Designer transforms historic home into wellness spa

Looking beyond the status quo and imagining possibilities is a true talent, especially when it comes to home renovations.

Interior designer Ashley Dowd put her talents to good use during the extensive transformation of a 1986 mansion into a wellness retreat.

“The house was untouched,” says Dowd. “The carpet, the tile, the wallpaper, the curtains, the fixtures – it was pink everywhere.”

Dowd, owner of Shelter Modern Design, was contracted to renovate the home in late 2021 on Tioga Pines Circle in the historic Section 10 neighborhood.

“The investors who bought the house were planning to flip it,” she says, “and when I walked around the house, it immediately became clear what to do.”

The entire renovation took eight months to complete. Daoud’s vision was to modernize the home while staying true to the architect’s intent. The first step was to remove all the pink. Daoud’s strategic vision was to remove walls, move doors, and repurpose spaces. Halfway through the project, Daoud made an unexpected decision.

“We knew we wanted to buy this house,” she says. “We loved the vibe — the high ceilings, the big yard, the connection to the outdoors — so we started tweaking it to suit our tastes.”

Dowd designed the home to fit her personal style and incorporated special wellness amenities into the design. She selected custom features that would enhance the property’s comfort, functionality and overall appeal. One of the keys to achieving her goal was converting the unique two-story master suite into a game room on the upstairs and a fitness area on the downstairs.

“It was the clunkiest bedroom I’d ever seen,” Dowd says, “but now I feel like we’ve made good use of the space.”

Dowd’s husband and then-fiancé, Greg Dowd, designed the fitness room. He had all the gym’s components custom chrome-plated. The fitness room is equipped with a variety of freehand weights and exercise machines, including treadmills and a dedicated stretching area. Dowd brought in an engineer to inspect the floor to make sure it could withstand all the weight of the equipment.

“It took a lot of hard work to make it happen,” Dowd said, “but it looks really great.”

Adjacent to the gym is a bathroom equipped with luxurious spa amenities including a marble steam shower with dual showerheads, an infrared sauna, a deep soaking tub surrounded by marble and double vanities. There is also an oversized closet.

“I laid Greg on the dusty floor and rubbed his body,” Dowd said with a laugh. “I wanted to know how big the shower bench should be because I knew he’d want to lounge on it.”

The other three spaces were combined to create an elegant and spacious main suite. The suite’s amenities include a wet bar, fireplace, sitting area, private balcony overlooking the entire property, oversized walk-in closet and resort-style bathroom. The main closet proved to be one of the most challenging areas of the project, requiring the wooden frame to be dismantled and started over. Dowd originally designed a small closet during construction, but Michael Maude and Alex Adabassi of Huntington & Ellis offered key design input.

“Michael and Alex suggested we upsize the closet and incorporate the small bedroom adjacent to it,” Dowd said. “We wanted to keep the bedroom uncluttered, but thought it would make a lot more sense to open up the wall. Now it’s a giant closet.”

On the main floor, by moving a door to open up the space, Dowd reconfigured the second primary suite, which now includes an oversized closet and a separate massage room with a professional table. The luxurious bathroom features a deep soaking tub, double vanity and oversized walk-in shower.

“This room underwent a major transformation,” Dowd says. “We had to think about how to connect the spaces and make them more functional.”

In addition to incorporating wellness into the design, Dowd has meticulously renovated and updated every inch of the mansion in what he calls his most ambitious renovation project yet, which he estimates will cost more than $1 million.

The reconfigured floor plan resulted in a highly functional space that integrates a formal living room, dining room, gourmet kitchen with breakfast nook, and casual living room.

The formal living room features a central marble accent wall and linear fireplace, with a stylish wood-slate-panel accent wall on the other side, and in the dining room, Doud purchased a solid-wood table that doubles as a ping-pong table.

“It’s a beautiful piece of furniture,” she says, “and it ticks both boxes. You can have a formal dining table here, and if you want to have a student union party here, you can bring the boys over and play ping pong.”

Her neutral color palette blends elements of gray, black, and white with shades of camel and blue to complement the modern design. She integrated premium finishes, designer lighting, sleek furniture, and custom cabinetry. Throughout the home, French oak wide-plank hardwood floors and large Italian porcelain slabs create a warm and elegant aesthetic.

“One of the things Ashley has done with the design is make sure there is no space in the house that isn’t usable,” says Michelle Maude of the Maude team at real estate firm Huntington & Ellis. “Everything is usable, which is hard to find, especially in a house of this size.”

The major work involved stripping out all the trim and remodelling the exterior of the home.

“The exterior was too exciting,” Dowd says, “with all the posts and rivets and everything attached to the surface of the house. We wanted to create a classic look.”

The exterior was transformed by minimizing the front façade and constructing a dramatic ribbon-style driveway, and the dirt backyard became a blank canvas: Dowd created ample green space and a sports court, and resurfaced the pool/spa.

The final major exterior job involved an eight-ton crane hoisting a mature palm tree, which now covers the entire house, into the backyard to replace a dead tree.

“It was a pretty big job,” Dowd said. “The tree was heavier than we thought it would be.”

After completing extensive renovations, the couple purchased the 10,246-square-foot, two-story mansion in 2022. After taking ownership in June, they spent the next six months finishing up the details, including painting, adding decorative lighting and purchasing luxury furniture, in preparation for their wedding in January 2023. The lush exterior served as the venue for the couple’s wedding, an intimate ceremony attended by family and friends.

After living in the property for more than two years, the couple decided to put it on the market in early April. In just under 30 days, the property sold for $4.295 million. It was originally listed for $4.85 million through Michael Maude of the Maude Team at Huntington & Ellis and Alex Adabassi of the Adabassi Group.