ESTATE OF GRACEWhile the Swan House basks in all the glory, another important local masterpiece awaits a new beginning. Atlanta architects and residential designers reveal their thoughts on the influence of the Calhoun Estate

A REAL CLASSIC

ESTATE OF GRACE WHILE THE SWAN HOUSE BASKS IN ALL THE GLORY, ANOTHER IMPORTANT LOCAL MASTERPIECE AWAITS A NEW BEGINNING. ATLANTA ARCHITECTS AND RESIDENTIAL DESIGNERS REVEAL THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE INFLUENCE OF THIS TIMELSS BEAUTY

PHOTOGRAPHED BY PETER BLOCK PRODUCED BY CLINTON SMITH

“The Calhoun Estate is one of Buckhead's most important examples of Italian Baroque architecture and is an early example of Neel Reid and Philip Shutze’s many masterpieces in this style. This house announces the beginning of Atlanta’s love affair with Italian architecture for fashionable homes of the 1920s. In its original form, the estate was one of the grandest properties in the South.” –William T. Baker

“What an intrepid survivor is this house; still to be standing near busy, busy West Paces Ferry and not to have been replaced by a subdivision, surely suggests divine intervention! Having received part of my architectural education in the Veneto of Italy, I can offer the notion that this house for the Calhouns marks a brilliantly seamless, but amazingly evolved progression of Italian Baroque Classicism, connecting the 16th century to the 20th as if there had been no intervening centuries.” The legendary Calhoun Estate, built in 1923, was designed by architect Philip Shutze and was a collaboration with Neel Reid. The home is currently listed on the market for $2.995,000 through Glennis Beacham of Beacham & Company, Realtors.

left to right Natural light floods the home’s foyer. The first-floor powder room, as if preserved in amber. The elgant simplicity of a guest bathroom, with built-in storage and mirrored sliding doors. The home’s living room is anchored by terrazzo floors. Symmetry and intricate detailing are hallmarks of the Calhoun Estate’s dining room.

“The Calhoun Estate is one of our city’s greatest architectural treasures. In a city that is constantly changing, this house has remained basically untouched. The colors, materials and details are exquisite. While it has grandeur, it remains intimate and friendly.” — D. Stanley Dixon “This house is a rich, fine, pure example of northern Italian revival architecture. The interiors are highly detailed, elaborate and fanciful with stucco over doors, Italian mantels, beautifully designed carved interior wood doors and mannerist appliqués. These features, along with the ‘spot on’ proportion and scale, give this house a very romantic, authentic feeling as if you were in northern Italy right here in Atlanta. How much fun is that?” — William B. Litchfield

“The Calhoun Estate is a statement about the ability of local architects of the time to create a home inspired by Italian villas that also reflected the essence of Southern graciousness. Not only was the house masterfully designed, with proportions that are just as human and livable today, it was sited with sweeping axial views that perfectly framed the home on the land.” – William H. Harrison

“The house is a terrific example of relating the architecture with the landscape by its use of parterre gardens in such grandeur, yet allowing for the natural vegetation surrounding its environs. The Calhoun house is one of the finest examples of classical architecture in Atlanta (not to mention the Southeast) and is a great role model for future architects for its triumphant scale and proportions.” –Robert Norris

“The home’s lasting influence can be attributed, as with any great design, to three simple attributes: It has impact. It commands our attention. And it is satisfying, because it has depth and it is memorable. Once experienced, it never leaves us.” –Peter Block