The Very Best Master Suite on the Ansley Tour of Homes

I have rules for master suites, absolutely nothing to do with decor or style. I'm pretty sure they don't teach these in architecture/designer/developer school. I'll mention three now and four more at the end of the post.

1. The sleeping chamber must be cozy and intimate.
2. The light from the bathroom must not fall on a pillow.
3. The dressing  / closet / bathroom must have a back door.

Did you do the 2016 Ansley Park Tour of  Homes last weekend? Big thanks to Laura Palickar for the opportunity. It's a privilege to see them and I saw every one.

I remember this master suite most of all. I'd seen it before when it was last for sale. The wise new owners didn't change the master suite. Maybe this house helped form my rules.

The master is in this house:


The glorious stair hall.

Here's the master suite.

 
The "U" shape wraps around the east and southern exposures. A ribbon of windows brings in stunning natural light. Going from bedchamber to office is like walking on a private sunlit balcony.

The sleeping chamber is just right, wish I'd measured it.

"...everyone forgets that everything important that happened to them probably happened in a small space or a small room..."  Bobby McAlpine interviewed by James Swan for Million Dollar Decorating

You are up early, you slip into the dressing room and exit via the office without disturbing the loved one.

Four rules for master showers, nearly always violated even in the most luxurious houses.

1. You must be able to see outdoors.
2. You must be able to turn on the shower without getting into the shower, without getting wet.
3. You must have some privacy in the shower. Modern all glass showers are nudie shows. You can have all the light you want AND have a view while preserving some modesty.
4. You shouldn't need a shower door.

More rules another time. Thanks.

I'm Following Four Builds in Ansley Park: Block, Choate, McAlpine Busch

It matters more in Ansley Park than north of West Wesley. I mean harmony and scale, fitting and fitting in. In landscaping terms big Buckhead homes are like "specimen trees" while Ansley homes are like "mass plantings." Specimen houses are solo acts. Mass plantings improve with teamwork.

Building  a 15,000 square foot estate house on acreage where the front door is 100 yards from the street - say on Valley Road - is not like building on Polo.

I'm sure our architects relish the challenge.

Hulse House is Gone.
 
Hulse Residence by Anthony Ames in early demolition. It was controversial, hated and loved.


It's replacement looks looks like a sprawling nest of low-rise gables. By James Choate Choate Houses Modern / Choate Houses Traditional.

 Boxwood Is Gone.

It was on a hill, we could barely see it. How valuable is 0.997 hilltop acres a couple of blocks from the High Museum and Symphony Hall?


From invisible to this landmark composition by Peter Block left and Greg Busch on the right. These need each other I think.

Some Little Houses on Polo are Gone.

They were so cute. There are a few left but they don't have long term prospects.


Bobby McAlpine designed these two to replace them. It's a rare thrill when architects design small'ish and side-by-side..

Thanks. What are you following?

House Crushes: Four New Small'ish Atlanta Builds I REALLY Like

Atlanta is building houses to beat the band. Our finest architects, designers, and builders are producing amazing work. But most are huge. I love them but I rarely fall in love with them.

But I get crushes on small'ish houses. Here are four though one is not so small.

1. I saw this Amy Landsberg design while poking around Decatur.


I slammed on the brakes and called Amy from the car.  An artist / architect / lecturer designing a house is my kind of thing.


I believe you can have your cake and eat it too: You can fit in style-wise and scale-wise AND be "modern." Give me sloped roof lines, a hint of gables, a corrugated metal roof, divided light windows, narrow clapboard siding, and throw in the old chimney, and if the detailing are right, I'll probably fall in love. Throw in saw-tooth clerestory windows? I'm so there.

Look: no corner boards, skinny rafter tails, why doesn't the front door have a transom like the windows, details, details.

What are those bottoms up shade things in the windows? They ward off the blackout-windows look.

2. On to Reynoldstown, not an architectural destination for many yet it's a beloved spot for the Architecture Tourist.



This is Christopher Leerssen's RTown Lane in Reynoldstown. Is there a more appropriate and fun infill development in Atlanta? Go see.


There are bigger units, smaller units, units that live-work, units with mother-in-law suites. There's an alley. The last two units are queued up for construction. Sold out in a hurry. Some sold before construction. More of these please.

3. The Cheshire Bridge O&I / Skin district really needs Manchester. 



This is Manchester by Hedgewood where the Habersham Gardens retails store used to be, next to Futo's on Cheshire Bridge.

"Lew Oliver worked with us on the Manchester project and has designed much of our architecture over the past 30 years."


Detached harmony in human scale by Hedgewood.

4. There is a high end a design war in Ansley Park where there's no protection. Smallish lots put them close the curb so it's a spectator sport.



On Polo by Bobby McAlpine. This is as close to the curb as you'll see a "Bobby." It's not small but it seems small'sh. It has 11 foot ceilings but the roof slope and through-the-eave dormers conceal the height so it fits in in size-wise. It's a spec house, it can be yours but it's not cheap. Call The Getzinger Group.

I'll bet you have crushes too. I've love to see them?

Landmark Modernist Ansley Teardown used Rotation, Superimposition and Poche

When completed about 1986, the Hulse residence wasn't like its neighbors. That made it a landmark.

 
Some modernists hated it, some traditionalists liked it.

"The Hulse house ... was designed in 1985 by Anthony Ames, Arch '68, for a young couple interested in a modern interpretation of residential living in Atlanta's Ansley Park. The modern house was built on the site of an older dwelling that was demolished." - Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine


In any case it had become a familiar sight and we thought it would last at least as long as a pro football stadium.


Demolition started in earnest on November 6. Most everyone has an opinion. Me too.


Fortunately we have Anthony Ames, the architect himself, on video. He spoke about the Hulse house and you can watch the video from September 24, 2008, Georgia Tech's Architecture Centennial Lecture Series. The Hulse House starts at 30:37 and runs until about 57:00.

From the lecture:

Palazzo Pandolfini (Raphael) was a source of inspiration.

"...pre-modern: ideal and regular, closed, often symmetrical...modern: endless and undefined or loosely defined"

"Consequently I designed a series of houses that allowed for the investigation of the coexhistance of modern and pre-modern space and the uses of rotation superimposition and poche."

"All the projects are the same only the site and the programs change."

Mr. Ames explains it all quite well with a sense of humor.


What is poche? Paraphrasing Mr. Ames: It's the screwy space you get when you superimpose rotated plans. It's good for service infratructure.  Turns out we have some poche in our house.

Sounds like poe-SHAY (Edgar Allan POE and SHEA Stadium).


Be on the lookout for the new house.

P.S. This may be the next Ansley Park teardown:


Its a 1909'er according to property records.
 

The Foyer on Inman Circle

I made a plan: Win the lottery, buy it, move in by Thanksgiving, invite the extended family over for a long Christmas holiday.

I don't get to do this. Jim Getzinger invited me to caravan 15 Inman Circle in Atlanta's Ansley Park today. It's a 1904'er on 1/3 acre. If you aren't from Atlanta: This is as good as it gets this close to the city. It's a block from the High Museum and more.

They don't know who designed it. Ward Seymour & Associates "did a down to the studs renovation with the highest level of finishes revealing an authentic period total restoration."



Then Kemp Mooney added an indoor pool outback, (understatement).

It's livable and lived in, neither stuffy, nor precious. It looks like 1904, gently nudged and tweaked for modern living. We'll still love it in 2104.

The foyer alone was enough for me. It is three stories tall and a show off.

But it dosn't say, "Look how tall I am you puny human."

It says, "I'm here to make you feel important."


Here's the front door from the inside.


There's a Greek temple up there. The entablature atop the columns is massive, to my eyes just the right size for the space and the house. It "feels" like it's safely supporting the house. Was it like this in 1904?


From the balcony, you can see 3 stories of stained glass windows that bring light into the center of the house. The entablature becomes the massive cornice. (I welcome corrections on these architecture terms.)


This is the window that's way up there. Is the one white circle a repair?


The background and sunlight provide the color in the lower windows. You can kind-of see out.


Beautiful no?

A 10 second tour:


Here's what you do when you walk in.

One more thing.


A shower stool really warms up the tile.

This is a goner. Teardown week.

I wish they'd call me before they team them down.

I should have known. This house on Beverly hadn't looked it best in quite a while.


It's history now.


It's a big lot for the area with a big slope.


The house next door is handsome but it was at risk during the boom. It may still be at risk. This neighborhood is hot even in the bust.

I hope we get a good one. I'll let you know

Rhodes Hall After All These Years

Rhodes Hall was my first Pheonix Flies event this year. I'm embarrassed to tell you that it was my very first tour of the place. Shame shame.

A few years ago if you'd asked me if I like greenish Victorian era chandeliers with a fringe, I might have said no. Well, I'm starting to mature.

"Built in 1904, Rhodes Hall has been an Atlanta landmark for generations. While it was originally the residence of Rhodes Furniture founder Amos Rhodes, today it is a house museum and one of the most unique venues in Atlanta for social and corporate events. The upper floors of the "castle on Peachtree" are also headquarters for The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation." -the Georgia Historic Trust

We Atlantans know it as the Castle near where three of our Peachtrees join. That would Peachtree Street, West Peachtree Street, and Peachtree Circle if you are keeping peachtree score.


It's kind of foreboding, it's hard to park, and we're usually on our way somewhere else. That was my excuse.

Willlis Franklin Denny II designed Rhodes Hall. Mr. Denny died at 31 in 1905, youngest of Atlanta's died-too-young legendary architects. Neel Reid who worked for Denny died at 41. W.T. Downing died at 53.


So on a rainy Saturday morning I was the very first person at the very first Phoenix Flies event for 2011. This is Alan Kachur, my tour guide.


In 1904 this was the northern edge of civilized life in Atlanta. They must have had a great view from the porch. It's still a great view.


I fell in love on the porch. Each of the porch capitals is different.


Inside the bow is the grand staircase, lit by stained glass windows.


It's quite a sight.


Many brides have descended the stair.

This is quickly exceeding what my little brain and little camera can take in one day.


There is a glorious pink room that looks great with people.


There are fancy fireplaces.


There are green tile fireplaces.


Enough woodwork to please anyone.


The offices of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation are upstairs. It's nice up there. This is the small skylight.

I'd urge you to visit with a tour guide It's a great place. But you need to hear about the Rhodes family as well. Amos was certainly one of the most "useful men of his generation" in Atlanta.


Mr. Rhodes was kind enough to sit for this picture in the dining room.