Thanks to Pinterest, I recently stumbled upon this beautiful home located in Louisville, Kentucky, and I couldn’t believe it was new construction! It was designed by William T. Baker, an award-winning architect who specializes in private residences, commercial projects, and historic renovations. He founded his Atlanta-based firm, William T. Baker & Associates, in 1985 and has written numerous books including Great American Homes I, Great American Homes II, Great American Homes III (available for pre-order), and New Classicists: American Architecture.
Sited on a large tract of land on a hill with horizon views, this Georgian house follows the grand traditions of this favorite style of American architecture. The large trees on the property were carefully preserved to frame the house and lend scale to the new structure, giving it an instant sense of history. Images and captions below are from the website of William T. Baker.
Sited on a large tract of land on a hill with horizon views, this Georgian house is following the grand traditions of this favorite style of American architecture. The large trees on the property were carefully preserved to frame the house and lend scale to the new structure, giving it an instant sense of history.
The façade of the house is clad in wood-molded brick and hand-carved limestone. These fine materials give the house a quiet elegance and quality typical of the Georgian style.
The elliptical two-story foyer with its curved staircase creates a dramatic sense of entry.
Entering the foyer, one passes through a mahogany door with leaded glass transom and sidelights. Each leaded panel makes use of cast-lead ornamentation in imitation of 18th-century examples.
A graceful hallway leads guests through the axis of the home.
On axis with the foyer is the dining room. Fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals line the wall and frame the beautiful hand-painted floral scenes on the walls. Shell niches provide ample display space for the family’s china and silver. The wall coverings are Zuber.
Round paned windows in the master bath bring in light from the sunlit rose garden beyond and bring refined architectural elements to the space.
Behind the house lies an expansive lawn designed for outdoor living. French doors from the master suite provide convenient access to a path leading to the garden.
The concave corners of the front porch required the stone carver to exhibit an extra level of skill as he carved the dentil moldings around the curve. The home’s main cornice is highly articulated with dentils and is proportioned for the scale of this grand house
Behind the house lies an expansive lawn with an oval pool. A rose garden provides the house with fresh flowers throughout the summer months. Completing the effect is the oval pool, which defines the edge of the lawn and looks beyond to the western horizon.
So beautiful! For additional information, please visit William T. Baker.
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OMIGOSH! This is so beautiful. So much architecture here. That hand made brick; quoining, keystoned archways and columned porticoes. And inside – the tall case clock in the niche on the landing; the leaded tracery in the fanlight; the REALLY marvelous groined arch passageway; that spectacular portholed bathroom…sigh. And that dining room! It has everything – chinoiserie paper, shell niches, and my favourite Scalamandre velvet covered chairs. It warms my heart to think that there are still architects who can produce such high quality work. I will follow Mr. Baker’s projects to see what magic he produces next.
Wow ! My minds goes immediately to incorporating these spectacular design elements and details into a (much) smaller house. As someone who would love to downsize at this time, I dream of a house with some of these elements – only smaller and most assuredly all on one level. I’m craving a one story home with all this elegance. After all – why not? The only single thing you don’t have is the big staircase. You can still have a majestic foyer, high ceilings etc etc. Would love to see someone cover home designs like that.
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