The Fantasy Awaiting
By Susannah M. Wilson
Photography By Hickey-Robertson
It might have been quite a conventional residence. The original plan for the northwest Atlanta home called for a concrete-paved interior courtyard and a twelve-foot-deep wooden deck across the back. But that was before Houston interior designer Kelly Gale Amen met with his clients to elaborate on the architectural scheme, and with their participation, transformed the house into a lush, mysterious environment with extraordinary vistas and architectural concepts.
The wife has a passion for the pulse, color, and texture of Latin countries. Mexico so intrigues the couple, in fact, that they are considering a second home there. The two wanted a setting where both dressy and informal attire would seem appropriate, with the courtyard an essential part of an indoor-outdoor living arrangement. Although room placement did not change during construction, amen and his clients reevaluated some spaces and created embellishments that truly set the house apart.
The viewer’s first hint of the fantasy awaiting comes at the entrance where tall nineteenth-century mahogany doors swing wide to introduce the first tantalizing glimpse of the Mediterranean-inspired courtyard. Arched doorways opening to this central point were added, and a colonnade of Mexican stone columns sheltering a walkway was installed in the open space. A tower presides above the courtyard’s overlapping roof tiles. The cement paving gave way instead to a classical pink and white Mexican tile checkerboard floor, and slender jets of water, echoing the house’s interior curves, cascade into the pool with its mosaic of cobalt blue glazed tile.
Inside, other features envelop the home in luxury. In the living room, a setting both energizing and contemplative, bulls’-eye and tall arched windows soar toward the twenty-two-foot ceiling where an entablature painting of marble, stone and sky rendered by artisan Suzanne Morriss contributes architectural appeal. Since the sofa is overscale, one must be seated for the full power of the room’s dimensions and lofty ceiling to strike home. A balcony, one of several introduced as focal points, overlooks pines and the Chattahoochee River below. On the opposite side of the room, columns line the gallery, skirting the courtyard and framing the view.
Subtly colored Italian marble flooring, the same marble that also appears in the foyer and the dining room was used for fireplace trim throughout the house. Pediment with a mirror inset crowns the doorway to the library and introduces another architectural note. Because the wife wanted warm peach in all the rooms, the living room walls are washed in the lightest indication of the shade and complemented by dark-stained ceiling beams against a terra-cotta hue. As an exquisite finishing touch, strips of polished wood separate the marble flooring of this and other formal rooms from the Mexican tile floors of more casual spaces. “Architecturally, with the arches, the classical columns, and some suburban ingredients, this house is a mixture, a hodgepodge,” amen candidly admits. “This is how they build in the third world-they simply add and improvise. But the best design constituents arise from mistakes, where you have the capability and the flexibility of surprise.”
Furniture functions as art in the exotic, museumlike setting. Many of the couple’s pieces were purchased in Spain and Mexico. Amen has dressed beds, benches, sofas, and windows with striking combinations of silk, wool, and cotton. A chain-stitch rug from Kashmir introduces soft greens and plums in the living room, and a lush striped velvet on the upholstered sofa provides the necessary formality for the asymmetrical furniture placement. Pillows, with their interplay of texture, dimension, and softness, present a visual feast. Some creations incorporated two material plus trim, and while no fabric is obtrusive, there’s not a boring pillow in the house. “I call it my game of friction,” says amen. “Tension keeps the motion alive. It’s that pull and tug, that interplay. It’s the satin with the velvet, the usual position with the unusual placement, the expected with the unexpected. This visual dimension is what keeps things interesting.”
Floral designer Ed Stiffler was commissioned to create some dramatic compositions for the living rooms and entry utilizing “an entire forest” of bare branches. The immense arrangements, placed in antique olive vases from Spain, offer just the scale of fullness these areas require without blocking the light or views.
In contrast to the living room, other spaces are quite intimate. The dining room, with its nine-foot-high ceiling, gleams like a jewel at night. Mirror laid in a chevron pattern on the fireplace shaft and the reflective surface of a copper and wroughtiron serving piece both provide an illusion of spaciousness. The sideboard’s faux marble complements the Italian marble floor. Morriss applied silver and gold leaf to the pecan dining table so skillfully that its border of fruit acquires an almost tangible dimension and the stable appears to be chiseled stone.
For both formal and family areas, Amen’s artistry lends a unifying thread to the decor. The library is decorated with a mirrored ceiling, and surprising silk damask was selected for the sofa to promote a sense of airiness. The enveloping master bedroom features sumptuous and intricately fashioned curtains that create a very private space. All the rooms are so arranged that art, walls, or floors can be spotlighted.
Each moment in the house is quite unlike any other. The courtyard is dazzling on dewy mornings when a breeze wafts through the columns and the fountains ripple the pools azure surface. As the sun swings higher, light dances upon polished wood and enamel and casts evanescent shadows on marble and tile. Sunset, on the other hand, suggests a celebration, a leisurely libation enjoyed at poolside. Even during winter months, the courtyard, viewed from within the house, glows like an exquisite genre painting, its columns seductively illuminated from above.
Furnishing the residence has been an engrossing project for the couple. The setting beckons the visitor with its suggestion of sunny climes and sultry evening, and one seems just on the point of catching, beyond the fountain, a fragmentary melody.
