If you have read my blog at all, you've read that my favorite store in all of Atlanta is Boxwoods Gardens and Gifts. It is a delightful place with items of many price points but all tasteful and unique. The owners, Randy Korando and Dan Belman own a weekend house in Madison, Georgia, about an hour east of Atlanta, called Camp Boxwoods. I have been in their Atlanta residence, but have been looking forward to seeing their Madison house. Well, it was on the Madison Morgan Cultural Center's Spring House and Garden Tour this weekend, and I nearly skipped down their long, beautiful driveway, eager to soak in every incredible detail.
photo from the house tour promotional material
Can you believe that this was a 1979 ranch which they have reinvented into a soaring Queen Anne Victorian complete with bell tower? It sits on 120 acres, with two ponds and extensive gardens filled with antique boxwoods from England.
This entry space is the only bump out beyond the original footprint of the ranch.
photo from Traditional Home
Here's the inside of this entry. This beautiful stenciled floor was done by Randy himself. Isn't it beautiful? See the oakleaves he put in as center medallions? Don't miss the wainscotting treatment. I just love it!
Keep in mind that they added all of this millwork! This unique chandelier is the top part of one that came from St. Louis. It hung in the home of Cardinal baseball great, Stan "the Man" Musial.
And in the living room, the larger, bottom half hangs.
Look at the carving over the fireplace. I don't know that I would have had the nerve to paint it white, but that's exactly what it should be. Aren't the doors perfect?
photo from Traditional Home
How beautiful is this? This room was the garage. They vaulted many of the low-slung ceilings and that, of course, changed the space dramatically. Look carefully under the windowseat. They made a little home for Muffy, the mutt, their smallest dog. The others, Wesley the sheepdog, and Tuxedo, the standard black poodle are much too large to poach on her special space.
Every single inch has the most special items. Randy and I both have a special affinity for oak leaves and acorns, and you'll find them many places throughout the home. I thought this black forest carved wooden box with a fern on it and a fern in it was so fine.
Their majolica collection should be a post by itself!
Here's another item that I love and would love to collect. It's a faux bois terranium. I know that they have a collection of these in their in-town home and they are remarkable.
I'm still drooling over this powder room chandelier.
There were a pair of these brackets with black forest birds and queen's ware plates in this powder room.
The kitchen was warm and homey. The cupboards here are an antique French candy counter cut in half.
A vignette in another powder room.
This photo is very poor quality, but I wanted you to see the way they turned the living room into the dining room. This window obviously wasn't in the original ranch, but isn't it perfect?
Have you any idea how I covet these lamps on that console? I love everything about it....black forest and dogs!
And in the center, this silver set has acorns and oak leaves. Perfect! Disregard the reflection of the photographer. I tried every angle, but had to go with this.
I took this picture standing on the steps to the upstairs. See how this beautiful space opens onto that great wrap around porch?
This is the other side of the room. Note the way they vaulted this room and the incredible mantle display. It is perfection the way all the cream color shows up on the stonework.
photo from Traditional Home
Every inch of the master bedroom is genius. This imposing bed is actually a Victorian twin bed in it's first life. These antique window cornices are soooo fabulous. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to find the right fit or maybe to even reconfigure them!
More acorns, oak leaves, and black forest carving!
Here's another incredible piece of furniture with the perfect vignette and the perfect wall grouping.
The flowers were simple, but perfect.
And this bust of a woman with a nest of baby birds is just so sweet.
Also in this hallway is this niche with this lovely pot un fleur, which is the specialty at Boxwoods. Their potting work is so wonderful that you can recognize it in all the finest homes in Atlanta.
On an upstairs porch, I spied this little house.
photo from Traditional Home
Now....for a room that will take your breath away.....the third floor guest bedroom. Do you recognize the materials that Randy has used to "panel" the lower walls and create the crewel work on the upper half? They are pinecones, sweetgum balls, honeysuckle vine, hickory nuts, and of course, acorns hats!!!! They are!!!! I promise!!!!
Look carefully.
Are you blown away yet?
How about now?
Sigh!!!
Back downstairs, sits the perfect mudroom. This color combination is just dreamy. This antique French dinnerware is all in lavender and the old glassware has also taken on a lavender cast. I love this so much, I might want to turn it into a little bedroom and sleep there.
The other wall in this room, graced with this lovely dog portrait hung over a stained glass partition which they added. More Boxwoods signature flowers.
Now, this is a porch that I could spends days on. This witches' hat treatment makes it the perfect focal point for this special home. I think that sometimes adding these features to a house seem sort of contrived, but in this case, it is nothing short of perfect.
Here's a tease for my next post.....the gardens and outbuildings of Camp Boxwoods. You won't want to miss it.
To contact :
Randy Korando - interior design
Dal Belman - landscape design
Boxwoods Garden and Gifts
100 East Andrews
Atlanta, Ga. 30305
404-233-3400
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