Be Our Guest

Photography by Alise O’Brien

Written by Jessen O’Brien    

This guest house, which blurs the line between interior and exterior, was the next step of a master plan for a Ladue property calling for a main house (which was completed in the late 2000s), a guest/pool house, a pool deck and eventually, a pool. In 2018, the new owners of the house selected Jessica and Aaron Senne of Studio Lark to serve as architect and interior designer for the two-bedroom and two-and-a-half bath guest house with living area and a large deck overlooking their property. General contractor was Barron Construction LLC.

The primary goal of the new owners was to have the guest house match the contemporary aesthetics of the main house. Studio Lark studied several design options and decided on a simple, linear structure. The interior is efficiently organized and features high ceilings and lots of natural light. Thus, the property’s landscape feels like an extension of the interior space. “The clients, who moved to St. Louis from Florida, were very pleased with the end result,” says Jessica. 

The interior design concepts and selection of materials were cued from the main house. White kitchen cabinets and the Vermont Danby marble countertops result in a lively, fresh look. The homeowner loves live-edge wood furniture. The live-edge slab table in the kitchen, built by WunderWoods in St. Charles, echoes a custom bed in the main house. Color is introduced through furniture and accessories such as the orange Eames chairs and blue backsplash tile. The porcelain floor tile has tonal deviations, which will carry out to the eventual pool deck flooring but likely in a different material.