A COUPLE who bought a $1.75 million (£1.3 million) chateau were trolled for how they revamped the interior.
Becca Luna, 28, and her partner, Willow Kaii, 28, bought the property determined to maintain the quirky vibe implemented by its previous owners.
The four-bed, four-bath chateau near Seattle, Washington, US, had been on the market for two years – but when creative Becca saw it, she was filled with interior design inspiration.
Built in 2001, the home’s previous owners had developed a distinctive “medieval” style – with features such as tobacco-stained walls, leather-textured worktops, and dark red wooden cupboards.
In a bid to make the home feel less dated, Becca and Willow changed flooring and light fixtures, repaired the roof, and repainted.
Becca and Willow said they made a concerted effort to restore and retain a lot of its unique features rather than ripping them out.
So far they have spent $200,000 (£193,000) on the renovations and a further $50,000 (£37,000) on furniture and decorations.
The tweaks they made brightened up the place so much that trolls accused them of “turning it beige”.
This prompted the couple to tell people they “should have bought it themselves” if they don’t like it.
They added that they “just gave it a facelift” to make the interior more modern.
“We really admired the European influence and quality of craftsmanship,” said Willow, who works as a marketing strategist.
“It needed cosmetic love and TLC but we fell in love with it. It’s not old enough to be considered a castle, but it mirrors that look.
“With Becca being so creative, when we walked into the main room, I saw her look and round and the wheels in her brain starting to turn.”
Becca, who works as a web designer, shared her thought process during the renovation.
“A lot of the changes we made involved re-painting – it was so dark before and it made the rooms look outdated,” she explained.
“But it was always at the back of our mind with every decision to maintain the uniqueness of the property and not take away from the charm and character.
“Some people really came for us because we painted things white and beige and grey – they thought we applied that mentality to everything.
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“But we didn’t just gut and re-paint everything – we were so intentional.”
The young couple, who run web design school Becca Luna, bought the chateau in December 2023 and moved in in May 2024.
Their property came with a huge estate with just under six acres of land and forest that they want to turn into a farm.
They found out it had previously been owned by an older couple from Ukraine who were quirky custom home builders and built the entire home for themselves.
Becca said as soon as she walked into the well-maintained but stylistically dated property, she had ideas.
“There was a lot to work with, and the inspiration sprung out,” she said.
“It was very dark, with dark wooden beams and floors, dark red cabinets and dark walls.”
Becca was quick to paint the walls a cream shade to brighten up the rooms, and added a stone wall in the kitchen which had the same stone texture as the outside walls.
Becca’s aim was that by lightening the walls it would draw more attention to the features including the dark wooden beams, which they kept.
They replaced worn-out dark carpets with white oak herringbone flooring in the library, the office, the primary bedroom, and one other bedroom.
In the kitchen, they opted to keep the original double wide hammered copper sink – originally worth thousands – and give it some TLC rather than replace it.
Becca spent two weeks removing layers of black paint to reveal brass hardware underneath – but was quick to replace the unusual “alligator skin” textured worktops with something less intense.
Becca and Willow also kept marble mantlepieces that would have cost $30,000 (£23,000) to buy new.
“We wanted to keep the uniqueness off the home, so we brought in copper pendants to hang from the ceiling to match the kitchen sink,” Becca said.
“There was a bathroom with a teardrop-shaped bathtub which was a real ‘holy cow’ moment when we saw it. We obviously kept that.
“We did remove a 114 stone solid cast iron pot rack hanging from the ceiling.
“It was very unique, but it was big and bulky and low-hanging, so we removed it bit by bit.
“When we shared that online, people were very, very upset – but it was a risk because if it had fallen, it would have knocked someone out.”
Willow explained they are starting their second stage of renovations in summer – building an outdoor kitchen fireplace.
He added that they are considering offering out the home to be rented as an occasional wedding venue.
“It’s a beautiful serene escape from the city,” he said.
Despite it not being to everyone’s taste, the couple defend their choices and say they have no regrets on the things they changed – as well as the things they chose to keep.
“It had been on and off the market for two years when we bought it,” Becca said.
“If someone wanted to do it differently than us, they should have bought it themselves.”
