For their new abode tucked into an unassuming pocket of Buckhead’s Garden Hills neighborhood, one busy family imagined having it all. After acquiring two lots in a relatively urban portion of the Atlanta community, the clients asked their architect, Bulent Baydar, to create a private escape from their fast-paced lives. Their wish list was lengthy: a private gym, two media lounges, dedicated studies for each parent and child, a separate guest cottage, and even a glass conservatory for the husband’s horticultural hobby.
To accommodate everything, the architect delivered an H-shaped layout, carving out an auto court in front and swimming pool in back that’s cradled by the house on three sides. “Creating these secluded courtyards was the driving force of the floor plan,” he says. Adept at transitional architecture, Baydar had no trouble blending the clients’ dual desires for contemporary interiors within a traditional, European-influenced envelope. His concept merged French Normandy and English manor influences with white-painted brick, high-pitched gables, limestone accents and a sleek slate roof.
Although the home appears classic from the front, modernity awaits within. Accessed through a pivoting glass front door, its vast entry hall unfurls into free-flowing living spaces. Bound by a 30-foot-wide expanse of floor-to-ceiling, steel-framed glass doors, these areas then lead to bi-level porches and a resort-style backyard. The biggest hurdle, Baydar says, was to elegantly fit the expansive house atop a relatively small footprint. “It’s located on two lots within a dense in-town area, so that made it a challenging but very interesting project from the start.”
General contractor Grant Hafner had a tremendous hand in executing the home’s complicated framework—which included a significant payload of structural steel supports. “There’s a lot going on with this residence. It’s an impressive structure that was not easy to build by any stretch; Grant and his team did a great job,” Baydar reflects.
The house plans were already complete once designers Jane Hollman and Becky Hinss came aboard, though they still had opportunities to modify spaces heavily. “We inherited these huge, open rooms, large windows and tall ceilings,” Hinss describes. “One of our initial challenges was taking these grand proportions and tailoring them down to a usable, human scale.”
In hardworking spaces such as the mudroom, bathrooms, closets and kitchens—all areas of Hollman’s specialty—the designer’s talent had the opportunity to truly shine. Introducing architectural features such as soffits, window headers and ceiling beams served to visually lower the ground floor’s 13-foot-tall ceilings. Dropping pendants over the kitchen’s double islands enhanced the effect. “Defining these spaces and utilizing different design elements to make them less imposing was key,” explains Hinss, who followed Hollman’s lead by employing decor tricks, like wallpaper on the ceiling and dark paint colors, to envelop certain rooms. She then layered in a variety of textiles and light fixtures to warm it all up. “The soft fabrics and dimmable lights help adjust the eye to focus on what’s below,” Hinss notes.
In the dining room, for example, glamorous faceted pendants ignite the pale seafoam palette, enhancing—rather than upstaging—the greens and blues of the neighboring conservatory and pool. And while the overall effect is pure sophistication, “Everything we chose for this home was designed to take some living,” Hinss shares. “Nothing is meant to be immaculate or untouchable.” Mixed metal finishes on hardware and plumbing fixtures further add to the visual impact.
Baydar’s master plan for the hardscape nestled the linear pool at center, allowing the living spaces to look out onto the water and lush greenery beyond. To complete the scene with suitable plantings, the couple brought on landscape designer Mark Dobbs. Drawing inspiration from the English- and French-influenced architecture, Dobbs incorporated many structured evergreens, including a substantial hedge of oakleaf holly that encloses the property in full.
Taken together, all zones of the residence answer the owners’ wish for a rich home life that supports warm and understated entertaining: hosting close friends and relatives for intimate dinners and gatherings, with every amenity right at their fingertips. “This is a close-knit family,” Hinss concludes. “Their biggest priorities were privacy and sanctuary; the idea was that this home could provide everything they would ever need, a place close to work and school where they could shut the outside world away.” Thanks to a design team with genuine vision, they gained all that and more.
