Text: Lydia Somerville
Photography: Emily Followill and John O’Hagan
Styling: Eleanor Roper
When a client came to Caroline Willis in need of help with the interior of the house she had just bought in Buckhead, Caroline was delighted to discover it hadn’t been improved in years. That meant the 1940s residence retained all the quirks of an old house, such as rooms distinct from one another, with framed doorways to transition from one room to the next. “It rambled in the best way,” she says, “you can tell it was added onto over time.” The original paneling, flooring, windows, and a screened porch had remained largely unscathed. Though charmed by the house’s heritage, they did bow to comfort and modern convenience with a new kitchen and enlarged primary suite.
The homeowners had a collection of family antiques, but that still left lots of shopping to be done. “The wife loves contemporary art and feminine colors,” says Willis. One of the perks of living in Atlanta is proximity to great shopping, so Willis and the client hit all the Atlanta showrooms; Parc Monceau, Bungalow Classic, Holland MacRae, Foxglove Antiques, and Travis & Company for furniture that would bring the family home to life. The duo shopped for art at such galleries as Pryor Fine Art, Anne Irwin, and Spalding Nix Fine Art. “We had such fun going in all the Atlanta galleries to search for pieces that she liked,” says Willis. The result is a house that feels collected rather than simply furnished.
The colors in the house range from celadon and bone blue to petal pink, all in easy-on-the-eyes middling saturation. A visitor to the house is greeted by painted grasscloth wallpaper in the entry with a faded pink Oushak rug playing off the mint green walls. The living room’s pale blue and green tones are countered by the pale pink window treatments. In the family room, original paneling painted a pale blue is warmed by rich wood tones of antiques and a plaid rug.
After a few years living in the house, the couple decided to add on a wing with the intent of creating a space for entertaining. “They decided they loved the house enough to endure the pain of a large addition,” says Willis. Thus, a pool, pool house, and connecting structures enlarged the footprint of the residence and added space for their two daughters to host friends. “We wanted the pool house to function as a low-maintenance hangout for the kids as well as an informal entertaining space,” she says. “The fabrics are all indoor/outdoor as are most of the furnishings. The doors open fully to the pool, so it can feel like a pavilion.”
Architecture firm T.S. Adams helmed the design of the addition. Materials and motifs consistent with the original house create a seamless transition between old and new. A pretty mudroom with built-in storage and a window seat connects the two. The new wing wrapping around the back of the house was so sensitively designed that it seems like a natural extension, as if the rambling house rambled on just a little farther.
