Work on this historic Buckhead estate has evolved through three owners since 1986. Each owner had their own vision and program of needs for the property. From reclaimed meadows to pool house, each was accommodated gracefully on this eight acre lot. A significant non-native invasive plant removal program has been in place for 15 years with great success and benefit.

GROIN VAULT CROSS WITH CROWN MOLDING, LED LIGHTS IN THE CROWN MOLDING AND VENIETIAN PLASTER
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архитектор Дмитрий Зубков
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THE SETUP Client Background: Our clients, a couple who have transitioned into the empty nest phase, have cherished their home for over three decades without undergoing any significant renovations. With a newfound desire to adapt their living space to better suit their current lifestyle, they’ve embarked on a journey to reimagine their kitchen — the heart of their home. Their aspiration is to cultivate a serene, neutral-toned sanctuary on the first floor that seamlessly merges with their family room, ensuring a harmonious and inviting environment. Design Inspiration: The renovation is inspired by the couple’s penchant for soft, calming neutrals, using their cherished family room and the kitchen’s existing tile flooring as the cornerstone for the color scheme. This approach aims to foster a sense of warmth and tranquility throughout. Design Objectives: Harmonize the kitchen with the family room by adopting a soothing, neutral color scheme, ensuring a seamless flow across the first floor. Enhance kitchen functionality with thoughtfully designed cabinetry, providing a designated place for every item and maximizing storage efficiency. Cultivate an inviting and comfortable atmosphere that reflects the homeowners’ desire for a calm and relaxing space. Design Challenges: The homeowners wish to retain the existing kitchen tile flooring and integrate it into a refreshed, modern design. Accommodating a dining area spacious enough for family visits without compromising the kitchen’s open feel or functional layout. Despite liking the current placement of plumbing and appliances, the homeowners aspire for a more open floor plan to facilitate better movement and interaction. The need to amplify natural light in the kitchen, especially around the sink area, where existing lighting is insufficient. Preserving the half-wall between the kitchen and family room, a feature the homeowners want to keep, while ensuring it complements the new design. THE RENEWED SPACE Design Solutions: By choosing a neutral color palette that complements the existing tile, the design unifies the kitchen with the adjacent spaces. The tile’s grout was cleaned and restored, enhancing the floor’s appearance and integrating it seamlessly with the new kitchen aesthetic. The inclusion of a larger island with seating for two, alongside maintaining a substantial dining table, was achieved by optimizing the spatial layout. This allowed for a sociable yet functional kitchen, accommodating large family gatherings without feeling crowded. Minor adjustments to the kitchen’s layout maintained the preferred locations for plumbing and appliances while introducing an ‘open’ design concept. Strategic modifications, such as angling the pantry wall, improved the flow and accessibility within the space. Replacing the garden window with a broader, standard window significantly increased natural light, transforming the sink area into a bright, welcoming space with enhanced views of the outdoors. The decision to keep the half-wall was ingeniously leveraged to define the dining area while maintaining an open connection to the family room. This feature not only serves as a visual separator but also ties the two spaces together through the shared color scheme and design elements. The homeowners are thrilled with their newly remodeled kitchen, which has become a hub of warmth and hospitality. Hosting a wedding shower and a birthday party, they have shared their renewed space with friends and family, who have been equally enamored. This remodel has not only met their functional and aesthetic desires but has also enriched their home with a fresh sense of serenity and joy. The upstairs part of the home is shaping up nicely. Here’s their newly remodeled primary bathroom.

Stunning 25 piece Reflex Sirius was selected for the lobby. Elements in blown Murano Pyrex glass.
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Custom cable rail detail.
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A covered deck over the carport overlooks the gardens. Photography: Wayne Jeansonne
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Lighting became another way to integrate simplicity and harmony to the home’s overall design; but like every other element of our project, modernity and time honored practices of craftsmanship needed to fuse. In the master suite, fabricating the light troughs proved to be an interesting challenge. Given the extreme length of the faces and bottoms of the light trough (after 15), using solid cherry for their construction was impractical. A thin birch plywood substrate was built and 1/8" thick cherry veneers were applied. The resulting material was used for the faces and bottoms of the trough. The resultant birch/cherry composite material was reinforced with an elaborate lamination process that included a thin fiberglass veil for strength and flexibility. Other lighting was chosen to wash light over surfaces or to hang—lantern style to provide soft light and aesthetic embellishment. Here again, the design is highly influenced by the Japanese aesthetic.

Photo credit: Bates Masi + Architects
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