Emmie, Angela, Ally, and I toured a working architects' studio last month. It was the Atlanta Studio of Historical Concepts in Glenwood Park.
Domenick Treschitta, project architect for the 2010 Southern Living Idea House in Senoia Georgia, gave us the tour. Here is Domenick in the white shirt explaining stucco over real masonry. The entrance to the Historical Cencepts live-work townhouse is between the tall bushes right behind Domenick.
So what's so special?
Glenwood park was designed in part by Historical Concepts. They designed their building inside and out. They retained and demonstrated the flexibility of the space while turning the garage and main living floor into studios.
The space wasn't staged for a magazine spread or even a group of bloggers. It was full of hard working architects designing classic / traditional buildings, pattern books, and plans for clients across the country. It was full of folks designing beautiful things.
Let me show you around a bit. Here is the stair looking back toward the front door. Notice the very tall ceiling. It solves the problem of the sloped lot.
See the slope? The ground floor is the "retail/work" space for the live-work townhouse. That level also has a full bath so you could sleep down there.
The alley side has the two car garage which shares the ceiling level with the ground floor. It's a split level. The first level with full balcony is the piano nobile.
Anyway, upon entering the front door we see a spectacular room that Historical Concepts uses as a meeting space. I couldn't get a good picture but let me assure you that it was a great room. You can see how they took advantage of and mitigated the tall ceiling with beautiful woodwork. The light fixture is by Eloise Pickard.
I would have stayed there until they called the police but I'd heard there was a rooftop deck. We headed upstairs to the garage level. They'd converted the garage into a studio full of architects and architect gear including models.
The watercolor guy was an architect paying his dues. He was huddled in the corner with his little paint trays. The walls were covered with renderings of beautiful places. Look closely at the big one on the upper right. You can click here to make the picture a little bigger.
I wanted to look closely at every one but there were folks working in there. So up the stairs again to the first full floor.
This would be the main living area, kitchen, and maybe a bedroom. Windows faced east, north and west, balconies to the north and west. It's another studio, another great space.
On the wall, pages from a pattern book for a place in Alabama. A lot of beautiful designs. Perhaps few of them will be built. A small tragedy: this is folio that won't be available for purchase or for check out from the library. It might be a proposal for an unbuilt project.
So far we've seen the entrance level, the garage level, and the main living level, all purposed as a working studio.
Two more levels to go. Above the piano nobile is another full floor with balconies. Somebody actually lives there and quite nicely I'll bet.
We didn't get to tour that floor. But I would move in sight unseen.
So up the final flight to the roof and rooftop room now used for meetings. What windows, what a room. Ally wanted to work up there, me too.
Beautiful exterior paneling. This is the top of the stairwell.
To the northeast is this yellow house that I adore.
To the west:
We wanted to move in. See the transom doorway to the balcony?
I like the townhouse next door too: fancier windows quieter cornice.
