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ABOUT
 Migration.
From early childhood, Pamela Bayer started
collecting images for a special folder she titled
“Pamela’s Barn.” Growing up around the skyscraping
structures of New York City and the contemporary
homes
on the Jersey Shore, farmland wasn’t exactly
in plain sight, so it’s hard
to recall the exact moment at which her enthrallment
with barns began. Whatever the catalyst, her picture portfolio
grew, along with her fascination.
Today, Bayer is living out her barn
fantasy—literally—in a somewhat abrupt but seemingly
destined turn of events. In the summer of 2004,
the New York-New Jersey interior designer and general
contractor was Chicago-bound to join her
new husband Ralph in his downtown condo when he
was recruited for a position with a Hudson, Ohio, company.
Her first reaction? “What is [a] Hudson, Ohio?”
The antithesis of the Windy City, she soon discovered.
Grappling with the sudden change in plans, they
started house hunting. Those who know the idyllic
suburban charm of Hudson also know the odds of both
living and working in the smallish city are fairly
slim. And, when you think Hudson, you usually think
quaint shops and traditional homes before livestock
and farmer Jones.
On the southern fringe of Hudson, on a short,
dead-end street named Barlow Hill Drive that most
locals would need directions to find, Bayer’s real
estate quest took her to Toad Hill Farm on her 46th
birthday. Even an interior design newbie could
conclude that the 1900s barn and stables would need
gutting to the studs to be restored and brought up
to modern standards, but the 2.3-acre estate had the
potential of a dream home and design studio. So they
bought it.
Transformation.
When Bayer sketched re-design plans for the barn,
even her most experienced subcontractors questioned
the feasibility, but under her leadership, Pamela
Bayer Interiors went to work on what would [12
months later] become of one their greatest residential
renovations in the company’s more than ten-year
history.
During the massive interior and exterior barn
reconstruction, Bayer flew to Hudson from the East
Coast every weekend for a year, and still spends
several days a week overseeing projects on Long
Beach Island, New Jersey, and in New York City.
In the summer of 2005, Bayer moved
into their voguish metropolitan pad, which features
a 20-foot floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace with
built-in plasma TV, a wine lounge, loft master
bedroom with observation deck, and a gourmet kitchen
designed for entertaining in style and comfort. Exterior
distinctions include an old-fashioned windmill
and tiny pond for frogs, juxtaposed to the expansive
garage that houses Ralph’s vintage Corvettes. While
no farm animals remain, a lot of deer and other
wildlife abound.
Bayer says they hope one day to buy the barn and
land next door to extend and preserve the pictorial,
farmland feel. “And, we could move Ralph’s cars into
the neighboring stables, so I can actually park my
car in our garage,” she muses.
New Sensation.
In September of 2005, Bayer launched her Hudson
interior design and general contracting business
out of the stables on her property that she converted into
a unique office and mini-showroom with a view.
She is maintaining her New York-New Jersey clients,
whose jobs will eventually be supervised on site
by her project manager and subcontractors. Her
focus in the Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, areas is
on residential and commercial interior design
and general contracting projects, from traditional
to contemporary.
“My Ohio clients sometimes assume that, coming from
the New York area, my work is largely with modern
homes and buildings. When I present my portfolio,
they are surprised to see so much traditional
design,” says Bayer, who has an equal talent for
consulting with Mid-westerners who want to infuse
big-city chic and glamour into their habitats,
without the big-city price tag. “I’ve worked with
every style and budget along the design continuum,
from funky to Art Deco to Victorian.”
 From her experience with the Hudson barn reformation,
Bayer has amassed a pool of skilled Ohio-based
subcontractors and design associates. Her talent
roster is bolstered by
her favorite office assistant, Laurel Fleetwood
Mac, her “Wonder-Pug” that accompanies Bayer
to the office every day.
Once a single mother who worked two jobs for years
to raise her son in New Jersey, Bayer started her
design career for Ralph Lauren Home Fashion in 1985
and completed her associate’s degree in the arts two
years later. She gained intensive experience working
for another interior designer, builder and
architectural firm before starting Pamela Bayer
Interiors in 1994.
Her design and general contracting credits include
mega-homes and vacation retreats on the Atlantic,
high-rise apartments, condos and offices in New
York City, the restoration of historical suburban
houses, and restaurants. Her biggest claim to star
fame is the recent purchase by a New York City
media personality of her client’s multi-million
dollar home on Long Beach Island. Bayer, who designed
the published property inside and out, says the
broadcast celeb bought the home—and all its
furnishings—including accessories, artwork and
dinnerware.
Bayer teases her clients about being a celebrity
designer now, but is sincere when she says her
pricing will remain competitive and flexible, driven
by the markets where she does business.
Bayer may have ended up in Ohio unexpectedly, but
she feels right at home. “One day I left the front
door wide open while tooling around the yard,
and Ralph asked me if I thought I live in a barn. Now
that I finally do, I doubt that joke will get
old anytime soon.”
Measure in Love.
Pamela's interior design business has many dimensions and faces.
From the East Coast to the Midwest and points in between, it's the
mutual care-taking and nurturing of family [and pets] that keeps this
planes-trains-and-automobiles warrior traveling successfully and continuously
between Ohio, New York and New Jersey. Meet the PBI support staff: |
