Kathleen McGovern Studio of Interior Design Takes on a Grosse Pointe Park Library/Game Room

Designer acumen meets homeowner handiwork to fashion a luxe library/game space with a handmade cocktail bar

October 20, 2025

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Library/game space shot of of Kathleen McGovern's work — The room is long and large. Once everything had been removed, McGovern sensed that two eye-catching crystal chandeliers (Rivington by Schonbek) would be just the ticket for a luxe and fitting feel that would break up the space, provide intimacy, and mimic an original chandelier in the foyer. // Photograph by Jeff Garland

When beginning to renovate their home, the first thing one Grosse Pointe Park couple wanted to do was create a library/ game room/cocktail bar. With busy careers (she’s an emergency room doctor, and he’s an engineer with his own company), the design-loving duo sensed they would need help to pull it all together.

Not that they couldn’t or wouldn’t do a lot of the work themselves. In fact, when time allowed, they, with their own hands, restored their limestone fireplace and ceiling beams, built a bar, and wired for new lighting, to name a few projects.

As for the interior design, the homeowners (who prefer not to be named), who love to entertain, called on Grosse Pointe Park-based Kathleen McGovern of Kathleen McGovern Studio of Interior Design. “The wife said something like she wanted a bourbon-sipping, warm and cozy space,” McGovern recalls. “I could picture a luxe, kind of throwback-to-a-different-era gathering room. A grown-up, dress-up bourbon-drinking salon.”

Kathleen McGovern of Kathleen McGovern Studio of Interior Design. // Photograph by Jeff Garland

Over a year’s time, McGovern and her two associates turned what was a large, open living room with neutral colors into an intimate, luxe library and game room replete with a handmade bar, two crystal chandeliers, and gorgeous, inviting furnishings in shades of rich violet-blues (including a violet-blue sofa that McGovern describes as “clematis” in shade).

The 1931 home, designed by architect Robert O. Derrick, who worked on several homes, buildings, and clubs in the region, features original limestone architectural details, slate flooring, and detailed millwork.

“The couple wanted to restore but also maintain the authenticity of the home’s 1930s appeal,” McGovern says. After the library was completed, the adjoining foyer was next in line for renewal. It features a circular-patterned slate floor that echoes the circular driveway in the front of the home.

Here, McGovern, whose design acumen is well known in the Grosse Pointes and beyond — thanks to her astute eye for comfortable, classic style that often melds with transitional touches — shares some insights on everything from best usage of space to creating a focal point.

Foyer shot of Kathleen McGovern's work — “The homeowners did a lot of the work themselves. I would get there and see the husband on a ladder working on the upper part of the huge fireplace, and she’d be working on the lower part.” The designer recalls a moment in the foyer when she suggested art lighting above a head-turning oil painting. “The wife said, after looking behind the painting, ‘He’ll [her husband] have that done tonight.’” // Photograph by Jeff Garland

This story originally appeared in the October 2025 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition.