Table of Content
Gorgeous vistas, expansive porches, soaring ceilings with antique barn wood beams, and clerestory windows caught our eye during the first visit to the nation’s only 2013 Southern Living Idea House at Fontanel. In our second look, great design elements which can be easily adapted grabbed our attention. The gardens create a sense of welcome as visitors enter the property. Plants and shrubs create a sequence of movement through the entry and into the courtyard. We had a lot of fun touring the house and out buildings and then Vicki and I took off for the Fontanel tour and again, I’ll tell you all about that later. It’s right up the road from the ideahouse and Fontanel is now open as a tourist destination, since the Mandrell family sold it a few years ago.
The firm has received multiple awards for architectural excellence, including the 2010 Arthur Ross Award, the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art’s highest accolade for a body of work. The firm has also been featured extensively in publications devoted to architecture and interior design. This widespread recognition confirms Historical Concept’s philosophy of drawing from the past to the design the architecture of today—and tomorrow. I get invited to some of the best events and last week was invited up to Nashville to preview the newly opened Southern Living Ideahouse on the Fontanel property. I love touring homes and to get to experience the ideahouse with several other bloggers was so much fun.
Forest Home Media National Southern Living Project PR Partner
Barbara Mandrell’s daughter, Jaime Dudney, and sister, Louise Mandrell, dedicated the Family Rose Garden yesterday at the Southern Living Idea House garden. The gardens are an important design element that complements the beautiful interiors, as Southern Living magazine has always been known for its coverage of exquisite gardens and landscaping. Phoebe called on husband-and-wife fabric designers Peter Fasano and Elizabeth Hamilton to help her give the two bunkies their own personalities. "I used Elizabeth's designs to make her bunkie more feminine with a pretty blue-and-white palette, paisley wallpaper, and tufted headboards."
For over two decades Nancy McNulty's public relations efforts have built and launched an interesting spectrum of projects from premier home tours and new businesses to product lines and signature events. She handled the PR for the Middle TN Home Builder's Parade of Homes for over 10 years, served on the PR team for the Southern Living Idea House and the HGTV Smart Home 2014. She delivers engaging campaigns based on strong content creation that helps to successfully build, brand and grow businesses into industry leaders. The subtle color palette of the porch furniture blends with the rustic views surrouding the house. Again, because Southern Living will be covering the house in the August issue this year, we couldn’t take pics of all rooms, but did get to do a preview of the dining room and guesthouse. This is the well-lit dining room, simple and spacious.
Southern Living Idea House
Background against a pretty green hill, you can see the expanse of the courtyard. On the edge of the property, two miniature versions of the main house—known affectionately as “bunkies”—serve as a visual gateway into the compound. Fresh cut flowers and pretty accessories lend a feminine feel to this bunkie. The casual dining space is surrounded by windows on three sides.
FHM Intern Miles McNulty with Talk of the Town co-host Meryll Rose in study of Idea House.FHM began at 3 a.m. Preparing for Fox 17 live at the Southern Living Idea House. Since opening 50 years ago, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has changed the way the world treats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. No family ever pays St. Jude for the care their child receives and, for every child treated here, thousands more have been saved worldwide through St. Jude discoveries.
Southern Living Idea House, Nashville TN: The Bunkies
We got there a little early and had a chance to take outside pics before everyone arrived, which came in handy. From the outside of the house, it’s set up in a U-shape around a courtyard, with lots of beautiful plantings. After the Ideahouse is closed at the end of this year, this will become a bed and breakfast, which I think is so neat. In the second-floor suite, Phoebe gave the small space big impact by covering everything in the same fabric (Medium Ticking in Warm Gray; laurakiran.com). "I took a farmhouse classic, the ticking stripe, and gave it a little kick by using it on the walls, curtains, upholstery, and even the lampshades," says Phoebe. Everything has a band of red trim to tie it back to the stunning oxblood red ceiling, while all-white bedding by the Company Store provides a break in the pattern.
"With farmhouses, it was common for parts of porches to be enclosed as interior needs grew," says architectural designer Terry Pylant. "We designed the rear of the house to reflect that tradition, as if the flanking rooms were once part of the porch." A neutral palette connects the porch to the home's exterior and its pastoral setting. I was able to photograph other parts of the property including the surrounding porches and guest rooms of the beautiful Idea House.
Off the clock, find her strolling through Birmingham neighborhoods looking at houses and snapping photos of colorful front doors. A separate entrance from the porch opens directly into the hardworking mudroom with its pairs of custom open built-ins and closed closets that provide ample space for open and hidden storage. "The wrapped covered porch is the key to this entire design because it provides the connectivity from space to space," says Terry.
Headquartered in Birmingham, AL, the rapidly expanding Southern Living brand is part of Time Inc., one of the largest content companies in the world and the largest publisher in the United States. She pairs unexpected fabrics and trims on window treatments, pillows and upholstery with surprising uses of color on cabinetry, walls and ceilings. “Our refined farmhouse draws from Tennessee’s rich architectural legacy to look like it has always been there,” said Lindsay Bierman, Editor-in-Chief of Southern Living. I just bought this at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago and love it. Jaime Dudney, Barbara Mandrell’s daughter, was introduced from the speaker podium during the talks and I noted that she and I had on the same dress! I couldn’t let the opportunity go by without speaking to her and making light of the fact that we were dressed alike.
Staff can help you secure a table at a hard-to-book Nashville restaurant, such as Husk, or last-minute tickets to a show at the Grand Ole Opry. (Two of the suites are pet-friendly.) If you want to go to town, the innkeepers can easily arrange car service into Nashville. Tile is a pretty and practical choice for the light-filled laundry room. For interest on the walls, Phoebe used two colors of the same small mosaic tile (Straight Chisai; annsacks.com) in wide stripes. Spool beds became popular with American furniture makers in the mid 19th century.
For the primary bath, Historical Concepts designed floating walls for the vanities that also function as room dividers for the tub/sink area and the large dressing room. "This allows both areas to share light and air through the entire space," says Terry. Phoebe gave the vanities a more modern look by rapping each with honed marble and then using refined limed oak for the cabinet doors.
Castle Homes earned the coveted 2012 Southern Living Custom Builder of the Year for their exceptional home building. Founded in 1992, Castle Homes is a top Nashville-based design-build company producing impeccable homes with a guaranteed price – unique to the Middle Tennessee building industry. This Southern Living Idea House is more of a complex than a single home – it’s a farmhouse that connects to several small guest houses, or “bunkies,” by covered porches for easy access in all weather conditions.
You can see those beautiful shades that pull up and down for sun control. It’s a gorgeous house, but we were only allowed to take photos of a few areas, but had full reign outside, so you’ll see lots of pics of the outside. For those who didn’t know, the Southern Living Idea House is located on the property of Fontanel, former home of country music legend, Barbara Mandrell. After months of hard work and inspired design, the NashvilleSouthern Living Idea House is officially open to the public!
No comments:
Post a Comment