Sunday, July 1, 2012

Teardown 4 of 5 is done, half-timbering with shingles designed by Frank Neely

The porte-cochère is a flying buttress!

This is a Frank Neely custom designed 6994 square footer on 0.792 acres. Full disclosure: I love the house and I particularly adore the colors. I'd like to order a size "small" please.

This one sits on the Ansley Park /
Midtown / Lenox Park axis. Most of our big-time residential architects work north of here in the Brookwood - Brookhaven crescent. Druid Hills belongs in the category but they don't do teardowns in Druid Hills.

In Atlanta new houses of this size and design quality are rare south of here. There are plenty of fine homes south of here but few new ones like this, more estate house than city house.

Here is house 1 of 5, house 2 of 5, house 3 of 5, house 4 of 5, and house 5 of 5, house 6 of 5. house 7 of 5.


Who doesn't love mini-columns if they are done right?

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Quiet detailing but lots of detail.

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It was a mid-century rancher on a fine hill, bit of a slope on the right to deal with.

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I wasn't crazy about the added on "L" but there it was.

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I had a look in the permit box. You can see how it deals with the slope off to the right, how they kept the house from appearing to tumble down the hill.

The porte-cochère is a flying buttress!

You can also see that the front entrance isn't in that grand space between the gables. Quirk or not it appeals to me.

You can also see a pronounced foundation. There may be a name for this. To me it's as if they house is sitting lightly on a platform rather than growing out of the ground. Know what I mean? I think this is a Frank Neely Design trademark.

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Usually, I don't enjoy houses until the very end. I liked this as soon as the gables first took shape.

I love the front porch's beefy architrave. The stubby column makes sense to me now. The brick (plinth?) pokes up from below. Is it another aspect of the well defined foundation? Is TDC reading?

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I met Mr. Neely and told him that his houses seem almost Victorian to me: Ebullient unsymmetrical massing with almost flamboyant detailing.

The closer you look the more detail you see.

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To my eye the colors are particularly fine. The contrasts are subtle. I asked Mr. Neely what color. He said he mixed it on the site.

I will consult Mr. Neely next time I paint our house.

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I think it's a breath of fresh air.

It doesn't match or copy the great early houses in West End or Inman Park but it would feel right at home there.

I look forward to seeing it again and again, perhaps seeing the inside some day.

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Here are the signs if you'd like to know who did what.

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Frank Neely is on the right in a renovation of his design on Peachtree Way. Shout out to fellow blogger and architecture tourist Kyle Sturtevant on the left.

Here is house 1 of 5, house 2 of 5, house 3 of 5, house 4 of 5, and house 5 of 5, house 6 of 5. house 7 of 5.

6 comments:

  1. Absolutely gorgeous! Wow! I love that one and will have to keep it in my files. We no longer live in Atlanta, but the mountains of Tennessee. That design with the hill may come in handy one day. Bravo to Mr. Neely and thanks to you for sharing!

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  2. that is gorgeous. where exactly is it? will it be for sale?

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  3. Fantastic design! It's interesting how the porched section could be its own bungalow that just happens to be grafted onto a larger Tudor-esque mass.

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  4. Hi Terry, I love it!!!! Thanks for the great tear down tour. Happy 4th!
    Robin

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  5. I really like this one. It reminds me of the house that was the original house on the Carmen on Wesley street, off West Wesley.

    The color palette is beautiful. The house is placed beautifully on the lot - it's hard to believe it is even the same lot that was in the before pictures - some great grading went on.

    I have noticed that Graham Pittman often leaves his front yard quite simple - pretty much just grass - but there was a lot of talent and skill on the part of the architect and landscape designer to get this house to work so well on the lot.

    I initially want the front door to be in the middle of those two gables. I looked for it there, but then had to seek it out somewhere else. The front would have been quite a distance from the garage and I am sure that the interior plan would not have supported the front door in that location.

    I am very curious what this house must look like inside, how the floor plan works.

    Now that I have looked at all five houses, I think this one is my favorite. What about you?

    - Holly

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