Rich With Character

Great design and new materials combine to give a contemporary home lasting style.

The reason a home stands the test of time is good architecture. If it's well planned, no matter the style, a new home can become an automatic classic. It will be as comfortable for the family who builds it as it is for subsequent generations who live there. Smart home design results in rooms that are flexible and timeless.

American residential architecture has roots planted in the South. Thomas Jefferson was fascinated by it and, over the course of many years, refined his own home, Monticello. Jefferson lent his expertise to friends and family throughout Virginia, even conceiving the layout and design for the original campus and structures of the University of Virginia. Out of this tradition grew wonderful homes all over the South.

Sadly, though, as our region has grown over the last half-century, design has become secondary to meeting an owner's immediate wants. Think about the gigantic family room where the largest TV is dwarfed by 20-foot-tall ceilings. Or the homes being built with three-car garages fronting the street and soaring arches above the front door.

Movements to bring back traditional architecture and sensible design have been under way for the last 25 years or so, but the poorly designed homes still outnumber those that are timeless, comfortable, and livable for generations to come.

The Genesis of a Showcase Home

When The American Village in Montevallo, Alabama, contacted us to build our third Southern Living Showcase Home, we jumped at the chance. The American Village teaches our country's history, civics, and government by allowing students to interact with costumed interpreters and re-created versions of Mount Vernon, the Oval Office, and even a Revolutionary War-era military encampment on their 113 acres in Central Alabama. The campus provided the perfect place to build a home inspired by our early American architectural traditions. The goal, however, also called for the home to incorporate necessities that would make it comfortable today.

Starting With a Plan

The American Village and architect Mike Hamrick approached us with a plan that would become The President's House, inspired by George Washington's home in Philadelphia. The earlier house, torn down in 1832, didn't have a master bedroom on the main floor, interior baths, or an attached kitchen. The architect updated the floor plan by adding the kitchen in a one-story element to one side of the house. The master bedroom and bath are in another one-story addition on the back of the house. The main core of the house, however, looks strikingly similar to the original.

Like many historic homes, the exterior is clad in brick to minimize long-term maintenance. Although brick is more expensive, it is still more cost-effective when considering the life of the home. Where brick couldn't be used, the building team, led by David Pritchett, selected aluminum-clad windows and doors, synthetic molding materials, and fiber-cement siding that doesn't warp or rot and holds paints well.

Creating a Place

The second step to building a timeless home is good landscape design. It is an integral part of the process, just as the architecture itself. Starting with an open field nearly devoid of trees would require a heady approach. Joel Eliason of Nimrod Long and Associates laid out the garden long before construction began.

Drawing on historic precedence, Joel called for two enclosed gardens. The walls and fences essentially create two distinct outdoor rooms. The garden on the right side of the house serves as a more formal space geared toward beauty and entertaining. The left garden, which wraps the kitchen and side porch, is enclosed in the back by a carriage house. This area features herbs, vegetables, and an open rectangular lawn for playing.

Step Inside

You might expect very rigid and formal interiors to go with the historical theme. However, we charged Ruth Mears and Rebecca Hatcher of Hatcher Design Associates with creating interiors that were sensitive to a historic home yet suitable for modern life. They chose comfortable furniture-new and antique-neutral paint colors, rich fabrics, and a mix of contemporary art.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation Apr 2007
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