This Ultra Stylish Couple Designed Every Inch of Their Minimalist Alabama Home

Anna Lowder and Harvi Sahota, co-developers behind the New Urbanist community of Hampstead in Montgomery, Alabama, applied their professional skills to their own Hampstead home.

April 06, 2021

By: Meredith Rosenberg

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Photo By: Grace Photography Studio

Photo By: Anna Lowder

Photo By: Grace Photography Studio

Photo By: Anna Lowder

Photo By: Grace Photography Studio

Photo By: Anna Lowder

Photo By: Grace Photography Studio

Contemporary Mood

Anna Lowder and Harvi Sahota are the co-developers behind Hampstead, a 416-acre New Urbanist community in Montgomery, Alabama. Inside, they opted for a clean, contemporary design, on full display here in the kitchen. Anna and Harvi relied on Poliform, one of their favorite companies for contemporary products, to create a serene atmosphere. "The Italian precision of fabrication and the textures and colors are second to none," Anna says about the company. She wanted a deep, intense wood to balance the galley-style layout, and countered it with a glossy gray on the island to reflect light coming from the courtyard. "We live in this room," Anna observes. "It’s the center of our home."

Custom Living

It's not surprising that Anna and Harvi chose to build a new home in the Hampstead neighborhood. They enlisted architect Gary Justiss to help design their two-story, compound-style home that features a large central courtyard for privacy, while still feeling connected to the community.

Love of Art

Harvi has a background as an artist, and Anna says she's always known him to collect artwork. "This 'Babe Rainbow' by artist Peter Blake holds special meaning as it was one of the first pieces we bought together — nearly 20 years ago," Anna shares. "We also collect photography from artists that we admire," Anna adds. "Striking pieces that involve architecture, fashion, history and design."

Carefully Curated

That artwork isn't the only thing the couple bought together. They found this 12-foot-long white oak trestle table by John Pawson in Spain, and loved how its length and warm honey tones worked with their open floor plan. Anna and Harvi chose natural concrete for the floors, and appreciate how the table brings out its warm undertones while also brightening up the room. They paired the table with Hans Wegner Wishbone chairs, which they’ve been collecting for the past 15 years. Meanwhile, the artwork on display here is by Sarah Boyts Yoder. "We love the boldness and simplicity of these pieces," says Anna.

Order and Function

The generously sized dining and living areas take full advantage of the home's 5,800 square feet, which also includes five bedrooms and five-and-a-half baths. The couple's preference for a contemporary, minimal aesthetic is on full display here. They prioritized function and order, all while using quality materials with interesting textures.

Surprising Fact

The portrait above the fireplace looks like it's part of Harvi's art collection, but it's really a Samsung Frame television. Anna and Harvi chose it since they can display artwork, or even their own photographs, when the TV is off, allowing them to easily change the room's mood in a matter of seconds. "Harvi is a photographer and is always taking photographs when we travel," Anna explains. "Instead of printing and framing our favorite personal photos, we use technology like large format digital frames and monitors to rotate photos displayed."

Expect the Unexpected

This masonry fireplace is the living room's other main focal point. Just like the TV unexpectedly converts into art, the fireplace uses gas cannon balls instead of more traditional wood logs. (The former are also easy to use.) Beyond that, Anna and Harvi wanted the living room to emphasize symmetry, so the weighted stone fireplace mantel is meant to balance the floor-to-ceiling windows. Complementing this formality are side chairs and a coffee table from Danish company &Tradition — one of their favorites for pieces that are both unexpected yet timeless. These particular furnishings were bought in Copenhagen.

Perfectly Symmetrical

Zooming out, black tables on either side of the fireplace are another example of the couple's penchant for symmetry, as are the living room's chairs. Anna imparts how they intentionally wanted chairs that were mismatched yet sculptural, and featured different weights and fabrics.

Bookworms

Harvi and Anna’s book collection reflects their work in New Urbanism, whose tenets include planned, walkable, mixed-use communities as an antidote to suburban sprawl. Their book collection spans everything from design sketchbooks to sociological studies. Most notable are books by American urban planner, architect and founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Andrés Duany, the couple’s mentor.

Needed Color

Since Anna and Harvi opted for a neutral color scheme, they used accent colors to liven up spaces, which Anna notes is a fast and inexpensive way to add a heightened effect. In this case, they incorporated red, pink and blue in the living room and sunroom for some energy and vibrancy.

Quarantine Takeaways

Harvi and Anna reflect how spending more time at home this past year has made them really appreciate distinct functional spaces along with multifunctional ones. Here, the sunroom offers an inviting area for working, home schooling, eating and coming together as a family to read and play games.

Work and Play

Pre-pandemic, Anna and Harvi enjoyed hosting small dinner parties in this part of the sunroom, although it currently serves as their sons' remote learning space thanks to all of the natural light. It's worth noting that Anna and Harvi intentionally designed this room to feel like an addition to the original structure.

Touch of Drama

Speaking of work space, Anna likes tackling her morning office tasks in this nook thanks to the view overlooking the 23-acre Hampstead Lake. As evidenced elsewhere, scale is important to Anna and Harvi, so here they created some drama by contrasting oversized Beat Vessels by Tom Dixon with the split-level stairs. The couple likes how the vessels add height and warmth to the entry foyer, and recommends using exaggerated sizes within larger spaces as an easy way to add extra flair.

Change of Pace

Anna and Harvi designed their main bedroom to channel hygge using soft textures, layers and warm tones. They hung heavy taupe linen drapes behind the upholstered Restoration Hardware headboard, and paired these with a large, soft rug. For something different, Anna and Harvi chose silver &Tradition pendant lights instead of traditional table lamps, which add a patterned light effect.

Quiet Zone

Besides providing a soothing focal point, the drapes are also conducive to creating a quieter environment.

Holy Grail

It actually took Harvi and Anna a year to find just the right bathtub for their bathroom. "The minute we saw this solid surface rectangular bathtub we knew it was the one," says Anna. An extensive search led to this white matte, 6-foot-long tub from Ideavit. Anna relays how it took a team of eight to install the 650-pound behemoth. In order to keep the focus on the tub, she and Harvi went with marble tiling from Robert F. Henry and kept the rest of the space simple.

Something Different

The marble tiling continues here. Having his-and-her symmetrical sinks with lots of counter space was an important feature. The full-width mirrors work to enlarge the bath while also maximizing natural light. Asymmetrical hanging pendants were chosen as an unexpected element, and provide dimmed lighting so as not to compete with the generous amount of natural light.

Shoe Goals

"Our obsession with Poliform continues in the master closets — it was a splurge we couldn’t resist," says Anna. Fun fact: Anna has been collecting shoes for more than 20 years. So it made sense that she wanted to provide a sense of order with custom built-ins to showcase her collection.

Balancing Act

The couple turned a small area off of their bedroom that overlooks the courtyard into a cozy reading nook. Here, the shell pink Muuto sofa intentionally complements the bright red hair and lips of the print of Adele.

Bright and Airy

Tall hallway windows are conducive to letting in all the light from the courtyard. Since the courtyard is walled in for privacy, Anna and Harvi eschewed window coverings for a cleaner look. The concrete floors seen here are used throughout the first floor, and are actually part of the foundation. Anna explains how they had the concrete company use a special mix for it, then cured the concrete and covered the foundation before eventually buffing the finished product. "It’s such a great floor with no maintenance and incredible durability!" Anna says.

Home Retreat

Stepping outside, the home includes a back porch for relaxing, swimming pool and even a guest house — currently being used as a work-from-home studio. Anna notes how they love the courtyard's privacy and features. "It feels like you’re on holiday every day we wake up and catch that view outside."

Private Time

Anna and Harvi's sons take full advantage of Alabama's weather by playing soccer and swimming every chance they get. Besides the privacy that their courtyard provides, Anna and Harvi appreciate how there's little maintenance thanks to concrete pavers by Peacock Pavers.

Thoughtful Planning

Anna and Harvi designed the backyard to connect to almost every room in the home, and enjoy how daily life revolves around the courtyard. For landscaping, they chose hardy evergreens, including boxwoods, grasses and rosemary, to help create a calming retreat.

Traditional Take

This angle highlights the cedar roof and dark cedar siding, which are meant to soften the painted brick look. Whereas the interior is all about contemporary design, Anna and Harvi took a more traditional approach for the exterior. "Architecture that focuses on proportion and scale, quality materials and an obligation to the public realm are guiding principles when we design and build," Anna shares.

Planning Ahead

Harvi and Anna's main goal was to design and build a family home that focused on function, impact, privacy and needs — a vision that proved to serve them well during an unprecedented time.

This Ultra Stylish Couple Designed Every Inch of Their Minimalist Alabama Home

Related To:

Shop This Look

Contemporary Mood

Custom Living

Love of Art

Carefully Curated

Order and Function

Surprising Fact

Expect the Unexpected

Perfectly Symmetrical

Bookworms

Needed Color

Quarantine Takeaways

Work and Play

Touch of Drama

Change of Pace

Quiet Zone

Holy Grail

Something Different

Shoe Goals

Balancing Act

Bright and Airy

Home Retreat

Private Time

Thoughtful Planning

Traditional Take

Planning Ahead

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