There is no place like home and there is definitely no place like this Southern Living Idea Home!!! I was invited last summer along with other local bloggers to a blogger only sneak peek of the amazing 2013 Southern Living Idea Home at the Fontanel just a short drive from downtown Nashville. The house is now officially decorated for Christmas and I will definitely be making another trip out there very soon to get a look at the gorgeous decor!! The Home is available for tours until December 29th and is definitely a not-to-miss attraction!
What an inviting welcome to a gorgeous place! Once the tours are complete, this Idea House will become a Bed & Breakfast that will be the perfect place for a family reunion, wedding or just a really nice getaway. You have the convenience of Nashville just minutes away, but you will feel like you are in a secluded retreat. Tours are available Wednesday through Sunday
Open House Hours
June 29 – December 29, 2013
Open Wednesday – Sunday
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Address
4133 Whites Creek Pike
Nashville, TN 37189
I was excited to get to share the day with one of my best friends and fellow SL fanatic! We have similar style and taste in our decor, so it was fun to share such a cool experience with her.
M. Lindsay Bierman, Southern Living editor and Phoebe Howard the interior designer for the Idea House greeted us on the front porch for a little history of how the house came about and their vision for the design. They are standing in front of the chevron door whose design dates back centuries. It is very functional as well as attractive as the pattern helps keep water away to prevent warping.
Terry Pylant of Historical Concepts and Frank Craige the Southern Living Project Manager explain their vision of the home and how it all came together.
Carmen Johnston is a gardening genius and holds the reign as Queen Bee of the Southern Living Plant Collection. She designed all the beddings and containers for the Home.
The enclosed back porch is nestled between the master bedroom and the dining room. It offers another “room” to relax and entertain in when the weather is cool and you need a little more space.
The entire porch was furnished by Ballard Designs using Sunbrella fabrics.
Lighting from Bevolo keeps the home feeling warm and cozy day and night.
Rain chains help direct the rain off the roof and back into the ground for conservation and
All areas of the house can be accessed by a porch.
All lighting was provided by Bevolo. This Custom School House Hanging lamp brought a vintage feel to the porch.
Punch on the porch is a must, and this glass beverage dispenser from the Southern Living Collection from Ballard is just the way to do it!
The guesthouse is just off the porch from the main house and has a cozy living room, guestroom and spacious bathroom.
Carmen Johnston created garden beds that are manageable and easily weekend projects.
No southern home is complete without a Crepe Myrtle.
Container gardens lined the sidewalks.
Hydrangeas and other bed plants fill the main planting beds at the house.
The lawn is perfect for an al fresco dinner party strewn with lights.
A small pond is just off the porch between the main house and the guesthouse. I’m such a sucker for wall collages and this one was exceptional with antique black and white photos up the staircase in the guest house.
Gray and white ticking stripe fabric lined the walls, windows and even covered the furniture.
Accents of oxblood red throughout the room created a warm and cozy feel. Phoebe Howard painted the ceiling in the same red and it was absolutely stunning.
The mirror over the window creates a larger sense of space in the guestroom.
A gorgeous view of the lawn and porches can be seen from the guesthouse bedroom.
Intricately detailed tile work covered the floors in all the bathrooms of the main house, guesthouse and “bunkies”.
Quaint bunkhouses provide additional sleeping quarters for the guests with porches perfect for morning coffee or a glass of wine in the evening.
The “his” bunkie had dark furniture and tone-on-tone wallpaper to give it a more masculine feel.
I love the stitching on the sheets!
The “her” bunkie was a little more feminine with soft patterns with the cobalt color scheme. There was a really cool use of mixed patterns between the pillows and walls.
Plenty of light comes in through the windows of the bunkies, but are given privacy by coordinating fabric roman shades.
I would like champs in that glass and bowl full of fresh fruit to eat with my omelette, please……now who’s going to bring me breakfast in bed…..anyone, anyone?!
This piece is little heavy and ornate for my taste, but the stone lamps and two-tone mirrors helped to balance it out.
Each bunkhouse has a petite kitchenette.
From the front porch of one of the bunkhouses. The view is spectacular from every angle.
Even Cesar gets a porch to entertain on!
No detail was left undone! Even the dog house was perfection!
What an exciting day of Southern hospitality and design! I was absolutely over the moon when I got to personally meet Lindsay Bierman! He is a legend in my mind for sure! He was so gracious and friendly.
Can’t forget to take a pic in front of the step and repeat!
There are so many ways you can check out more pictures online, on Pinterest and in the August issue of Southern Living.
The house is now beautifully decorated for Christmas and I can’t wait to see what they have done!
(Photo courtesy of Forest Home Media)
(Photo courtesy of Forest Home Media)
Taken from Phoebe Howard’s Blog, here are some details about who all was involved with this house:
Southern Living: Southern Living celebrates the essence of life in the South, covering the best in Southern food, home, garden, and travel. Reaching more than 16 million consumers each month, Southern Living connects consumers with the region’s rich culture through a variety of print, digital, mobile, tablet and event platforms. Headquartered in Birmingham, AL, the rapidly expanding Southern Living brand is part of Time Inc., one of the largest content companies in the world and the largest publisher in the United States. Time Inc. is a Time Warner company.
Southern Living: Southern Living celebrates the essence of life in the South, covering the best in Southern food, home, garden, and travel. Reaching more than 16 million consumers each month, Southern Living connects consumers with the region’s rich culture through a variety of print, digital, mobile, tablet and event platforms. Headquartered in Birmingham, AL, the rapidly expanding Southern Living brand is part of Time Inc., one of the largest content companies in the world and the largest publisher in the United States. Time Inc. is a Time Warner company.
Fontanel: Fontanel Mansion is a 27,000 square foot log home formerly owned by Country Music Hall of Fame member Barbara Mandrell, and is Nashville’s only country music mansion tour, giving visitors a sneak peek into the lives of country music greats. With the 2013 Southern Living Idea House under construction, the Woods Amphitheater concert series, events and activities at the Pepsi Studio Gallery, the award winning American/Italian kitchen and wine bar at Cafe Fontanella, family friendly atmosphere, and free activities like the Prodigy Signature Disc Golf Course, and bike and walking trails using the soon to be completed conservation greenway, it is easy to see that Fontanel is truly the hidden gem of the South. We are located in Whites Creek just minutes from downtown Nashville. For more information or to book a private event, visit www.fontanelmansion.com or call 615/724-1600.
Castle Homes: An award-winning custom builder, Castle Homes earned the coveted Southern Living 2012 Custom Builder of the Year for their work as the 2011 Nashville Southern Living Showcase Home builder. Founded in 1992, Castle Homes is one of Nashville’s top design-build companies producing heirloom quality homes with a guaranteed price – unique to the Middle Tennessee building industry. For more information, www.castlehomes.com.
Historical Concepts: Historical Concepts is proud to provide traditional architecture, planning and place-making services to homeowners, developers and civic clients. The firm was founded in 1982 by James L. Strickland, with a passion for historical architecture and a desire to create great places. Originally a design/build firm, Historical Concepts consistently demonstrated the benefits of utilizing traditional design and planning in new construction with its classic southern homes and neighborhoods in the metro-Atlanta region. By the early 1990s, as the firm’s reputation for quality and attention to architectural detail began to spread throughout the southeast, interest in the firm’s architectural services grew. Responding to this demand, and a desire to affect architecture over a broader region, Historical Concepts began to focus exclusively on design.
Page|Duke: Guided by our client’s wishes, it is our mission to create landscape and garden designs that are thoughtful, beautiful, inspiring, and timeless. Our method is collaborative because we believe that sharing ideas and inspiration is deeply integral to creating living environments that seamlessly unite and enhance the relationship between indoors and outdoors. We believe that our collaborative approach leads to treasured, long-lasting relationships with our clients—relationships based on mutual respect, and the utmost in service and exceptional design. Our disciplines include landscape architecture, land planning, and urban design for residential, community, and institutional clients, and our projects range from intimate gardens to expansive public spaces. Our aesthetic employs classical theory with a consciousness of historic precedent, and our implementation seeks sustainable solutions that minimize our impact on the environment.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: Since opening 50 years ago, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has changed the way the world treats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. No family ever pays St. Jude for the care their child receives and, for every child treated here, thousands more have been saved worldwide through St. Jude discoveries. The hospital has played a pivotal role in pushing U.S. pediatric cancer survival rates from 20 to 80 percent overall, and is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. It is also a leader in the research and treatment of blood disorders and infectious diseases in children. St. Jude was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, who believed that no child should die in the dawn of life. Join that mission by visiting stjude.org or following us on facebook.com/stjude and twitter.com/stjude.