This September, a luxury penthouse will serve as host for the third annual Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Serenbe Designer Showhouse. Spanning three bedrooms and a series of shared and private outdoor living spaces, the penthouse, located at The Textile Lofts, will feature spaces designed by Cloth & Kind, Anna Braund, Bradley Odom of Dixon Rye, and more. It is located in Serenbe, a lush community on the edge of Atlanta, which encompasses four hamlets, with commercial hubs centered on arts, agriculture, health and education.
Is designing for a penthouse versus the traditional showhouse manse different? “For us, this design process has been very different, and in the best kind of way,” designers Tami Ramsay and Krista Nye Nicholas of Cloth & Kind tell EAL. “We teamed up with Amy Mills of Paper Mills to custom-design a blockprinted wallpaper pattern for the hall and foyer, inspired by the Southern landscape. The collaboration has been such an incredible creative process for all of us and has most definitely whet our palate for product development.” And Kelly Anthony of Wolf Design Group and SWOOX, shares, “Designing for a textile loft is very creative... The intention and accentuation is on texture more than simply form.”
As for the unique venue, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles editor in chief Elizabeth Ralls tells EAL, “This is the third designer showhouse Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles has produced at the Serenbe community, and the Textile Lofts are a definite departure, both in size (the penthouse unit is about 2,400 square feet) and aesthetic. What ultimately drew us to this project is the way this building is lending itself to creativity—it’s modeled after a turn-of-the-century textile mill, features two 16-foot Roman arched windows in the great room, and overlooks the treetops of Serenbe. And, the talents we’ve selected for the penthouse are not just designers, but creatives and artists in their own right, such as artist/textile designer Susan Hable Smith.”
Designer Melanie Davis shares of the building's heritage: "There is a story to be told. The architect, Ryan Duffey, named the building the Textile Lofts, giving it a sense of history and place. The name naturally demands a level of creativity and appreciation for what an integral part textiles are to design and the textile mills have been to the history of states like Georgia. My grandfather worked with Muscogee Mills, textile mills in Columbus, Georgia, about an hour and a half south of Serenbe. I have enjoyed researching vintage photographs and finding items from the old mills, like wooden bobbins. It feels like we are renovating a wonderful old mill. The highlight has been working with Ryan on finding reclaimed hardwood floors, and seeing all the dots connected when Authentic Reclaimed told us the floors we picked were from an old textile mill. The building truly has a story to tell and we have a special group of creative storytellers to bring it to life."
Proceeds from the showhouse will benefit the Art Farm, an artist and residency complex at Serenbe that’s home to visiting and permanent artists aligned with the Serenbe Institute and Artist in Residence program, the Serenbe Playhouse, Serenbe Fellows and Serenbe Film. The farm is working with Rural Studio, the design-build program of Auburn University, on building and field-testing artist studio cottages.
Monica Olsen, director of communications at Serenbe, shares, “We believe a life well lived includes the arts, and the AH&L designer showhouse supports our goal to integrate art into everyday life. Every year, proceeds from the showhouse support the Art Farm, a central place for cultivating art and artists’ work at Serenbe. Past funds helped build the Art Farm’s first two artist cottages for residencies, and this year’s proceeds will go towards the next cottage, to grow the number of artists we can house, creating energy, engagement and celebrating the arts.”
The designer roster for the 2016 Serenbe Designer Showhouse includes:
Anna Braund
Björk Studio and Kolo Collection with Sunbrella
Bradley Odom of Dixon Rye
Cloth & Kind
Kelly Anthony of Wolf Design Group and SWOOX
Nancy Duffey of Scout for the Home
Shane Robuck and Kris Walls of Robuck
Steve McKenzie of Steve McKenzie’s
Architect: J. Ryan Duffey
Builder: Morgan Constructors
Landscape Architect: Lucinda Bray, Floralis Garden Design
