Changing Hands

How this welcoming midcentury Tucson house went from one friend to the next.

This stunning Arthur T. Brown home went from one friend to another, each adding personal décor and retro touches.

While most house purchases tend to be a cold transaction between strangers,

this Arizona home shifted hands between close friends. When current homeowner Lynn Tarrence found out that her friend and fellow designer Anne Hunt was selling this 1966 Tucson home, Lynn immediately told Anne that she and her husband, Dan, wanted to buy it. “Anne called me and said, ‘This might be good news, bad news, I don’t know, but we’re selling the house,’ and I said, ‘Okay, we’ll take it,’” Lynn recalls.

“Anywhere you sit in that house, there’s a view.” —Lynn

In 2010, Anne and her partner, Charlene Grabowski, had purchased the home, known as the ATB House after architect Arthur T. Brown who designed it, and Anne had restored the home herself with a little help, in what she calls a labor of love.

The home is unobtrusive from the front but visually stunning from the back. With design that blurs the distinction between outside and in, both the previous and current homeowners love the open layout, the comfortable nature of the home and the connection to the outdoors. “Anywhere you sit in that house, there’s a view,” Lynn says.

RESTORED NOT RENOVATED

Living in Milwaukee when she purchased the home, Anne would fly to Arizona and spend two weeks at a time working on the house from dawn to dusk. Projects like these are a passion of hers. “I don’t like to destroy what the house originally was meant to be,” Anne says of her restoration process. “My changes are usually simple.”

Friends for years, who originally met in design school, Anne and Lynn have two different styles of decorating, but a similar philosophy when it comes to updating old spaces. “We are both crazy about midcentury everything,” Lynn says. “When they [Anne and Charlene] bought this house we talked about it being restoration instead of renovation.”

With simple but purposeful changes and intentional preservation of the architect’s original intent, Anne brought the home back to life by removing carpet, updating windows and doors, restoring the tongue-and-groove ceiling and more. The result was a space that she, and her friend, loved.

“… we talked about it being restoration instead of renovation.” —Lynn

MAKING IT HER OWN

As an interior designer, Lynn enjoys the process of filling a space over time with one-of-a-kind pieces, so when she and her husband purchased the ATB House from Anne and Charlene, she bought some of the existing furniture from them and began to add her own as well. “We’ve changed our things to our taste. Anne had more of a minimalist look, while I like found objects,” Lynn explains.

Friends for years,Anne and Lynn have two have different styles of decorating, but a similar philosophy when it comes to updating old spaces.

By Lauren Hofer l Photography by Tricia Shay RESTORING THE POOL, CLEANING UP THE YARD, AND PLANTING TREES AND PLANTS WERE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS

THE BEAUTIFULLY RESTORED TONGUE-ANDGROOVE CEILING SEAMLESSLY CONNECTS THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR.

AN ORIGINAL BUILTIN BOOKSHELF SITS BEHIND THE COUCH. MATCHING BLUE LAMPS WERE FOUND IN THE HOME'S GARAGE.

THIS BUILT-IN COUCH WAS PART OF THE ORIGINAL HOME. ANNE REUPHOLSTERED IT DURING THE RESTORATION PROCESS, AND WHEN LYNN BOUGHT THE HOUSE, SHE HAD IT DONE AGAIN. IT’S A COMFY PLACE TO RELAX AND EVEN NAP.

THIS LIVING SPACE IS FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH VINTAGE MIDCENTURY MODERN FINDS THAT LYNN HAS COLLECTED OVER THE YEARS. THE ORANGE BIRD CHAIR IS ONE OF THE FIRST PIECES SHE PURCHASED FOR THE HOUSE.

ANNE LIGHTENED THE KITCHEN SPACE BY REMOVING THE ORIGINAL DARK-GRAY FORMICA BACKSPLASH AND REPLACING IT WITH A LIGHT AQUA COLOR. THE ORIGINAL GE OVEN STILL WORKS TOO.

THE TWO HANGING LIGHT FIXTURES HERE WERE DESIGNED BY THE HOME’S ARCHITECT, ARTHUR T. BROWN. ONE ORIGINALLY HUNG IN ANOTHER ROOM, BUT LYNN HAD BOTH MOVED HERE. AT NIGHT THEY CREATE AN INFINITY EFFECT IN THE WINDOWS, SHE SAYS. (OPPOSITE, BOTTOM RIGHT) THESE OUTDOOR SPACES ARE PERFECT FOR WATCHING DESERT SUNSETS OR EVEN SEEING THE TWINKLING LIGHTS OF DOWNTOWN TUCSON.