HOME TOUR.
Our Black Modern House in Oakhurst
It’s interesting to look at a house from a little distance. Not just in terms of time, but in perspective. What it felt like while you were in it, building it, moving through it and what you can see more clearly once you’ve lived in it for a while.
We’ve been in our house for just over a year now, and it feels like the right moment to look back on the process. Not just what we built, but what was happening around us and within us while it was all unfolding.
This post originally started as a way to share our home after Scoop Charlotte reached out about doing a feature. It gave me the push I needed to step back in, pull things together and revisit the full experience. And like most things, it ended up becoming more than just a home tour.
THE BACKSTORY.
The last couple of years have held a lot. More than I think any of us could have anticipated.
This house really began with a feeling, intuition. That little familiar nudge that something is shifting, even if you can’t fully explain why yet. I had that feeling toward the end of 2018, this sense that it might be time to build again, to create something new.
At the time, we were living in a home we had built in 2015, a house we loved (you can read more here - our 5th Street home). It had been our dream house, something we created from the ground up. So on paper, it didn’t make a lot of sense to leave. But I’ve learned to pay attention to those internal shifts, even when they don’t feel logical.
Around the same time, I was also stepping away from interior design after more than ten years. That decision created space. Not just in a practical sense, but internally. It gave me room to explore other parts of myself, to follow different creative paths and to reconnect with what felt most true and aligned.
I’ve always been drawn to creating in different forms. Design, architecture, art, photography, all of it feels connected to me. I don’t always know exactly where it’s leading, but I do know that creating is essential. It’s how I understand myself and the world around me.
Building another house felt like an extension of that.
OUR NEXT BLACK HOUSE.
Once we decided to move forward, finding the right piece of land became the focus. We knew we wanted to stay close to the city, but also wanted space, something that felt a little more removed, a little more connected to nature.
We eventually found a lot in Oakhurst that felt right. There was something about standing there that didn’t feel like we were just a few miles from the center of Charlotte. It had a quietness to it, a kind of ease.
The size of the lot, the wooded areas, the possibility of outdoor living spaces, all of it opened up new ways of thinking about how we wanted to live. There was also an existing structure on the property that we hoped to incorporate, which began to shape the design in its own way.
From the beginning, we knew the house would be black. That has been a through line for us. There’s something about it that feels grounding, a little more restrained, a little more timeless.
We also wanted openness, natural light, a connection to the outdoors. Fewer walls, more flow. Spaces that felt connected rather than segmented.
BUILDING DURING THE PANDEMIC.
We broke ground in January of 2020, not knowing what was just ahead.
Looking back, I’m not sure we would have moved forward had we known what the year would hold. Building a house already requires flexibility, patience and a willingness to navigate constant change. The pandemic added another layer entirely.
Materials became harder to source… timelines shifted, prices increased, showrooms closed. Decisions that I would normally make in person were made from samples ordered online. There was also a level of uncertainty that ran through everything.
And yet, in a strange way, it also required a deeper level of trust. Letting go of needing everything to be perfectly controlled and instead working with what was available, what was possible in the moment.
SELLING, MOVING + IN BETWEEN.
While juggling the design and build, we were also working on getting our 5th Street house ready to sell. Oh, and everyone is now home from school, college and work so we have a full house as well as the new added challenges and responsibilities that come with remote learning. We knew our Oakhurst house wouldn’t be completed until September, but we also didn’t know what the market would be like, selling during a pandemic. Mind you, this was at the beginning of COVID-19, when there was a lot of uncertainty about the economy and jobs.
Our house hit the market the end of May 2020 and sold in the first week. We were both thankful and relieved, but also knew we were most likely looking at temporary housing. Fortunately, we were able to stay in our house through July, but this left a two month gap. We scrambled searching for rentals, finding limited options. We pieced together a couple of Airbnbs. Imagine the delight of our kids when we told them, not only are you moving to a new neighborhood and new house in September, but now we’ll be living in two different Airbnbs in two different neighborhoods before then!
SETTLING IN.
Nine months after breaking ground, we moved in.
There was a sense of relief, of finally arriving somewhere after a long period of movement. Being able to settle, to unpack, to begin living in the space we had been imagining for so long.
Even now, the house is still evolving. I don’t think it will ever feel completely finished, and I’m starting to see that differently. Less as something incomplete, and more as something that continues to evolve and respond to how we live.
There’s always a bit of rearranging, adjusting, noticing what works and what doesn’t. That part never really ends.
REFLECTION.
At the end of it all, this house feels like an expression of where we are, not just as individuals, but as a family. Looking back, I can see that the transformation wasn’t just about the physical structure. It was happening on multiple levels at once.
There’s something about building that asks you to stay present with the process. To keep showing up even when things are uncertain, when plans change, when the outcome isn’t fully clear.
In some ways, it feels like the house builds you as much as you build it. And maybe that’s the part I come back to the most. Not the finished product, but the experience of creating something, staying with it and allowing it to become what it’s meant to be.
As the house continues to evolve, I’ll keep sharing more along the way. I find myself coming back to this idea often, of creating something and then staying in relationship with it as it changes over time, and I notice it shows up in my studio work in a similar way too, if you’re curious to see more of that.
xx,
Michel
