It’s hard…
to believe that this stylish home in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia was once a ramshackle two bedroom/one bathroom bungalow, left untouched for decades. Today, the residence is a place charged with energy and artistic verve, endowed with an “active interior”, a term coined by The Drawing Room (TDR), the Atlanta-based practice responsible for the house’s full refurbishment. The team at The Drawing Room sought to create a strikingly modern space that engages with the past, drawing from the structure’s Art Deco roots to restore an aura of significance for future generations.
The inspiration, was downtown Atlanta’s historic Candler building – now home to a luxury hotel – known for its extensive use of locally quarried Georgia marble and exuberant stonework. Struck by the beauty and cultural importance of this natural resource (from the nearby district of Tate, that has the largest open pit marble quarry in the world), the team used a single block of polished Pearl Grey Georgia marble to produce all the slabs and tiles in the home, using the patterned stone to create interesting surface movement, adding a rich yet timeless touch to this family environment.
With its…
dramatic proportions, the kitchen connects to a long, high-ceilinged corridor flooded with natural light and decorated with a series of 3-dimensional monochromatic compositions by Atlanta-born artist, Dave Armistead, establishing a sense of flow and continuity that was previously absent in this rather cramped and confined period home.
A minimalist…
dining room brims with color and texture thanks to a carefully curated selection of locally sourced avant-garde artwork, vintage collectibles and bespoke furniture pieces designed by The Drawing Room, all centered around a dramatic marble fireplace flanked by two red-painted entry points. Key features include a playful wooden sculpture by Colombian-born contemporary artist, Esteban Patiño, a vintage feather-like Murano glass chandelier by master artisan Archimede Seguso, and a glass ‘Henning’ dining table conceived by The Drawing Room’s founder and creative director, Seth Van Den Bergh. Designed to reflect the light for an ever-shifting prismatic rainbow effect, the table, just like the marble, reverts back to the idea of ‘active’ energy, whereby all design elements ‘work’ at making the space feel rich with character and depth.
The prevailing…
shades of grey, white and black are artfully disrupted by what The Drawing Room team calls ‘vignette moments’, seen here in the living room in the form of a statement fireplace with red brick surround and striking red painted mantle (red being a recurring statement hue in the home, with bursts of crimson popping up here, there and everywhere).
In addition…
to these ‘vignettes’, the team’s extensive use of marble imbues spaces with a sense of continuity and permanance, as evidenced by a main bathroom which is almost entirely clad in the grey-veined stone.
Beyond…
the spa-like bathroom, lies the master bedroom whose perceived spatial range has been accented with wall panels designed to enhance the high ceilings. Here, the designers have mixed and matched furniture from different eras, pairing a vintage cane-back chair with a modern industrial-looking Lorin Marsh bed and a contemporary Formakami rice paper pendant light by Jaime Hayon for a style that, in the team’s own words, “infuses value into the architecture” and “the promise of something timeless.” A job well done indeed.
Tap the look…
Architect & Designer: The Drawing Room ATL
Builder: Tillman Residential, Fork Hoke
Photographer: Gregory Miller
