Work-life and life-life don’t always align, but for Ashley Sargent Price, the dots were starting to connect. It was 2016, and she and her husband, David, had been in New York City for 20 years. They kept considering a move back to David’s hometown—Columbus, Ohio—to be nearer to his family and make it easier to raise their kids, but New York had the most opportunities for her career as a creative director. Everything changed, however, when Ashley found a position at Abercrombie & Fitch in Columbus.

When she landed the job, David hustled back to Ohio to see a home in nearby Bexley. After the visit, he was taking an odd route back to the airport when he passed what looked like a quintessential midcentury with a For Sale sign. “David called me for a video tour, and before he reached the front door, I said, ‘This is our house,’” remembers Ashley.

Ashley and David’s new home, designed in 1960, felt warm and a little eccentric. But the 3,500-square-foot, four-bed, three-bath space was also outdated. Of course, Ashley, a career creative, had thoughts. “We wanted to add some contrasting elements so it didn’t feel quite as literal to the time period,” she says. “A common thread in my work is playing with the idea of things feeling elevated and refined, but also not overly considered. It’s those interacting elements that create a richness.”

With a cast of helping hands, Ashley helmed a renovation in three phases, each of which began with sketches. “I went to school for industrial and graphic design, so I still revert back to pencil and paper to work through ideas,” she says. First up, working with their contractor, the couple refinished the hickory floors, carved out a mudroom, and updated all the bathrooms with plywood vanities and marble counters.

Next, Ashley collaborated with local architecture firm GRA+D to open the sunroom, next to the back patio, for a better indoor/outdoor connection. That has made hosting gatherings for extended family—often as many as 50 guests—so much easier, Ashley and David say.

For the most recent and final phase, in 2021, the couple opened up the kitchen and combined it with the dining area, where they removed the drop ceiling to expose the original beams and ran a new steel one lengthwise for roof support.

Ashley and her family have built on the warmth that attracted them to the home with personal touches. Through the front door is a gallery wall featuring charcoal sketches that she and her mother made in college, a black-and-white photograph of model Kate Moss given by photographer Pamela Hanson as a present, and a sketch by mime artist Marcel Marceau, also a gift. “I wanted it to be about pieces that speak to our family history,” Ashley says. “I want people to walk in and feel that the space is inviting—that there is a sense of warmth and serenity.”

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Midland / @midlandarchitecture and GRA+D / @grad_architects

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This Ohio Midcentury Had Charms—They Just Needed to Be Turned On