June 15, 2014

Swan House

I received several e-mails asking about Swan House which I had shown in my last post. The house is in Atlanta, Georgia and was designed by the firm of Hentz, Reid and Adler in the 1920’s, after the Inman family’s original house had burnt. The house is located on 28 acres in the Buckhead section of the city. swan-houseThe new mansion's design was executed by Philip Trammell Shutze, combining the Second Renaissance Revival style with a Classical main façade.

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The rear of the house faces a pair of cloverleaf pools, imagecascading fountains, a terraced lawn, and roses tumbling over a stone retaining wall.image

As you might imagine, the house is frequently rented for weddings and other special events. imageimage

Through the use of computer-generated images, the house was completely transformed for the movie, The Hunger Games”. image

The interiors were originally decorated by Ruby Ross Wood, a noted early decorator from New York.

Main stairsimage

Libraryimage

Detail from the libraryimage

Pale green living roomimage

Dining roomimage

Jib doorimageThis 1700’s English table might have been the inspiration for the name of the house.

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Marble master bath with crystal legimage

Second floor landing.image

Bedroomimage

The house is currently owned by the Atlanta Historical Society.

11 comments:

  1. Exquisite. Before reading your article I thought the house was European, and possibly French.

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  2. Thank you for sharing the beautiful photos. I loved seeing the interiors in particular. Its always been a favorite! Hopefully I will make it there someday.

    Best,

    Michael

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    Replies
    1. I'd love to visit, too. Friends from Atlanta tell me it's amazing.

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  3. It is interesting to note that Ruby Ross Wood in a way WAS Elsie de Wolfe. Ruby did a lot of the decorating that Elsie is given credit for. She was the ghost writer for Elsie's articles in the Delineator and Ladies Home Journal magazines. Those articles were the basis for Elsie's book, The House in Good Taste. Elsie as a decorator would not have gotten the start she had were it not for Ruby. These photographs are an excellent example of the exemplary taste Ruby had for interiors, and her ability to realize her vision.

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    Replies
    1. And Ruby has the Billy Baldwin/Baltimore connection, too!

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    2. Yes, I remember now about Ruby being Elsie's ghostwriter - thanks for reminding me! I'm always re-reading The House in Good Taste and I have read Elsie's biography. Your bringing this up reminds me now to start doing some research/reading about Ruby Ross Wood, she was a great designer. Thanks!

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  4. If I were extremely wealthy, one of my houses would look like this! (Sigh)

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  5. so beautiful + a grand house in Atlanta. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

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  6. This is such a grand house, just beautiful and so nicely nestled into the landscape. It looks very comfortable and inviting. I love the traditional interior - I'm a sucker for a black and white entry floor, my favorite. I also love the pale green walls, see this a lot in English interiors and I wonder why we don't start doing that color more on the walls again -it is such a great backdrop for dark woods and old books. Thanks for showing us this great house.

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