The Brass House: Worthington Couple Reimagines Midcentury Modern Home on Wooded Ravine

Walking into Heather McCloud’s Worthington home is like walking into her Clintonville shop, the Brass Hand, albeit on a much grander scale. Nestled into the ravines of the Olentangy River, “the Brass House,” as McCloud calls it, is bedecked with midcentury modern furnishings, one-of-a-kind artwork and plenty of plants.  

Like her store, her home—which she shares with her husband, Nathan Parry, their two daughters and their greyhound, Henry—is an extension of her style. And at the Brass House, the theme is restoration. “We want to preserve it,” McCloud says. “It feels like a piece of history. They don't make homes like this anymore.” 

The home was built in 1978 for neurosurgeon Thomas Hawk and his family. With its siding hewed from California redwoods, the house fits seamlessly into its wooded surroundings. Out front sits the first of many relics from Hawk’s ownership: a large Polynesian sculpture carved from a red oak that fell on the property. 

The large, intricate front doors are original to the house and were handcarved by an artist in Arizona. They open onto the house’s main living area, a spacious, light-filled room with brightly colored vintage seating arrangements and a large stone fireplace.  

McCloud has always loved homes like this one. Think Frank Llyod Wright and his Usonia homes, or Worthington’s own Rush Creek Village, which was greatly influenced by Wright’s work. When the house came on the market, McCloud and her family were happily settled into their “dream house” in Bexley. But when she saw the listing, she and Parry had to take a look. 

“The first time we came, we came without our daughters at night. And we just loved it so much. There was just something drawing me to it,” she recalls. “It was definitely the view. The trees, living in the canopy. The stone walls, the tile. Just the way the outside is the inside, the way nature meets the architecture. It moved me. I was in tears almost when we left here.” 

The family moved into the house in February 2021 and McCloud got right to work turning the five-bedroom, five-bathroom abode into a color-filled midcentury modern dream. And with a little over 5,000 square feet, she had plenty of space for all her vintage finds. 

“I loved when [midcentury modern] started trending back. I'm like, ‘All right, this is my time to shine as an interior designer,’ ” McCloud says. “I've always been an amateur interior decorator. ... I saw this house as an opportunity to merge that passion of mine with my shop.” 

McCloud estimates that more than half of the furniture in the house is from the ’60s and ’70s. Standout pieces include the midcentury modern dining set, a pair of orange velvet Hollywood regency chairs on the lower level, and a wicker peacock chair from Euro Classics Antiques in Clintonville. 

Over time, McCloud has learned to embrace her vibrant, colorful style. “I think we all go through that pressure of what's in style or what's trendy, and I felt the suppression of the gray era [of] the last decade. I was just like, 'Wait, am I doing it wrong? Why do I not like this?’ ” she recalls. “I said, 'Screw it. I'm not falling for these gray, minimalist tricks.' I love color, and when I fully embraced that, I found my comfy pocket.” 

The décor and furnishings blend seamlessly with the house, and modern touches—original pieces by local fiber artist Dre McLeod, vibrant landscapes painted by Parry’s mother, a rainbow mosaic piece by Newark artist Ashley Hammond on the floor of the back porch, and a bookshelf made by Parry—add a nice balance to the home. 

Still, McCloud knows the star is the house itself. Hawk, the original owner, was closely involved with the construction, and his attention to detail can be seen throughout. In the kitchen, your eyes move from the brown hexagon floor tiles to the unique diagonal pattern on the cabinets to the KitchenAid double oven from the ’70s, before finally landing on the stained glass inlay on the ceiling that catches the day’s changing light.  

In the primary bathroom, a cast glass piece designed by artist Dan Dailey featuring a nature scene has something hidden in the middle left pane: a brain and scalpel, a nod to Hawk’s profession. Outside, porches wrap around the back of the house’s upper and lower levels and look out on the ravine below, giving the family a front-row seat to the changing seasons. “Late July is just so stunning,” McCloud says. “All the seasons are really cool, but that lush, overgrown summer is magical.” 

When discussing the house with McCloud, the word that comes up the most often isn’t anything décor-related; it’s “community.” She and Parry both feel compelled to share their home with others and make it a communal space. “We’ve said, ‘If we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna make it mean something,’ ” McCloud says. 

For McCloud, the community aspect is deeply personal. She was born in Arizona and lived there until grade school when she moved to the Dayton area. The oldest of five siblings, she is estranged from her parents and had a difficult childhood. 

“It felt like I really was on my own growing up,” she says. “I was always a weird, queer, art kid, but never really had community. I just didn’t feel like I had support to be who I am. And then I found my art community here in Columbus. I’m in my late 30s. I feel like I’m a kid again. I feel like I’m just now discovering who I am.” 

And she’s using her home to create a new community for herself and others like her. So far, the Brass House has played host to vintage markets, pop-up dinners, intimate concerts, a networking event for local small business owners and a wedding reception for two Brass Hand customers. (The couple was married in the shop.) McCloud plans to host more events and is tossing around ideas for yoga sessions and comedy shows.  

Perhaps the biggest community endeavor, though, is the lower level of the house, which they’ve converted into a separate living space. “If you like the Brass Hand, you can have the full experience,” McCloud says. “We really want it to be a staycation, or feel like you're staying on the side of the Earth, because you are. It's built into the ravine.” 

But the short-term rental is only one aspect of the space. The main goal is to use it as a residency for local queer artists. 

“I'm going to start with doing one a year, where basically we give artists a stipend, and they'll stay down in the B&B, all expenses. They can create art, and then I want them to hang up their art, and we'll have a reception for them, and just try to promote local queer art,” she says. She is currently working on the application and plans to open it next summer. 

When McCloud held her first vintage market in 2021, some friends cautioned her about opening her home to strangers. But McCloud wasn’t worried. She’s created a community of like-minded souls through her shop—and now she’s determined to extend that to her home.  

“I want to fight to have this house and make it about the arts community,” she says. “I have a platform. So I want to use it, because I needed that. It comes from a place of, ‘I just want to give what I needed.’ ” 

To learn more about the Brass House, visitinstagram.com/the.brass.house. 

This story is from the January 2024 issue of Columbus Monthly.