Most people try to rid their basements of spiders. When Dr. Edward Ayers moved into his new home last summer, he did just the opposite.

Dr. Edward Ayers relaxes in his basement classroom, where a contemporary red microsuede sectional provides seating for students.

Last July, Ayers became the ninth president of the University of Richmond. Along with his new role came the keys to the stately 9,000-square-foot president's house and the unique challenge of making it his own.

Situated on the outskirts of campus, the brick Colonial Revival was modeled after benefactors Lora Robins and the late E. Claiborne Robins' home, Clearview. Many of the Robinses' generous contributions, including an impressive collection of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings, enrich the interior.

Understanding its importance to the University of Richmond community, Dr. and Mrs. Ayers were careful to preserve the home's ambiance but had big plans to personalize some of the rooms.

One of the first spaces to get a facelift was one most homeowners rarely get around to redecorating — the basement.

"I knew I wanted to teach a class in my home," he recalls, "and we didn't need the space for anything else."

So the basement was converted into a modern multimedia classroom.

A 50-year-old family quilt features the team colors of the University of Richmond, a happy coincidence.

The University of Richmond's colors (red and blue) serve as the palette for design elements. A queen-size hanging quilt pulls the room together with dark blues, whites, and shades of crimson. Dr. Ayers' grandmother sewed the quilt some 50 years ago, seemingly sealing her grandson's fate as a future Spider.

Across the way is a red microsuede sectional couch, with each section propped on wheels for maximum mobility. The couch and coordinating blue chairs provide seating in lieu of traditional desks. They face the fireplace, above which a flat-screen television is mounted for in-class presentations.

Elsewhere in the basement long ledges display materials from various periods of Southern culture. There are books, movies, rare box sets of great music, and faded record sleeves with titles like "Ray Charles: Modern Sounds in Movies" and "Virginia Traditions: Southwest Virginia Blues."

Dr. Ayers broke in his new basement classroom last semester by teaching a multimedia course, "The Southern Past," to a group of 12 University of Richmond freshmen. While his class was a walk across the lacrosse field, it was no walk in the park. The students read a 300-page book and wrote a short paper each week, among other assignments. How many students can say they've taken a class with their university's president?

The basement classroom is an appropriate addition to the president's house and adds a lot of, well, class to Dr. Ayers' new home. If it wasn't before, the basement is now quite suitable for Spiders.