New Helen Durant Painting in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles

This is Jimmy Stanton's living room from the article, Helen's painting is on the far wall. It is one of her new wolf pieces. Click here to see the whole thing, or pick up the new issue on news stands now.

Helen Durant's website
Jimmy Stanton's website

Royal Wedding Day!

It's finally here! Enjoy all of the coverage. Catherine Middleton looks exquisite today and Prince William equally handsome. Many blessings to them both as they enter into marriage.

Speaking of British Aristocracy....

Andrew and Deborah Cavendish on their wedding day, before they were the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire


I know we all have the Royal Wedding on our minds these days - only one more day until the festivities begin. And speaking of British aristocracy, one of my favorite books in the last year is written by Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire. It's called Wait For Me and I can't recommend it more highly. The Duchess has had an amazing life and has lived in some of Englands' finest houses - and helped to restore them too. Chatsworth has been the seat of the Dukes of Devonshire since 1549. Take a look:






The main hallway








The private quarters

Derby Party at Pebble Hill Plantation In Thomasville, Georgia May 7

Don't miss this fun event on May 7 at Pebble Hill Plantation. All proceeds benefit Thomasville Landmarks.


Pebble Hill Plantation

House of the Week

Since it's Easter Monday, our house of the week this week is a church. All Saints Church is the oldest standing church in Thomasville, Georgia. It was originally built as a Roman Catholic Church, and has a memorial garden on site also.



From Thomasville.com:

One of the most beautiful historic churches in the region, All Saints was actually built in 1881 as Saint Augustine Roman Catholic Church. It also has the distinction as the church where Jacqueline Kennedy attended mass during a six week private retreat to a Thomasville plantation following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In the early 1980s, the church was saved from demolition, moved to its present site in the Tockwotton Historic District and re-consecrated as an Episcopal Church. Visitors are welcome for self-guided tours Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The church is closed on Friday afternoons during the summer months.

all images by Whitehaven

Happy Easter!

I've been busy at my church arranging flowers for Easter. We have an amazing flower guild full of very talented women! Jill Helmer, of Jill Seigel Designs (floral designer), and I worked on the main altar with these two huge urns above and below.





These door decorations are stunning! It's hard to see in the picture but there are orchids.



The Mary altar, above.

It is a real pleasure to work with so many talented and creative people. Happy Easter everyone!

Click on any image to enlarge.

Easter Tablescapes

image via Southern Living


image via Country Living

It's finally time for Easter. Boy is it late this year! Here are some tablescapes to inspire those of us hosting Easter lunch on Sunday.




image via Eddie Ross


image via decorpad


image via Country Living


image via hgtv


image via opulent cottage

Historic Garden Week in Virginia, April 16-23

above, Westover Plantation

The Garden Club of Virginia is sponsoring Historic Garden Week in Virginia this week. I lived in Virginia for 10 years and can tell you there is nothing quite like Virginia in the Spring! From their website:

Celebrating 78 Years of Preserving Virginia’s Heritage

Welcome to Historic Garden Week in Virginia’s 78th anniversary season. This spring, visitors will step through the gates of more than 250 of Virginia’s most beautiful gardens, homes and historic landmarks during “America’s Largest Open House,” April 16-23, 2011. Three dozen Historic Garden Week tours present a rich mosaic of some of the country’s finest properties at the peak of Virginia’s springtime color. Sponsored by The Garden Club of Virginia, local events are scheduled from the Atlantic Ocean to the Allegheny Mountains and will span the centuries from the early 17th through the early 21st.

Click here for more information.


Morven Gardens


Winchester-Clarke area house

House of the Week

Love this Federal style new old house!



A few days ago I picked up the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of New Old House and saw this gorgeous house in Connecticut, architecture by Peter Zimmerman.

Here are a couple of teasers, but you really need to go buy this issue to see all of the amazing photographs and read about the house. Love!







Click on any image to enlarge. All images via New Old House.

Fun Update on this House of the Week

We love it when our readers comment and especially when the owners of the houses of the week let us know more about their houses. The owner of this wonderful house emailed to let us know that the house was built in the 1930's and it's a Shutze!!

I'm posting his comment below - thank you Pete for updating us and we would love a tour of the house if you ever feel so inclined.

Pete said...

Actually our home was built in the early 1930's. We bought it in 1992. Philip Shutze indeed was the architect, he built it for his niece who lived in it until 1990. Not your typical Shutze mansion...even better. There are 6 original fireplaces and we added a 7th in our kitchen/family room renovation. Shutze designed all his homes without gutters and there is a hidden french drain and brick foundation that directs the water away from the house.

Interestingly enough we have furnished our home with French antiques. We have flowers and plants that compliment our furnishings. My wife who has the ultimate "green thumb" lovingly takes care of those and our wonderful cottage garden in the back.

Your pictures of our home are beautiful but now that the azaleas are blooming and spring has sprung it comes even more alive. It is a fun house to dress up for the Christmas holidays especially with snow on the ground.

Thank you for loving our home for we sure do!

Incidentally, this blog is read around the world. Our neighbor's adult daughter who lives in London happened upon this website just yesterday and knew it was our home, told her mother who informed us. Truly the internet has made the world a much smaller place.

Have a great weekend everyone! Don't forget about Buckhead In Bloom tonight and on Sunday.

Buckhead in Bloom - April 15 & 17

Want to go on a great house tour this weekend? Here's one not to miss!



The Neel Reid house above is on the tour. The tour starts at The Lodge in Buckhead. Please see the press release below for more information and history.



Atlanta Preservation Center’s Buckhead in Bloom Celebrates a National Register Historic District

Atlanta – March 31, 2011 - The Atlanta Preservation Center’s Buckhead in Bloom celebrates the 100th anniversary of Peachtree Heights Park West, the only known neighborhood planned by the outstanding early 20th century architectural firm, Carrère & Hastings. The celebration includes two events; an opening lecture on Friday, April 15, 2011 at 8:00 pm and a home and garden tour on Sunday, April 17, 2011 from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. This event is sponsored by Harry Norman, Realtors along with Bone’s Restaurant and Blue Ridge Grill. Proceeds support the work of the APC.

Tickets for the home and garden tour are $30 for Atlanta Preservation Center members and $40 for non-members. They are available in advance through April 15 by calling APC at 404-688-3353 ext. 11 and through April 16 at the following ticket locations: Boxwoods Gardens and Gifts, Cathedral Bookstore, Habersham Gardens and the Swan Coach House. Day-of sales are available on Sunday, April 17 from 11:30 am to 4:00 pm at 8 Peachtree Battle Avenue (The Lodge at E. Rivers Elementary School).


Enjoy a lecture by distinguished author and preservationist, William “Bill” Mitchell on Friday, April 15 at 8 pm in the Gould Room at the Cathedral of St. Philip. Mr. Mitchell is a cultural historian and a founder of the Southern Architecture Foundation. He is author of many books including J. Neel Reid, Architect; Landmark Homes of Georgia and The Architecture of James Means, Georgia Classicist. Tickets are $10 and are available via phone at 404-688-3353 ext. 11 and at the door.

Then be a guest of some of Atlanta’s finest homes and gardens and enjoy the splendor of an historic neighborhood during the Buckhead in Bloom House and Garden Tour on Sunday, April 17 from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The tour will begin at the Lodge located at 8 Peachtree Battle Avenue.

The Lodge was designed in 1910 by Carrère & Hastings as the neighborhood real estate office of Eretus Rivers Realty Company, developer of Peachtree Heights Park, an early suburb developed beginning in 1910 on the former 500-acre estate of Wesley Grey Collier. The picturesque cottage provides the effect of a gatehouse at the entrance to the subdivision and, in the words of E. Rivers, “an interesting and a desirable resting place, a visiting point where Atlantans and their friends will at all times be welcome.” (Atlanta Constitution 1911)



That welcoming spirit was boosted by the Joseph Habersham Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, which formally opened the Lodge on June 19, 1911, with a receiving party to greet and serve refreshments to “automobilists and people enjoying a drive.” Newspaper accounts from that summer related activities of the chapter serving refreshments to visitors at the “tea house” and hosting a July 4 celebration on the grounds. Whether called the Lodge, the tea house or the road house, the little house on Peachtree Road just above the creek bridge grew in popularity each day. (Atlanta Constitution 1911)

In 1930, Rivers permitted teacher Mary Hardwick Bloodworth to rent the building for use as a kindergarten. In 1937, he deeded to Fulton County for $1.00 the Lodge property with these restrictions: “The above property shall be used only for museum, monumental, educational, park or other like purpose…” Mrs. Bloodworth’s kindergarten educated the children of the community until 1952. Today, the building is used by E. Rivers Elementary School for meetings and community events.

The tour following this unique beginning will include four early 20th century houses that will display the architectural work of P. Thorton Mayre, Neel Reid and Philip Shutze and the landscape architectural work of Robert Cridland and Reid.




This event is a great opportunity to enjoy one of Atlanta’s beautiful historic neighborhoods and to support the work of one of its leading preservation advocacy and education organizations.


Contact:
Carolyn Stine McLaughlin
phoenixflies@preserveatlanta.com
www.PreserveAtlanta.com
327 St. Paul Avenue, SE
Atlanta, GA 30312-3129
404-688-3353

White kitchens/White curtains

image via decorpad

I have been thinking about kitchen curtains and window treatments a lot recently. For a client and for my own kitchen. The client's kitchen will need window treatments that block some light, especially in the afternoon. Her kitchen faces West and is on the front of the house.

In my own kitchen I have finally figured out what to put on the windows to give us privacy from the new house being built next door. I am ordering 41 yards of white linen for curtains and a roman shade and will post pictures when it's all finished.

For the client and just for fun, pictures of white kitchens with pretty and interesting window treatments...

image via Simply Seleta


images via decorpad




image via country living


image via kelly interior design blog


image via Cote de Texas

A few images with more colorful window treatments...








interior design by Kathy Kincaid


image via decorpad


image via House Beautiful