The brass bed was Grigg's grandmother's bed. As a child she loved the bed and kept it polished. When her grandmother died, her mother put the brass bed in a guest room.
Grigg still loved the bed and polished it year after year.
After the Griggs' wedding ceremony, which was held downstairs in her childhood home, her mother took the couple upstairs and presented them with the bed - decorated with a red bow.
In another bedroom is a high-back oak bed and Aunt Etta's French loveseat. On the bed is a handmade Civil War-era child's coat, probably made from velvet draperies, with brass buttons.
Because she was the antiques lover among her five brothers and sisters, she acquired the wicker baby carriage, which sits by the window.
Does Grigg move or change things in her home?
Yes, she takes a piece and moves it to another area for awhile.
"It's fun to turn it into something totally different by changing the focus or bringing attention to it in a different way."
LENGTH: Long : 124 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. The Griggs are the fourth family to live in theby CNBPrincess Anne-style house that was built around 1870. It has four
bedrooms and three baths. color WAYNE DEEL/STAFF
2. In an upstairs bedroom (above) is a high-back oak bed and Aunt
Etta's French loveseat. On the bed is a handmade Civil War-era
child's coat, probably made from velvet draperies, with brass
buttons. color WAYNE DEEL/STAFF
3. In the Griggs' living room (right) are sage walls and
white-upholstered furniture. Red accents - Oriental rug, mahogany
chairs and knickknacks - add richness. color WAYNE DEEL/STAFF
4. Kathy Sue Griggs' love affair with antiques begain when she was a
child. WAYNE DEEL/STAFF