PERFECTLY composed

In the heart of America's country music city, this elegant home hits all the right notes

-  EMMA J PAGE

Kitchen with Arabescato marble worktop, white oak reeded cabinetry and unlacquered brass fixtures and finishes, River Brook.

a French-style home located in Nashville, the centre of America's country music scene, seems an unlikely medley - all balance, symmetry and gracious hipped roofs sedately located in a honky-tonk city known for its folk-inspired anthems. But, in fact, the Tennessee town is home to a tapestry of architectural styles that borrow variously from Greek revival and federal motifs to modernist shapes. 'That’s what makes the area so exciting,' says River Brook's Leigh Misso, who reworked these interiors. 'Southern design tells a story that honours a cosmopolitan past but lives fully in the present.'

Reportedly a transplant to the area after American servicemen returned from fighting in France in World War I, this architectural style, also known as 'French eclectic', takes inspiration from the arched doorways and balanced elements of 17th-century Gallic vernacular, complete with steep roofs, tall windows and external shutters. This new build by Ray Kash of Montgomery Classic Construction took on the style after Leigh and her team came on board to refine the existing plans for the exterior and introduce 'clean, fresh and liveable schemes' for a local family of a couple and their four children, whose ages range from six to 12.