by Mimi Montgomery

photographs by Nick Pironio

When pharmacy owner Trey Waters added Person Street Pharmacy to his portfolio and gave it an overhaul earlier this year, it wasn’t the only part of his life getting a re-vamp. The old bungalow he’d bought near his new store needed some help becoming a home. The prescription: A renovation by architect Ashley Morris of Pell Street Studio and interior designer MA Allen.  

What started out as a job focused on the kitchen, master bathroom, and dining area quickly mushroomed. Walls were torn down, new ones were built, and floorboards were replaced.

Allen made it all uniquely Waters’s. “She was involved in nearly every step of the process,” Waters says. But it wasn’t exactly an easy one: As the renovation began, Waters was hobbled by a torn ACL, and Allen was drawing ever-closer to her pregnancy due date. “We were such an odd couple making selections,” Allen says. It wasn’t just their ungainly gaits, they also had different styles and preferences.

“He has a lot of antiques and lots of rustic, raw wood things. I’m more classic and clean,” says Allen. But it worked. “Blending those elements worked really well. I think we balanced each other.” The result: a home that is at once masculine and elegant; fresh but familiar.

The two were also careful to ensure the home remained a distinct reflection of the owner’s life. “Our biggest goal was to maintain the charm and character but also make the space more contemporary and open,” says Waters. Vintage pharmaceutical bottles and paraphanelia line the bookcases next to Waters’s collection of antique literature. Weathered floorboards, masculine prints, and dark colors play nicely with a stream-lined kitchen with white-on-white subway tiles – a nod to both Waters’s and Allen’s aesthetics.

The whole process took about six months but results in a house that looks  – in the best way possible – like it’s been lived in for years. With an interior like this, we think its safe to say that’s probably the plan.