Perfect Translation

Suzanne Kasler and Harrison Design reunite to realize their longtime client’s vision of a historic French Normandy-style abode on a sprawling property in Buckhead

After dreaming for years of building a French Normandy-style home on one of Atlanta’s toniest thoroughfares, a cosmopolitan couple with two teenage daughters finally decided to pull the proverbial trigger. 

Armed with inspiration images they took during their overseas travels, the owners asked architect Greg Palmer of Harrison Design and interior designer Suzanne Kasler, who had collaborated on their former house years ago, to bring their vision to life.

The result is a sprawling stucco dwelling with limestone detailing and a prominent turret that houses an elegant serpentine stairway. Iron-paneled windows, intricate wall moldings and details such as a recurring quatrefoil motif add to the rich sense of history and character.

“It’s a house of today, but it’s informed by what they saw on their travels,” says Palmer, who worked on the project with colleague and designer Robbie Pich. “We took the best of that style and equipped it with all the modern-day conveniences.”

Distinguished by its lofty groin vault ceiling and tall arched iron windows and doors, the family room opens out onto a porch area with similar dimensions and a matching limestone fireplace, creating an indoor-outdoor experience that’s nothing if not au courant. 

Silk draperies with a subtle pattern enliven the room’s more neutral palette—one of many blue hues found throughout the decor. “The house flows in a quiet way,” Kasler says, noting blue is the wife’s favorite color. 

Indeed, sky blue draperies likewise adorn the two-story walnut-paneled library, where a quartet of tufted leather chairs surround a light blue velvet ottoman in front of an intricate stone fireplace with the same quatrefoil detailing. 

And the gray-blue ceiling in the classic white kitchen plays off both the lacquered cabinetry with antiqued mirrored doors in the butler’s pantry and the patterned wallcovering in the breakfast room—one of several throughout the interior.

“She wanted it to be chic and beautiful—traditional but not too traditional,” Kasler explains. To that end, the designer incorporated plush, clean-lined furnishings alongside antiques and modern artwork, such as a pair of abstract paintings—one in blue, the other in blush—in the airy and light-filled music room, which is distinguished by ornate wall and ceiling moldings.

The seamless blend of influences has delighted the owners, who showed their appreciation for a job well done by hosting the design team for a catered dinner. “That’s when we can really celebrate,” Kasler says. “The biggest success on any project is when the clients are happy and love the end result.”

INTERIOR DESIGN Suzanne Kasler, (404) 355-1035; suzannekasler.com
ARCHITECT Greg Palmer, Harrison Design, (404) 365-7760; harrisondesign.com
BUILDER Rick Fierer, Bildon Construction and Development, (404) 803-0415
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT John Howard, Howard Design Studio, (404) 876-7051; howarddesignstudio.com