Client Stories:

Storage and Style Return to a 1920s English Tudor

client: Michael and Eric Fuko-Rizzo

location: Greensboro, NC

design consultant: Michael and Eric Fuko-Rizzo

Walk-in closet with blue shirts and shoe shelving designed by Amber Colo and Sarah Smith

Blue walk-in closet with island dresser and light shining in through two wall windows designed by Amber Colo and Sarah Smith

What They Wanted

Michael and Eric Fuko-Rizzo purchased a historic 20th-century English tudor in Greensboro, North Carolina with two goals: restore it to its original condition after years of neglect, and share its massive redesign with the community by turning it into a designer showhouse (to benefit local nonprofit Preservation Greensboro). Built in 1929 by famed architect Charles Hartmann for then Lincoln Financial president Julian Price, the 90-year-old home needed serious help to get back in shape. Designers nationwide were commissioned to transform the home into the Julian Price House, including California Closets North Carolina design consultants Amber Colo and Sarah Smith and interior designer Cheryl Luckett, who focused on taking the home’s master closet and dressing room from dire back to inspired.

The main challenges were working with the old and new construction, but the clients were wonderful to work with and amenable to all of our ideas.

Amber Colo and Sarah Smith

How we did it

Originally two small closets and a sitting room, the inefficient space was first converted into one large master closet with an adjacent dressing room. To make smart use of the master closet’s narrow shape, Amber and Sarah designed two separate wall systems featuring double hanging rods and ample shoe shelving. They saved drawer storage for the dressing room, where they designed a custom island as well as an additional shelving unit. Cheryl amplified the masculine aesthetic with rich textiles, a moody yet warm color scheme, and upholstered walls detailed with brass stud quatrefoil designs (influenced by the home’s original facade).

Working with Cheryl was great. She added character and incredible touches with her design expertise, like the studded wall design and beautiful quartz countertop.

Amber Colo and Sarah Smith

final result

Inspired by the home’s historic architecture, this masculine space is contemporized for today’s modern needs. High-functioning storage maximizes use for both the master closet and dressing room, while its dramatic design makes it a space to remember—once again.

Photo Credits:Lynne Donovan and Smith Hardy