By day, an inviting, sleek glass entryway eases the transition of a modern house built in the traditional Tuxedo Park neighborhood of Atlanta. At night, the glass lights up with a welcoming two-story sculptural light that can be seen from the street – a key element the owners wanted when building their dream family home.
“I began with an idea that this would be a glass lantern in an overall solid,” describes architect Robert Tretsch, “and I just started carving away from it, which gave me the entrance.”
Straddling the two-story glass entranceway is a recessed wall that connects the glass features and acts as the anchor for the home. “I like the idea of having this strong, deep color in the recess of the front entry terrace,” admits Tretsch, who is based in Harrison Designs’ Atlanta office. “With it bracketed by the glass and white stucco, it brings you a little deeper into the home.”
And that is where the living begins for this active, intergenerational family that includes three boys and a large Bernedoodle. “The house unfolds and surprises as you come through it,” notes Tretsch. “Everything sort of peels back.”
Using only three main materials – stucco, stone and some exposed steel on the back – he established a contemporary feel. The home itself arcs into a C shape, with each area designed for a specific purpose yet flexible enough to adapt to residents’ needs.
“It’s rare that I design a room so bespoke that it can’t have a different function,” he explains. “There’s no reason any room can’t be called on or used for whatever is needed.” So when a study became a bedroom, it didn’t affect the home’s design, but rather reflected the family’s lifestyle. “People should live the way they want to,” adds Tretsch.
A soaring two-story fireplace is a central focus of the house, both socially and structurally. The lower level with its limited windows had problematic requirements, but Tretsch created a media room and bar area, even leaving room for a golf simulator. “It’s a grown-up playground,” he admits, laughing. The stairs down are split level, allowing light in from the main floor.
Once the initial home design was completed – a process that included eliminating the architect’s desire for elevations and the owners’ initial thought of a pitched roof – designer Michael Habachy was brought on board.
By establishing a neutral color palette with darker accents, Habachy created a cohesion that brings together the diverse living areas.
“We were big on keeping the spaces on the upper levels light and airy with the occasional dark accents,” he explains. “And on the lower terrace level (where the bar and theater are), we did the opposite by selecting dark, rich finishes for the walls and lighter furnishings as accents.”
While the open floor plan allows for ample natural light, the 12-foot ceilings on the main floor had the potential to make the living area feel more commercial than homelike. Design elements, including millwork, soften the rooms. In the kitchen, natural and ebonized rift oak are used, with the lighter wood finished about nine feet off the floor and the darker higher up.
The home also reflects the family’s emphasis on entertaining. A second, fully functional kitchen is adjacent to the main-floor kitchen and can be easily concealed behind four massive folding doors.
Finding solutions to fit people’s lifestyles is always the challenge for an architect. “You always gauge your clients,” states Tretsch. “They have a comfort zone, and a good architect can push them out of it in certain areas, while keeping other elements that they like.”
“They seemed to grow with the plan,” he recalls of the homeowners. There was a groundswell of appreciation.
Photography by Galina Photography.
For more like this modern house, be sure to check out this West Hollywood home.
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