Basement of the Week: An Irish Pub in North Carolina
A couple make their lower level feel like their favorite haunts, with antiques, reclaimed wood and architectural salvage
Lori and Craig Evans love Irish pubs, and they visit as many as they can no matter which city they’re in. While having dinner one night at a favorite local pub, Rí Rá, they talked about how they loved the dark, welcoming feel of the space. “Craig said it would be cool to have this in the basement,” she says, and their at-home pub was born. Turning their unfinished basement into a pub was a labor of love: They read books about Irish pubs, researched them on the internet, consulted with pub owners, collected antiques from all over the world and meticulously planned for 1½ years.
During their research, the couple met two Irish brothers who own several Irish pubs in the U.S. They came over to look around the basement and share their ideas for the layout. “While they were here, they told us about ‘snugs’ and thought this spot would be the perfect spot for one,” she says. A snug is a private little room within a pub where those who don’t want to be pestered — or seen drinking in a pub — would hang out.
Ludemann was able to reuse part of the original hardware store counter as the tabletop in here. The banquette is upholstered in tufted red leather. “The snug is definitely the most popular spot; everyone wants to sit in here to eat and drink,” Lori says.
The couple found the leaded glass windows for the snug at Crossland Studio. They also were pulled out of an old home in Charlotte.
Ludemann was able to reuse part of the original hardware store counter as the tabletop in here. The banquette is upholstered in tufted red leather. “The snug is definitely the most popular spot; everyone wants to sit in here to eat and drink,” Lori says.
The couple found the leaded glass windows for the snug at Crossland Studio. They also were pulled out of an old home in Charlotte.
A cozy seating area is oriented around a new fireplace; there’s a TV just out of view to the right. Ludemann added a new chimney to accommodate the cozy wood stove the couple wanted.
They worked with Reclaimed DesignWorks in Charleston, South Carolina, to get the flooring, which was pulled out of several old mills. It is composed of nine species in planks of various widths and lengths.
The chevron pattern on the wainscoting and ceiling was inspired by pubs the couple loved. “Mary had a carpenter who did an amazing job installing everything,” Lori says. The wood is rough-sawn pine stained to match the wood on the bar.
The lighting is reclaimed and refurbished. The sconces throughout the basement came from Preservation Station in Nashville, Tennessee. The pendants in the family room came from GenuineAntiqueLighting.net in Boston. The fireplace surround is architectural salvage; the couple found it at the Sleepy Poet Antique Mall.
They worked with Reclaimed DesignWorks in Charleston, South Carolina, to get the flooring, which was pulled out of several old mills. It is composed of nine species in planks of various widths and lengths.
The chevron pattern on the wainscoting and ceiling was inspired by pubs the couple loved. “Mary had a carpenter who did an amazing job installing everything,” Lori says. The wood is rough-sawn pine stained to match the wood on the bar.
The lighting is reclaimed and refurbished. The sconces throughout the basement came from Preservation Station in Nashville, Tennessee. The pendants in the family room came from GenuineAntiqueLighting.net in Boston. The fireplace surround is architectural salvage; the couple found it at the Sleepy Poet Antique Mall.
“We have a collection of antique portraits of our ancestors in our bedroom, so we copied the idea with portraits that spoke to us on our antiquing adventures,” Lori says. The crystal chandeliers and sconces came from The Plaza hotel in New York City, acquired via Olde Good Things.
Ludemann and her team worked hard to make the stair runners look “well trodden,” as if many patrons had walked over them for years. There are four styles of wrought iron spindles.
Ludemann and her team worked hard to make the stair runners look “well trodden,” as if many patrons had walked over them for years. There are four styles of wrought iron spindles.
Opposite the bar is the billiards room. On the right side is a hallway that leads to the lads’ bathroom and a guest bedroom; on the left is the poker room.
The Billiards sign on the right has been making its way around Charlotte. In the 1980s, it hung in the window of The Old Spaghetti Factory; then it made its way to Dilworth Billiards, a private club. They also scored the observation chairs from Dilworth — they are 1920s Brunswick chairs.
The Billiards sign on the right has been making its way around Charlotte. In the 1980s, it hung in the window of The Old Spaghetti Factory; then it made its way to Dilworth Billiards, a private club. They also scored the observation chairs from Dilworth — they are 1920s Brunswick chairs.
Photo by Lori Evans
The couple also had a great time planning out two bathrooms. They used matching 9-foot antique doors that came out of an old house in Michigan. The old glass inserts had been replaced with new, so they had them replaced with made-to-look-old stained glass inserts by Shed Brand Studio. One door says “Lads,” and the other says “Lasses.”
The couple also had a great time planning out two bathrooms. They used matching 9-foot antique doors that came out of an old house in Michigan. The old glass inserts had been replaced with new, so they had them replaced with made-to-look-old stained glass inserts by Shed Brand Studio. One door says “Lads,” and the other says “Lasses.”
Photo by Lori Evans
Scoring the chairs for the poker room was a family affair. “Craig grew up going to the Ten Eyck Tavern in Dearborn, Michigan, and Materials Unlimited picked up everything they were getting rid of during a major renovation,” Lori says. They called up Craig’s parents, who still live there, to procure the chairs for them.
The pendant light is a beautiful 1890s gas fixture that proprietor Tom Powers converted to electric.
Pendant light: GenuineAntiqueLighting.net
Scoring the chairs for the poker room was a family affair. “Craig grew up going to the Ten Eyck Tavern in Dearborn, Michigan, and Materials Unlimited picked up everything they were getting rid of during a major renovation,” Lori says. They called up Craig’s parents, who still live there, to procure the chairs for them.
The pendant light is a beautiful 1890s gas fixture that proprietor Tom Powers converted to electric.
Pendant light: GenuineAntiqueLighting.net
Because the Evanses’ lot drops off drastically, the lower level is a walkout. The sign hangs under the deck in the backyard. “Chloe is our baby, and she pretty much runs our house,” says Lori of their dog and the pub’s namesake. Local artist Lee Halliburton made the sign for them.
When I asked Lori if they’d ever be able to leave their house now that they have their perfect pub, she told me that if they ever decided to sell, the buyer would have to be someone who insists on keeping everything they have set up in the pub. “Putting it together was so much fun, we’d do it all over again,” she says.
More: London Pub Ambience in Upstate New York
When I asked Lori if they’d ever be able to leave their house now that they have their perfect pub, she told me that if they ever decided to sell, the buyer would have to be someone who insists on keeping everything they have set up in the pub. “Putting it together was so much fun, we’d do it all over again,” she says.
More: London Pub Ambience in Upstate New York
Basement of the Week
What happens here: Drinking pints, poker, chess, TV watching, gathering, entertaining, eating
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Size: 2,000 square feet (186 square meters)
Designers: Homeowners Lori and Craig Evans, with the help of Mary Ludemann of New Old and some of their Irish-pub-expert friends
The first piece they acquired was the 150-year-old bar, which originally served as a counter in a hardware store and then was the counter at The Depot at Gibson Mill, an antiques mall in Concord, North Carolina. “When we saw it, we knew it would make a fantastic bar, but the owner wouldn’t sell it — he mentioned that someone offered to buy it on an almost daily basis,” Lori says. “But later, when Craig and I were still talking about how fantastic it was, I said, ‘Let’s just call him one more time; maybe we’ll catch him in a good mood.’” Lucky for them, he was, and he let them buy it. That was when they knew there was no going back on the pub plan.
They worked with interior designer Mary Ludemann to install everything and bring their vision to life. “We helped them a little with the layout, but they had planned very well — it was really a no-brainer,” Ludemann says. The bar was at counter height, so her carpenter raised it up to bar height by adding to the bottom. Because the top was in very bad shape in a lot of places, Ludemann had a new one distressed to look old. Behind the bar is a wine refrigerator, a beverage refrigerator and a dishwasher. There is also a kitchen in the basement so that they can cook the meals they serve when entertaining down here.
The back bar was a wall in a Victorian house in Charlotte, North Carolina; the couple found it at Crossland Studio, a local architectural antiques store. They replaced the mirrored doors with clear glass, and they store their barware back there. The hanging glass window came from a church in Dublin. The pendant lights originally hung in a monastery in Italy. The stools are new but were custom-made in Ireland. “They took about three months, but they were worth it,” Lori says.
Basement trick: The mechanicals and ductwork are housed in the dropped portions of the ceiling.
Carpentry: High Country Cabinets