A Cozy Mountain Home Makeover at The Greenbrier in West Virginia

They immediately called on Nashville-based designer Mark Simmons to transform the interiors of the vacation house. “Mark is like a part of our family,” the client says. Having worked with the couple on multiple homes, Simmons is well-acquainted with the way they live and their design preferences. “We wanted something that is traditional and warm; all of our houses are traditional, and I’m drawn to that,” the client says.

“Traditional designs are timeless and never go out of style,” Simmons adds. However, not only were they after a classic take, both the clients and the designer desired for the house to match its mountainside setting. Simmons and his daughter-in-law, Abby, who worked closely alongside him on the renovation, curated a design with cabin-esque elements, such as plaid wool fabrics, antique iron chandeliers, textured wall-coverings, and unlacquered brass finishes—all of which signal a cozy mountain escape. “We were going for a Ralph Lauren look,” he says.

Built into the terrain, the front entrance leads into the main level of the home with staircases going up to guest rooms and down to an expansive lounge area with a bar. While Simmons did not alter the floor plan dramatically, he reinvented spaces to better serve his clients. Case in point, the downstairs kitchenette area, which was covered in barnwood, became a full-service cooking space with features that rival the main level’s kitchen. “She loves to cook, so both of the kitchens get frequent use,” Simmons notes. Back in the foyer and living room, the designer sought to reimagine a fireplace that greets guests upon entry to bring it into scale and replace the room’s rustic, farm-inspired elements, including the stair railing, with ones reminiscent of a club lodge. “They wanted a more elevated look; the house had a lot of great features but was not finished at the level they wanted it to be,” Simmons says.

“One of my favorite things about the design is the gallery wall that goes up the living room staircase,” the owner says. Composed of numerous oil paintings of various dog breeds—a nod to their love of canines—and antique golf clubs, the artful display ascends the staircase, leading from the main level to the third floor. Simmons amassed the pieces, along with other one-of-a-kind, heirloom-quality furniture and accessories over months, storing them in his Tennessee warehouse.

Two weeks prior to the March 2020 install, a tornado touched down in Nashville, leveling the storage center. “Mark dug for days and days trying to salvage as much as he could,” the client notes. After both he and the homeowner went through everything, only a few pieces—including the bronze dogs that now sit on the living room’s coffee table—were salvageable.

While all the new upholstered pieces were in a separate untouched location, the timing coincided with the start of the pandemic. “We had to get online to shop and go to dealers we trusted for years to find replacements,” Simmons recalls. Although the process of curation had to be repeated, they were able to source heirloom-quality pieces once again, resulting in a cozy retreat that is a haven for both the couple and their guests.