Carte Blanche

Mike Hammersmith and Shawn Broaddus transform a dated Sandy Springs manse into a chic home for a young and dynamic couple.

Modest it isn’t. At 14,000 square feet, Dan Uggla’s Sandy Springs house boasted more elbow room than even the Braves’ muscular second baseman might ever require. But for all of its lofty luxury, the house lacked a sense of warmth, and Dan found himself opting to spend most of his time in his light-and-bright Buckhead penthouse. After proposing to his new bride, Janette, the couple set out to transform the house from a bland McMansion into a stylish headquarters for their dynamic married life. It quickly became apparent, though, that between his travel schedule and planning their wedding, they would need to call in the professionals to reinvent its dated spaces.

The Ugglas enlisted contractor Mike Hammersmith to handle the home’s renovation, and Hammersmith, in turn, recommended designer Shawn Broaddus to tackle the interiors. After a few meetings, the couple handed her carte blanche to create a home for the pair and Dan’s two children. “Janette and I were on the same page and she trusted my judgment and my choices,” says Broaddus. “I went with my style and kept them in mind in all the design decisions.  They are both very stylish, so I wanted to create a super-cool house that reflected their energy and their age—nothing stuffy,” she says.

Hammersmith and Broaddus set about stripping away the elaborate moldings in the house, removing two-story columns over the mantel, closing off extraneous niches and painting interior walls a pale cream to simplify the architecture. The neutral palette in the living room highlights the lay between contrasting textures of limestone floors, iron furniture and bold artwork, including a Juju hat the couple brought back from their African honeymoon. Hammersmith and Broaddus also refaced the kitchen cabinetry, removing ornate but dated cabinets and giving them a clean, modern space for entertaining. But it’s the home’s lower level where Broaddus and the couple really had some fun, creating a glamorous party central. The designer swathed the viewing room—a space with three flat-screens for multi-game viewing—with rich green walls enclosing a sectional upholstered in gray linen and trimmed in a turquoise tape. 

The adjacent ladies lounge, separate from the fellas’ space, but still in sight of the TVs, features aged leather chairs centered around a brass and smoked glass table, perfect for chatting over mojitos. In the lower-level bar, the design team replaced a wraparound fish tank with a waterfall marble island, a dramatic lath wall lit from behind and a custom light installation. “I wanted them to have great parties entertaining their friends but also feel like it suited their personalities,” says Broaddus.