A Buckhead Grande Dame Sparkles With European Elegance and Welcoming Warmth

The intimate salon comfortably hosts three generations, where 19th-century antiques—an Italian burl walnut commode and mahogany English architect’s-table-turned-game-table—mingle with furniture from Rose Tarlow.

The home has seen many iterations in addition to designer Beth Webb’s tenure, including by architect Keith Summerour, who did a previous renovation.

In the foyer, the stately front door strikes an intriguing contrast with a fanciful 19th-century French demilune.

The study is wrapped in a flaxen-hued grasscloth and anchored by an antique Oushak rug for an effect that envelops the family.

In the wife’s office, a pair of 19th-century bronze neoclassical figures atop marble bases illuminate the space.

The 17th-century glass mirror above the fireplace was discovered in Antwerp, Belgium, at Axel Vervoordt’s Kanaal.

Webb’s first client renovated the kitchen, a calming and light-filled space. Little was changed in this, her third, update.

Webb’s first client renovated the kitchen, a calming and light-filled space. Little was changed in this, her third, update.

The pattern from the breakfast room chair cushions is repeated in the butler’s pantry and kitchen.

The inviting dining room opens to a breezy screened porch. “I love the intimacy of scale in the dining room,” says Webb. “It’s as comfortable for two as it is for 10.”

A winter landscape by Willard Metcalf crowns an 18th-century Lyonnaise Regence commode.

block-print wallcovering echoes the floral motif of a circa-1880 Venetian mirror.

Installing the sweeping Venetian iron canopy bed was a nail-biter, says Webb. “It is literally inches from the ceiling.” A pair of hand-painted chests from Casa Gusto in Palm Beach are topped with Italian marble column lamps.

The upstairs guest bath is situated snuggly under the eaves and received an all-white overhaul for a restful result.

Two queen beds made up with crisp Italian linens frame a circa-1890 French washstand-turned-chest.

Landscape architect Jeremy Smearman of Planters returned to reinvigorate the outdoor areas. The backyard gives off a magical, sunken garden aura, replete with climbing vines that drape over the brick wall.

The alfresco dining room features a vaulted ceiling with rich wood beams, continuing the continental aesthetic of the home.

More of this Buckhead home can be seen in Webb’s second book Embracing Beauty: Serene Spaces for Living (Rizzoli; $65), releasing in February 2025.

Creating artful interiors is second nature for designer Beth Webb. With an early career as an art consultant, she has a keen eye for form and balance that guides the spaces she composes today. And like revisiting a favorite painting with a fresh perspective, Webb revels in returning to past projects. In the case of one Buckhead grande dame, she has had three separate opportunities across a 20-year span to work her magic.

The current inhabitants purchased the property as a second home to be close to their grandchildren. “A few weeks before I got the call from them, I was riding around looking for that smaller house that’s perfect for empty nesters, which has become an anomaly here in Atlanta,” says Webb.

Though it wasn’t on the market, Webb highlighted the home to her husband as they passed. “It is fabulous, has incredible bones, and lives so well,” she told him. Webb’s history with the home included not only design work, but friendships with former homeowners and a housekeeper she hired after spying the immaculately tidy fridge.

Her new clients’ design directive was a French aesthetic, and with the home’s inherent classicism paired with pandemic-related supply chain issues, antiques were clearly the answer. The trio shopped in Palm Beach, snatching up a chinoiserie secretary for the primary bedroom; at renowned collector Axel Vervoordt’s gallery near Antwerp, Belgium, procuring a 17th-century French glass mirror that hangs above the mantel in the salon; and across the wealth of Atlanta shops, scoring a French farm table for the husband’s desk at Parc Monceau.

The storied pieces impart sophistication and patina without tipping the balance to overdone or stuffy, thanks in large part to Webb’s adherence to a tenet of comfort, essential for the multigenerational family who would gather here. “I like to sink into a sofa and for a chair to envelop you,” says Webb. She enlisted generous sofas and upholstered dining chairs in plush fabrics with refined tailoring. A large tufted ottoman in the family room is an irresistibly soft landing for adults and grandchildren alike.

Webb utilized neutral hues to achieve her trademark serenity and infused soft jewel tones that harmonize with the quality of light afforded by the home’s east-west orientation. “I wanted the entire house to feel rich and warm,” says Webb. A pale sapphire motif is woven throughout—on botanical roman shades in the kitchen and a Louis XVI bergère in the primary bedroom—and a flaxen, honey hue was applied to nearly every surface of the family room.

The home’s “pitch-perfect scale,” thanks to rooms that are approachable in size and a floor plan that flows effortlessly, promotes easy main-floor living for the couple. With a pool house office as the husband’s work-from-home outpost, upstairs guest rooms for out-of-town family, and an attic playroom under the eaves, it can also live large when the empty nesters’ brood touches down.

Webb’s kinship with the home coupled with the homeowners’ trust in her channeled something of a design destiny. After all these years, “I think this is the way the house was meant to be,” she says.

INTERIOR DESIGN Beth Webb, Beth Webb Interiors, (404) 869-6367; bethwebb.com PREVIOUS RENOVATION ARCHITECT Keith Summerour, Summerour Architects, (404) 603-8585; summerourarchitects.com LANDSCAPE DESIGN Jeremy Smearman, Planters, Inc., (404) 261-6002; plantersgarden.com