Brooklyn Decker and Andy Roddick Revived a Collapsing 1964 Charlotte House

A ceiling had caved in and water was pouring through it when Brooklyn Decker and Andy Roddick first toured their Charlotte, North Carolina, house. "One of the rooms had caved in; there was water pouring in through the ceiling," Decker said of the first walkthrough of the Georgian-style home.

The 1960s-era house still earned a spot on the couple's short list. It sat in their preferred Charlotte neighborhood. Its traditional proportions survived the disrepair. Roddick, the former number-one men's singles tennis player, pushed hardest to keep it in contention. Decker, a model and actor who grew up in nearby Matthews, came around to the idea of restoring a proper Carolina home with dentil crown molding and classic brick.

"We'd moved so many times [before this house]," Decker said. "And we were excited to try something new. For us, that meant a historic house with some old Southern bones."

The house had barely been touched since its construction in 1964. Decker and Roddick would be only its second owners. Beyond the leaking ceilings and sagging floors, the floor plan — a warren of tight, chopped-up rooms — needed a full gut to gain light and breathing room.

"We were parents of two young kids," Decker said. "So the question was, How do we respect the grandeur of the house but also make it feel hospitable to a young family and one that can live up to the demands of everyday life?"

Who did the couple hire?

The couple engaged Ruard Veltman Architecture for the architectural design and Stanwick Dunham for contracting. Together they transformed the nearly 7,000-square-foot structure into a home that honors its lineage without getting stuck in the past, according to the couple.

The entryway shows the approach clearest. The original carpeted staircase curved up from stark black-and-white tile. The design wasn't in poor taste, but its severity read as formal and cold. The team squared off the staircase and clad the entire area in rich walnut paneling. Sunlight now flows down from the second story, and the warm millwork sets the tone.

"We wanted it to look like it predated our arrival, and also be a bit more humble in its materials," Decker said.

Who designed the interiors?

Decker handled them herself. Over roughly the last six years, mostly by word of mouth, she has run a range of design projects — including the interiors of Intown Golf Club's new properties in Houston and Raleigh. The brief for her own home: keep the Georgian influence, update the aesthetic. It's still a moving target.

"Whenever I see that furniture dolly out, I know I'll be involved at some point," Roddick said.

Decker built the cozy-but-elevated mix through color and texture: muted shades of green (her color), red, blue, and yellow; wallpaper with natural imagery like leaves and rivers; and vintage patterned rugs softening the wood floors.

"It was originally old English meets early Georgian meets Shaker," she said. "But when our kids became older, we really wanted to incorporate and take seriously what they wanted. Because, how cool to be eight and actually have some say in the space around you? So now the house is a hodgepodge of explosive color, a lot of which is totally inspired and dictated by them."

The project signals a second act for Decker's design career, one that now runs on client commissions as much as her own address.