05:03 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 2, 2005

By MARIANA GREENE / The Dallas Morning News

Carolyn and Jeff Cole assumed that a charming Tudor house and their antique furnishings defined them to a T. But decorator Kelly O'Neal, a longtime friend and former neighbor, knew them better than they knew themselves. When the couple decided to move to a bigger house, he encouraged them to go more contemporary instead of choosing a bigger Tudor. "It defines them a little better," he says. "They're not stuffy or unprogressive in the least."They've grown up a lot in their tastes," adds the shop owner (Legacy Trading Company) and decorative accessories designer (Design Legacy), and it was time to "invest in art and upholstered pieces built to last, not just to look good."

His persuasive skills must be powerful, considering that Carolyn Cole "knows what she wants," her friend says, "as opposed to some people who don't have a clue."

But she looked "at about 400 houses," says Ms. Cole, her weariness still palpable. "I wanted to move one more time and be done with it. What was most important to us? Trees, a garden, a house we could finish out ourselves or redo. I needed four bedrooms because I have a lot of family who come to visit."

In the end, the Coles did choose a more contemporary house, one that, in its day, would have been a progressive design in a neighborhood showcasing Dallas' more prominent architects. Long and low, with an unprepossessing front facade of plain brick and few windows, the house was designed in the early 1950s by the acclaimed late architect Bud Oglesby, whose Oglesby Group survives him, renamed Oglesby Greene. It was the fifth house he designed in Dallas, one of many modern residences he created in his long, award-winning career here that ended with his death in 1993 at age 65.

"I really like this neighborhood. I liked the way the house sat on the property," Ms. Cole says. "I love the land. I love the trees. I love the openness. I think that's probably what appealed to me most."

They gutted the house down to its studs to remove any signs of traditionalism and previous renovations. That meant new floors, new kitchen cabinets and fixtures, new baths and, on the back side of the house, glass walls that look out on the landscape and open up the interior to light. The couple, with a plan by Dallas architect John Hall, also added a generous master suite, laundry room, a bar for entertaining indoors and a cabana for entertaining by the pool.

"Although I did not personally know Mr. Oglesby, I tried to be as mindful, and respectful, of his legacy as possible," says Mr. Hall. "Many times during the project I wondered to myself, or sometimes to others, whether he would approve of what we were doing.

"Ultimately, I think he would have been pleased that we were able to salvage one of his early projects, update it a little and possibly give it life for another 50 years. That alone, I believe, is validation for our project."

The Coles' furnishings from their previous collaboration with Mr. O'Neal were primarily antiques (both inherited and newly collected), yet this house looks and feels nothing like a house of formal furnishings. "They are constantly changing and upgrading, keeping their environment current, as well as inspiring to hang out in," says the decorator. "Jeff, Carolyn and I have a common vision for what's necessary. They both have great style, and we almost always arrive at the same point or conclusion before the other has spoken a word. It's so important that a client's personality be a match to mine. Their informal manner is a blessing reflected in the interiors."

For example, Ms. Cole owns a prized dessert set of French porcelain passed down from her mother's side of the family, which included prominent art collectors. She houses it in a vintage steel vitrine, a piece of furniture originally intended as a sanitary cupboard for medical or dental instruments. It's a neighbor, surprisingly, to an extravagant French table with mother-of-pearl inlay brought to this country in 1885.

Elsewhere, Mr. O'Neal installed a worn but glorious pair of carved Egyptian doors on exposed steel gliders between the living and dining rooms. It's the kind of detail that seems incongruous with the mournful voice of Dwight Yoakum piped through the sound system and the Western-style boots resting by the massive four-poster bed where their owner climbed out of them.

"Kelly can put 10 looks together and make it work," says Ms. Cole. "He's a genius about it. It's a mixture like nothing else I've ever seen. His style is unique."

Even with all the treasures displayed in other rooms of the house, the kitchen, with its flawless, satiny concrete counters, is Ms. Cole's favorite place to be. "You can see outside, you can hear the kids in their rooms, in their playroom. I love to cook. I love to have people over. The kitchen is the heart of this house."

The couple entertain his associates from the downtown law firm, stage school-related functions here, host the children's playmates and throw easygoing family suppers for friends. "Their entertaining can be informal or formal," says Mr. O'Neal. "It's a place where kids and adults can all relax and have lots of space to run and play."

"In a sense," concludes Mr. Hall, "the success of the Coles' project is that there is still a house at all. I always suspected that the vast majority of other buyers, primarily developers, would simply have torn down the existing house. Another nondescript two-story faux English castle would have taken its place, and another significant, appropriately scaled structure would have become just another pleasant memory. I know that, on some level, we have accomplished something meaningful."