Peachtree Garden Club Christmas Home Tour December 9

Halcyon Oaks, above, is on the National Register of Historic Places and was built in 1921.

Don't miss the Peachtree Garden Club Christmas Home Tour on December 9 from 10am-3pm. Four beautiful houses will be featured. All proceeds go the Peachtree Garden Club Community Fund (a non-profit 501C-3) and all donations are tax deductible. The tour is sponsored by Balentine and Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby's Realty.


This house was built in 1940 and was designed by Pringle and Smith and has been renovated by Bill Litchfield, interiors by Carolyn Malone.


An all time Atlanta favorite, this house was designed by Philip Shutze and built in 1939. Yong Pak renovations and additions.


Filled with beautiful antiques and art, this house was renovated by Norman Askins, interiors by Charlotte Cahoon of Herndon Interiors. Gardens by John Howard Designs.


Tickets, which are $20 in advance and $25 the day of the tour, are available at any house the day of the tour and also may be purchased at the following stores beginning December 1:

Boxwood Garden and Gifts
100 E. Andrews Drive
Atlanta, GA 30305

Nadeau/Furniture with a soul
2349 Peachtree Road/Peachtree Battle Shopping Center
Atlanta, GA 30305

Erika Reade Ltd.
3732 Roswell Road
Atlanta, GA 30342

Tootsie’s, Inc.
3400 Around Lenox Rd NE # 219
Atlanta, GA 30326-1408

The Mercantile
1430 Dresden Drive, Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30319

All images via Whitehaven

House of the Week

I used to drive by this house several times a week when we were building our house. I like the fact that it is pretty but humble. It is well done, but not over the top. The roof is not slate, the detail is simple, it's not fussy. It has good lines, is pleasing to the eye and looks like a wonderful family house - exactly what I was trying to accomplish in my own house. When I photographed it I got that warm and fuzzy feeling of home. If the owner reads this blog, I would love to see the inside!






In this picture above you can see the tight lap of the siding (don't know if it's wood or hardieplank). It looks like a 3-4 inch reveal, which is similar to mine. It's a nice look for clapboard, a little different than a wide reveal of 9 inches -which is more common. Below is my house from the south side - you can see the tight reveal of the siding similar to the picture above.










Click on any image to enlarge. All images via Whitehaven

Fresh Start for a Beautiful Piece of Furniture

This settee was in my husband's entrance hall growing up in Boston (he doesn't like the word settee either -calls it the little french sofa). It sat in the curve of a stair just like it does in my house. I have been itching to recover it since we moved in to our house in 2008. It's finally done!

Before:



After:



It looks great with my Thanksgiving flowers. I have orange in my living room too and orangey red in my family room, so it pulls everything together. Color continuity. I bought the fabric at my favorite fabric selling blog - Designer's Attic.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The finished table! Have a great Thanksgiving everyone.





On Friday I'll post photos of the recovered settee in the entrance hall - it looks great!

House of the Week

This house won Stan Dixon the 2008 Shutze Award for residential/single family renovation under 4000 sq. ft.. It sits on one of my favorite streets in Atlanta and in its previous life was a one story traditional. Interestingly, one of my grandmother's best friends lived here, and then she married Henry Tompkins (who was widowed) and moved to his house at 125 W. Wesley.

You may click on all images to enlarge them. One of my favorite things about this house is the boxwood garden in the front, which you can see better in the images below if you enlarge them.


image above via Things That Inspire















Images via Whitehaven, with the exception of the one from Things That Inspire

Turkey Recipe from Fine Cooking

Here's the turkey recipe I'm using this year. It's from www.finecooking.com and is a four day dry brine process. How do you cook your turkey?

2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
2 Tbs. chopped fresh sage
2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
One 16-lb. turkey, preferably fresh (not kosher or self-basting)
2 oz. kosher salt (1/2 cup if using Diamond Crystal; 1/4 cup if using Morton)
Herb Gravy for a Brined Turkey (optional)
Dry brine the turkey

Four days before you plan to roast the turkey, mix the herbs and oil in a small bowl. Loosen the skin around the shoulders of the bird and around the cavity. Carefully slide your hands underneath the skin to loosen it from the breast, thighs, and drumsticks.

Rub the herb mixture on the meat, under the skin. Pat the skin back into place.

Rub the salt inside the cavity and on the skin. Tuck the wing tips behind the neck and tie the legs together with kitchen string. Put the turkey in a large food-safe plastic bag (such as a turkey-size roasting bag) and tie. Put the bag inside a second bag and tie.

Refrigerate the turkey, turning it over every day, for 3 days.

Remove the turkey from the bags and pat dry. Put it in a flameproof roasting pan and refrigerate, unwrapped, to let the turkey air-dry overnight (for the fourth day).
Roast the turkey

Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Roast the turkey for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325°F. Continue to roast until an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F in the thickest part of a thigh, about 2 hours. Let the turkey rest for 30 minutes before carving to allow the juices to settle. If making the gravy, do so while the turkey rests.
Leftovers
Store leftover meat and the turkey carcass in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
nutrition information (per serving):
Calories (kcal): 510; Fat (g): 24; Fat Calories (kcal): 220; Saturated Fat (g): 7; Protein (g): 68; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 8; Carbohydrates (g): 0; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 6; Sodium (mg): 1500; Cholesterol (mg): 200; Fiber (g): 0;
photo: Scott Phillips
From Fine Cooking 107, pp. 51
November 18, 2010

Have a great weekend - I'll be prepping for turkey day!

Odds and Ends

Remember this post about recovering my loveseat? Well, I finally picked a fabric and the loveseat is being recovered. Will post photos when it's finished.

Also, I've been gathering all of my goodies to set my Thanksgiving table and I'll post pictures of that next week as well.

My inspiration for the table:


image via www.thekitchn.com


Eddie Ross


Phoebe Howard and Eddie Ross, Image via Mrs. Howard Personal Shopper

Also, there is an art show opening/Holiday party at Mason Murer Fine Art on Friday, Nov 19 from 7-10pm. Many artists are featured including:
Marc Chatov, Molly Sawyer, Keiko Gonzalez, Kim Karelson, Patrick McGannon, Virginia Parker, Barbara Rehg, Suzanne Renton, "Mirrored Light: New Paintings" by Luke Allsbrook, C Dawn Davis, Helen Durant, Eliseo Miciu, Gail Wegodsky, Clark Ashton and including a book signing for Sophia Peavy Bless You Sister, I'll be Prayin for You

Musical guest The BooHoo Ramblers and a performance by Axam Dance Theatre Experience. Please bring an unwrapped new toy for the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

For more info - click here.

Shades of Gray

above Farrow & Ball Shaded White

Working on a new project. We are rearranging the whole house and getting a fresh look with paint. The trim in most of the house is a fabulous shade of greige and we will be using various shades of gray in the house.



Benjamin Moore November Rain


Donald Kaufman Collection - 10



Benjamin Moore Raccoon Hollow


Benjamin Moore Bear Creek

I once had a living room this last color in high gloss- it made an impact.

House of the Week

This beautiful house was built in 1923 for Isaac S. Hopkins, an Atlanta attorney, and the architect was Owen James Southwell, who with Henry Hornbostel designed many of the buildings on the Emory campus. It is located in one of the prettiest areas of Atlanta and interestingly, the marble columns, cast iron and some other architectural features were salvaged from the John James house, which served as the Governor's mansion from 1873-1920. The John James house was torn down in 1923 to make way for the Henry Grady hotel and is currently the site of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel.


John James house - Governor's Mansion from 1870-1923






floorplans
above three images are from the real estate listing page












above four images from the listing

The house was in Southern Accents in 2005. Interior Design by Kimberly O'Roark (click on the images to enlarge the pictures).









The house is for sale - to find out more information and see additional photos click the listing here.




Unless otherwise specified, images by Whitehaven.