The Architecture Tourist Lutyens Lovers SIG thought the party was just for us. This is exactly what we like to do on Tuesday night.
Kyle Studivent, builder and blogger at "The well Composed Home," and I walked outside to have a look. It was just one of the smile-generators in the house. Makes moving a grand piano easier I'm sure but I think it's the wit.
Here is the whole composition.
It's a beauty you won't see in a real estate ad. This is the view from the parking court. For Kyle and me it was a piece of heaven.
The parking court was so good, I had to photograph the electric meter, you gotta have one, even in a McAlpine house.
Mmm, mmm, mmm. Those zigs and zags, cornices and gutters, lentils and shutters. Just yummy. Remember, this the service side of the house where the basketball goal is, trashcans too but I didn't see them.
Here is the driveway.
Nice driveway no? The house is right up there.
This is the front porch. But compared to the porch on my little house, this needs a fancy French name. I didn't realize these were shutters until I got up close. The front door is behind me. The great room is though those French doors. You can see the porch from the inside in the video at the bottom.
The foyer is small and cozy. I'm looking down from the 2nd floor. I think the foyer has the highest charm/square-foot ratio I've ever experienced.
Many mansions whack you upside the head with their foyer. Know what I mean?
This foyer says, "We are not giants, we're just folks who want you to feel comfortable in our house."
But the foyer is not just a foyer.
It's in the middle of a long upstairs enfilade from the children's wing, through the great room, to the master. It's a box seat with a balcony for observing the flow of folks through the house.
James told me that a McAlpine signature is a mirror on a window. Here you go: this is looking into the master bath, the mirror hanging above the sink in the center window.
There was so much to look at. I'd turn the chairs so I could look at the detials.
By this time the crowd was shoulder to shoulder inside. Kyle showed me this detail.
Most of us the bloggers got there early. Kyle - Well Composed Home, James - Limestone and Boxwoods, Blayne - This Photographer's Life (Architecture + Interior Design), John - Clickscape John also does a heroic job at the Midtown Archive, Holly, our hero and heroine, was there from Things That Inspire, Niki from Single Bubble Pop. Rodolofo doesn't exactly blog but he tweets @CastroDesignATL and Facebooks and is a best architect friend to bloggers.
Kyle, James, and Blayne had a moment in the keeping room before the multitudes arrived.
I don't want to embarrass anyone but Helen, Capella, Ally, Claire, Angela, Travis: This will go your permanent record unless you bring an written excuse. Cristi is excused, she sent Billy and he did run the party and we heard that the baby is really, really cute.
Finally, a little video of the great room before the crowd arrived.
Thanks so much so much to Blayne, Glennis and all the folks at Beacham & Company, REALTORS® and to Bobby and to Bruce and Lisa. Thanks to the bloggers who have been so nice to me, who've shown me so much.