Karon Carpenter and Lisa Noon have created a stunning home that keeps the feel of the original architect’s design while providing space that accommodates their life of working from home, entertaining, and tropical outdoor living. We thank them for inviting Agenda in to get their renovation story and to meet with their designer Tom Bendt.
Karon Carpenter and Lisa Noon are longtime residents of Fort Lauderdale. Karon is a realtor with Better Homes and Gardens and Lisa is Global Sales Leader with Accenture Cloud Platform. Before they married, they both owned older homes in the Coral Ridge area. Lisa, a chef for 20 years wanted a professional kitchen–one that is designed for a professional but looks designer fresh. Karon always wanted to build on to her home and dreamed of a proper master bedroom with two closets.
As they contemplated options for remodel, they found Leo Hansen. Leo is the son of Robert E. Hansen. Hansen is known for Tropical Modernism, a pre-air conditioning design that brought in the modern look but kept the houses cool. The senior Hansen was the original architect of the house that Karon had lived in. Leo found his dad’s original plans and shared them with the couple along with a vision for what could be. When they found Leo, they knew he could make it happen.
Lisa and Karon were married in 2013 and they share their home with pups Riley, Barkley and Buddy.
Karon Carpenter, a local broker for Better Homes and Gardens has been thrilling buyers and sellers since 1999. She specializes in waterfront and luxury real estate in the South Florida area. You can reach her at Better Homes and Gardens.
Notes from famed Interior Designer Tom Bendt (305-899-1790)
After seeing the plans for the master suite addition, I suggested that they remove the narrow interior hall from the original house. That enabled them to increase the size of the bedrooms and the living room. We widened the house and added a glass gallery and hall to the back of the house for light and a grand view of the pool and patio. I designed it to fit under the existing overhang so as not to change the roof. The new hall gives the house the perfect midcentury look that Karon and Lisa were after while adding usable square footage to all three bedroom and pleasant access to the master suite.
We designed all the additional spaces keeping in mind it should look like part of the original house. I replicated the living room wood ceiling wherever I could, in the master and the remodeled kitchen. we added large sliding glass doors to make the patio and interior spaces flow.
The original plan called for a Tiki hut BBQ! It had nothing to do with the style of the house, so I designed a large modern shelter with a flat roof with the same wood as the kitchen. This extended the living space without making it an overpowering structure.
Lisa planned her gourmet kitchen complete with the Blue Angel stove, simple modern cabinetry, a bake center, and prep space for three cooks.
The front door was bumped out to create a small foyer and we closed up the old fire place and designed a wrap-around gas fire ledge that could be seen from the living room and the kitchen.
