Ride-by: A Peachtree Battle Beauty

It's been so long since I last posted. Mostly that has been due to the great weather we've had in Atlanta as of late. After the miserable winter, I've been spending a lot more time riding my bike than maintaining this blog. Not to fret though, I am as enthralled as ever with architecture and design and this blog will live on.

With all the riding, I'm soaking up tons of great architecture and landscaping along the way. Which, of course, means more posts in the Ride-by Architecture series.

As I've mentioned before, I generally structure my routes around the neighborhoods and particular houses I want to pass by. Regardless of the route I select, I virtually always ride through sections of Peachtree Battle. It's my favorite neighborhood and is chock full of wonderful architecture and landscaping. I almost wonder if it's a requirement to have a heightened appreciation for design to live in the neighborhood. Everyone there seems to get it and invest in maintaining and enhancing the overall beauty.

One of the many houses in the neighborhood that I'm quite fond of this one. For a long time this house didn't speak to me. Now, however, it sings to me. I've completely fallen for this house and can't pass through the area without catching a glimpse. If only I had fallen sooner, though. Last year the house was open on one of Atlanta's many Springtime house tours: Buckhead in Bloom. I did go inside and I also explored the grounds during the tour, but because I wasn't so taken with the house then, I didn't study everything as closely as I now wish I would have.

Reflecting on it, it's really no surprise that this house has grown on me so much. It embodies many characteristics that I have a penchant for. First, it's white. For whatever reason, I'm always drawn to white houses. I think it has to do with how they gracefully stand out against a verdant landscape. I also just like the purity and simplicity of white.

Second, it's from the 1920s and exudes that classic sophistication and charm that so many of the houses from that era do. The use of real materials applied to classical architecture with proper scale is the recipe for perfection in my eyes. And this house has the recipe aced.

Third, the landscaping is tastefully and beautifully executed. The large expanse of dark, green Fescue grass that makes up the front lawn draws you in and is thoughtfully embellished along its perimeter with both lush plantings and timeless hardscape. One such example being the cobbled granite walkway shown above. I've said it before and I'll say it again: landscaping makes the house.

In the photo above you can see some of the interesting architectural embellishments the house has. This is a side shot of the porte-cochere that you can see in my other photos of the front of the house.

Similar to the last Ride-by post I did, I'll do a quick run down of a few more things that I particularly enjoy about this house:

• The marble entry way. I have an affinity for entry ways adorned in limestone. While not limestone, the look is effectively the same here with the use of marble. The marble has pink undertones and was presumably selected to match with the red hues of the tile roof or perhaps for its interplay with the cream colored stucco.
• The leaded glass windows with the diamond pattern. I'm always drawn to these style windows.
• The limestone ball finials adorning the front and rear entrances. Atlanta has many houses with ball finials and I have come to love them (when carved from limestone, of course).
• The green-ish gray hue of the window cladding. The color is a perfect complement to the white facade and I much prefer it to window trim painted white.
• The clay tile roof. This house clearly has English bones, but the white stucco facade with red clay roof kind of gives it a Mediterranean feel to me. Somehow it just feels right though and is quite enchanting to observe in person.

Because the post started with the front entrance to the house, I will fittingly end it with an image of the rear entrance. The structure beyond the back gate is a pool house and I believe is a new addition within the last few years. You can see the gray paint was carried over to the gate and shutters in this picture.

I had intended to include a bit of the architectural history of this house from the 2009 Buckhead in Bloom house tour pamphlet, however, I seem to have misplaced my pamphlet. If any readers know the details, please do leave a comment or send me an email. I have tried contacting the Atlanta Preservation Center that puts on the Buckhead in Bloom tour to get the details, but they haven't gotten back to me.

One last thing. This house was included as one of the 20 houses in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles' The Luxury of Timeless Style article. Many of my favorite houses were in that article. Their photo, taken by Erica George Dines, gives you a more realistic view of how the house looks on a typical sun-drenched day in Atlanta. The red hues of the roof read much different in Erica's photo than in mine.

** Don't forget that you can click the photos to enlarge them. Most of the photos I include in my posts are much larger in size than they are displayed in the post.

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This post is part of a series titled Ride-by Architecture that is dedicated to interesting architecture that I find while riding my bicycle throughout Atlanta. Visit the original post for more information on the series. You can also view all posts in the series by following this link.

McAlpine Communiqué

Everyday, it seems, the online design dialog grows larger and larger. At first, it was a design-crazed blogger here and a blogger there. Now, there are new design blogs popping up every day. Interior designers have blogs, antique stores have blogs, magazines are joining in also - augmenting their regular print-bound content with more up-to-the-minute content online. Furniture makers, designers and architects are joining the dialog with Twitter and Facebook accounts too. Social media is changing all the rules. It is giving design voyeurs like me unprecedented access to the thoughts and portfolios of some of the best design minds out there.

Of course, all of this is likely not news to you if you're reading this blog. What might be news to you, though, is the entrance to the conversation by the architecture and interior design firms I most admire: McAlpine Tankersley Architecture and McAlpine, Booth & Ferrier Interiors. They now are tweeting away on Twitter and have begun sharing insightful quips and unpublished portions of their amazing portfolio of work on their new Facebook pages here and here.

McAlpine and his oh-so-talented cadre of creatives didn't stop there, however. Much like the spellbinding architecture and design that they continually produce, they have raised the bar with their online content. They have just launched their own online magazine of sorts, aptly named Communiqué. Their intent is to keep us up to date on a regular basis of what they're working on. I couldn't be more excited to hear this. I've devoured the first issue and am already anticipating the next.

I ride by the Mcalpine Booth & Ferrier Atlanta office in Avondale Estates at least once a week on one of my training treks from Sandy Springs to Stone Mountain. I had intended to do a Ride-by Architecture post about the office and it's stunning design. My pictures probably wouldn't be able to do it justice though. Thankfully, the first edition of Communiqué provides you an excellent glimpse of the office (pictured above). Often it's close to 8pm when I pass by a 2nd time on my way back to Sandy Springs and I will see Susan Ferrier burning the midnight oil, working tirelessly to bring us all so much inspiration. For that I am grateful.

I don't want to steal any thunder from the launch of the new magazine, so you'll have to visit the Communiqué website to see more of the beautiful imagery from the 1st edition. I'd recommend subscribing to their Twitter feed and becoming a fan on Facebook too. If you're like me, you don't want to miss anything they have to share.

Oh, and don't forget that Bobby McAlpine's new book comes out next month. So much great stuff all at once.

The Quatrefoil

Inspired by a recent post on the Tracery Interiors blog, I've been noticing the quatrefoil motif more and more. I hadn't realized quite how prolific the motif is until I read their post and started paying attention a bit more. I would characterize the quatrefoil as being in the league of the greek key, appearing everywhere from architecture, to furniture, to lighting, to iron work, to textiles, even a business name.

With my heightened attention, I've been amassing quite a collection of quatrefoil-inspired design. Along the way my appreciation for the design has grown. I enjoy it as a subtle detail that adds depth and whimsy.

We'll start the tour of my collection of quatrefoil-inspired design with one of my most interesting recent finds. I was out exploring parts of Buckhead on my bicycle and strolled into a small cul-de-sac out of curiosity. There I discovered the rear entrance to the estate of an Atlanta billionaire. It's kind of the secret bat cave exit I suppose. That wasn't what got my attention though. The entrances's gate perforated with quatrefoils did.

At the time of discovery I didn't have my camera with me so I went back yesterday to get this picture. I decided to check out the front entrance instead, though, because there is full-time security sitting in a car by the back gate. I didn't want to raise any eyebrows for the sake of architectural tourism. I assumed the front gate would be of the same design. It wasn't the same, but it did indeed have the quatrefoil motif.

You may have to enlarge this picture (by clicking on it) to see the quatrefoils. Of course, as you just saw, I risked upsetting the security detail and got the back entrance photo too.

This house photographed by architectural photographer David Duncan Livingston is filled with Gothic motifs. The kitchen has Gothic arches in the cabinet windows, a large Gothic arched opening into the breakfast area, and there are qautrefoils everywhere. Quite unique are the quatrefoils embossed in the kitchen's crown molding. They also appear in the cabinetry woodwork above the sink.

The quatrefoils are a dominant element in the light-showered breakfast area too. Notice them in the band ringing the chandelier and again in this room's trim molding.

A perfect example of the quatrefoil adding a subtle bit of whimsy is this picture of a mirror from the Tracery Interiors portfolio. This is one of my favorite quatrefoil designs. The mirror could be used in so many places in various design schemes.

Another favored quaotrefoil design is this side table from Ironies. I think I may just have to get one of these tables. It would make a great night stand or occasional table in another room.

I recently found another quatrefoil-inspired side table on the katiedid blog. The table is made by Oomph and is available in several different hues. I like the white version in this bathroom.

In the whimsical department is this pedestal sink with two carved quatrefoil bowls that I discovered on the desire to inspire blog. The house is actually a mission-style church that was converted into a castle by design firm Urban Nature Inc. The castle has several other quatrefoils in its design, paying further homage to the church it once was.

The architecturally rich city of St. Petersburg, Russia has several unique bridges spanning the canal that runs through the city. I recently discovered this bridge while flipping through a magazine and it caught my eye because of the quatrefoils in the iron work. I could imagine this style railing in a residential setting, albeit in the more stereotypical black color of iron.

The Gothic-style patio furniture at this house designed and built by the Poulton Group has both the arch and quatrefoil motifs going.

You'll have to look closely to see the quatrefoils in this photo from the June/July 2007 issue of Domino Magazine that I discovered today on the dress, design, decor blog. Reflected in the mirrored cabinet is a leaded window with quatrefoils forming the pattern of the leading.

When I read the Things That Inspire post about Ray Goins, the image that stood out most to me was this Gothic-inspired swing with quatrefoil cutouts. I was able to get an in-person glimpse of the swing recently when the house it is located at was on the Cathedral Tour of Homes. Its unique Gothic design really captures your attention.

Speaking of Things That Inspire, recall that I mentioned a business name being inspired by quatrefoils. Quatrefoil Design is the name of Holly's intaglio business. I recommend checking out her wares. She has an excellent product at an excellent price point.

The quatrefoil image at the top of this post is of a decorative radiator grill from The Radiator Cabinet Company. The quatrefoil motif really is quite prolific in design!

Large Round Chandeliers

The first time I can remember seeing what I'll refer to in this post as a large round chandelier was a few years ago at Ecco, a restaurant in Atlanta. I wasn't nearly as architecture- and design-infatuated at the time, but the chandeliers pictured above immediately stood out to me. They are my favorite part of the restaurant's decor, which, by the way, is all around amazing. The chandeliers at Ecco provide the bulk of the restaurants lighting at night, yielding a warm, soft glow and excellent atmosphere.

The entrance to Ecco has a multi-tiered version of the same chandelier used in the dining room. It's grand scale is well matched to the voluminous space.

Now, in my much more tuned-in-to-design state, the large round chandeliers are still drawing my eye's attention. I've started amassing a small collection of photos of them in various incarnations. Each is unique in it's own way, but they all share in the fact that they add a bit of contemporary flair to a space.

One style of the round chandeliers I've seen multiple times has a metal frame on top and bottom and is rimmed with glass. I'm not sure of the manufacturer, but would like to learn who makes them if anyone knows. I'm curious if they come in multiple sizes like some of the other large round chandeliers.

I discovered this picture of Hotel Selenza in Madrid via the Pillow Talk blog. The chandeliers steal the show here as they do in most of the interiors in which they are used.

The same chandelier was again paired with of-the-moment turquoise tones in this design by Steven Gambrel. The translucent glass of the chandelier is a nice visual complement to the wall of windows.

This picture of one of the rooms in the stunning showroom of Asli Tunica affords a better view of this type of chandelier. In its unlit state you can see the icicle-like glass that rims the light. I can only image what it must weigh with all that glass and metal.

As much as this chandelier is different from the others in this post, it is the same in that it punctuates the space (and is large and round of course).  This picture is of the basement landing in a home designer Melanie Turner won 2009 Southeast Designer of the Year for. The picture is a bit misleading in terms of scale, but I can tell you that the chandelier is quite large. I would guess three to four feet in diameter. I'm curious about the manufacturer of this light too if anyone knows.

Returning back to a style of chandelier similar to those at Ecco are these I found while perusing photographer Paul Ober's portfolio. I believe these chandeliers are painted white. And to great effect I must say.

Ochre, the hip British furniture and lighting company with a retail outpost in New York, has multiple large round chandeliers in its repertoire. The Arctic Pear light shown above in a photo of the New York showroom comes in various standard sizes and can be completely customized in every way.

While not quite as large as the other examples, I find the Fontana Arte chandelier on this porch from my Mediterranean Masterpiece post complementary in style and equally as intriguing. The light used on the porch is actually one of the smaller of the four sizes that it is available in.

This store has several of the Fontana Arte chandeliers, providing for a dramatic lighting display. I'd probably end up accidentally bumping into someone while I gazed upwards.

As was the case with me at Ecco, you won't soon forget a room with a large round chandelier. They stand out, and in a good way in my opinion.