When a reader named Lisa told me that the inns from the classic movies White Christmas and Holiday Inn were the inspiration for the house her family built in Atlanta, I asked if she could please, please, pretty please, send me some photos.
My begging worked! I was excited to see how her architect interpreted those sets with the dormers, the porch, and those big walls of windows.
Take a look!
The photos of the property surrounding her house look like they could be postcards.
“My neighbor took this photo and I love it. When we first looked at the neighborhood, those trees were tiny! Our community doesn’t have a pool or clubhouse. Our amenity is this amazing trail behind the properties along the valley. It is the most fabulous place to walk!”
She says, “In 2010 Atlanta had its first white Christmas ever since they started keeping records. I can’t tell you how magical that Christmas was. It was the best gift ever!”
“We first started negotiating on this property back in about 1994. You had to have a complete design of the home and landscaping before the developer would even sell the land. He had the strictest architectural control we have ever seen!
“You HAD to have a wood shingle roof, masonry fireplaces, real wood divided windows, among many other things. BUT, his control made this one of the more charming and special communities in all of Atlanta.”
Our architect was Bill Baker of William T. Baker and Associates. I gave him my own drawings of elevations and floor plans as well as copies of the movies White Christmas and Holiday Inn, and told him I wanted it to feel like the inns in those movies.”
“For the last few years I have sort of gone more ‘low key’ on my decorating, but this year I decided to really ramp it up and have fun. I felt that with all the anxiety over the economy, the destruction of so many areas from Sandy, the bad news you see every day on the news….my family and I needed a ‘cheery escape’ this year!”
She says every time she thought she might be going “too over the top” with the decorations, her son was there cheering her on and urging her to add more!
“There’s a little step down into the family room and fan lights over the bank of french doors that are nods to the movies:”
Her dining room has black and white toile wallpaper that makes a pretty backdrop for Christmas decor:
“I love being able to eat in front of the fire with my family.”
This small library, she says, is her daughter’s favorite room “because it has her favorite things: a piano and BOOKS.”
There’s an Aga in the kitchen.
It looks so cozy at night:
A charming window seat:
The master bedroom:
The Keeping Room and back staircase landing:
“I drew these doors (for the architect) for our lower level,” she says. “If we ever move, I am taking them with me!”
Her house sits on 8 acres, “but it looks out over 100 more.”
Many thanks to Lisa for inviting us in and giving us the tour. I love seeing where my readers live and how they decorate. If you could build a house inspired by any Christmas movie, which one would it be?
That is a dream house by anyone’s standards. It’s obviously a very large home, but it feels so cozy and warm. The owners have decorated it so beautifully for the season too. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!
Cozy and warm. Yes, that’s it! Can I just move into that library?? A piano and books are my favorite too…and the charming window seat…and those gorgeous doors!! Love it all! I wonder which area of Atlanta this is…Peachtree City?
I was wondering if this was Milton?
It is Milton! The neighborhood is called North Valley and it is stunning. I live in Milton (about 3 minutes from N.V.) and want to live the desperately! We drive around there all the time. Almost looks like New England. Sooooo charming. Sigh…
I want to live THERE desperately! Sorry for the typo!
Isn’t it a special place?!
Yes it is!
Wow! Gorgeous! Love the doors and those Palladian windows. If I ever win the lottery, I’d love to build a similar house.
My soul! My word! Goodness gracious! This place is AMAZING! Who knew there was a real house like in the movie? I adore every bit of it, thank you for sharing!!! 😉
…bill baker is famous in our home town atlanta…this home proves that he never disappoints…beautiful…(and our only white christams was magical indeed)…blessings laney
Lovely home. My number one choice for a home design would also be based on Holiday Inn, followed closely by Christmas in Connecticut.
Very lovely house. I especially love the exterior. Gotta love those architectural controls. People gripe, but it sure makes for a pretty neighborhood with high property values! I love the trail, too. Very nice.
Lovely home. The setting and the tree lined drive is absolutely fantastic. Could you ask your friend what kind of trees line that driveway? I will be planting the same this year, and haven’t decided what tree to use. Thanks again for my daily cheer. Best Christmas wishes to you and your family.
I can honestly say that is my favorite house of all the houses you have featured. When I picture my dream house, this is what I see. Simply beautiful- it gives me such a warm, cozy feeling….
Well, White Christmas is my all time favorite Christmas movie. I made my husband watch it with me last weekend–he had never seen it, and he wouldn’t admit it, but he enjoyed it! This home truly captures the essence of the movie. How blessed to actually live there!
Needs more pillows. ;^p Seriously, love the architecture, the fireplaces, the curves, the coves. Lovely!
Thank you for sharing this! I love it!!!! It would be a dream to live in.
That’s amazing! I love it when people design thier homes after famous movie houses! What a treat – thanks for sharing!
Wow! Everything about it is perfect!
So beautiful. What style of house is this?
It is a most magical home and the warmth and coziness that exudes truly comes from within from the love of the family who resides there! It’s a treat that I am able to visit quite often and can without a doubt tell everyone that it is a home where special friends live with big hearts!!
Lovely! Love the Aga, the fireplace in the dining room, The wood floors, the door’s! Everything. 🙂 I would never think of toile, but I love it in the dining room! So cozy, I just want to sit in every chair, and take in the views!
Just lovely!
I think that this is my favorite new build house that I’ve ever seen, including the many celebrity homes that have been featured here. Thanks for sharing!
Love it!!
ALL of Lisa’s houses are so beautifully homey! I would base my fave house on White Christmas and Christmas in Connecticut, too….lots and lots of molding, molding everywhere!
The dream of a White Christmas absolutely beautiful. Thank you for sharing at a time when you must be so busy. Seasons Greetings and Best Wishes Esther from Sydney (no white Christmas for us). PS where did she get the energy to do all that decorating?
A dream it is…..so beautiful.
So lovely! Thanks for sharing your home with us!
Oh my gosh…. This home is a dream. BEAUTIFUL.
These windows at the Hill-Stead mansion in Farmington, Ct look the most like the ficticious Pine Tree Inn in “White Christmas” that I’ve ever seen.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/7384797@N02/3972985899/in/photostream/
Love it! They really do look like them. Thanks!
What a beautiful home! I dream of building from scratch one day. I’d love for it to look something like this.
Absolutely beautiful. Words fail me, this is a home in excellent taste, my compliments to the family and the archetect! Your Christmas decorations really were the icing on the cake. I wish that you have more snow!
What a nice and cozy house.
Lisa’s home is so beautiful and this post inspired me watch White Christmas and Holiday Inn. It has been years since I last watched either of these movies..
The most absolutely perfect house! I am SO jealous!
Thank you for your Christmas gift. And mine to you is your blog is my favorite beyond all others. I live in a small cottage, but there is always some unique feature in one of these huge homes that gives me creativity for a fit.
Warmth. Her brown couch and checked chairs sit in my LV, love my couch, hate the color because everyone says brown is dated. She has done a beautiful job decorating around it, I may fit in well now. Interesting how she treated the high ceiling with a small shelf. It works and would never thought of such. And I would take those doors too.
Again, thanks for making my morning coffee a joy sharing it with your blog.
Amazing house. I think it might even convert an old house lover like me.
Goodness! What a wonderful house! Your posts are always wonderful. So glad I stopped by today before getting back out there to get the last of my shopping done for Christmas.
So inspiring! Thanks for sharing this Holiday wonderland!
Such a beautiful home, the surrounding area looks wonderful too.
What a beautiful house and the perfect location too. Even BETTER than the movie one. I really appreciate Lisa for sharing it. So homey I feel I could sit down in any of the rooms and be immediately comfortable.
Wow! Just beautiful and although big, warm and inviting! I love it all!
The tie to White Christmas is kind of humorous. I live in Atlanta and this christmas my petunias and impatients are still blooming.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful home! Love the AGA!
I keep coming back to look at this house and realize how much I would like to see it in the summer….pretty please Lisa?
wow are you kidding me? i want this home as is. It is spectacular and gorgeous and warm and beautiful…….need I say more, wow!!!
OMG-That is the most beautiful home in the world! It is perfect from head to toe. I’m about to pin it.. Thanks , Julia and Lisa for sharing. Enjoy the holidays!
Ditto’s on all the comments. Lisa can e-mail me if she ever needs a house-setter.
Perfection! Dreamy…
Thank you, Julia, for this lovely post and thank you all for these very kind and and thoughtful comments! They really mean a lot to me, because this house is so special to me and my family. Not long after we finished the house I wrote in script the famous line from “The Wizard of Oz”…”There’s No Place like Home”.. On the face of the fireplace mantel in the keeping room. I really believe that. Size, fancy furniture and decor (or lots of pillows!) do not matter., it is the warmth and love of family and friends, the scents of good cooking, maybe wood smoke, or bacon in the morning, laughter, music, the memories you make that truly make a place special, a home. I know how very blessed I am. Merry Christmas everyone…especially you dear Julia! Hold that precious family close!
Thank YOU, Lisa. I really appreciate you sharing your home with us. Merry Christmas!! 🙂
Lisa is a woman after my own heart! I would so want my home inspired by those two movies! That is pretty strict of the developer, but it’s nice that it led to a truly charming community- so many homes built nowadays are just ugly cookie cutter blobs. And what beautiful surroundings.
Oh, Julia, that is my dream home!! Wow!! I wish she’d send some non-holiday photos of the house too…it’s hard to see the beautiful lines under the garlands and other stuff. I’m just in love! 😉
I am so taken by the beautiful outdoor pics………………absolutely beautiful!
I’m in love with this home. It’s so inspirational to me. I’d love to build a home like this one day. If it’s not too personal, I’d love to know what the cost of this house was along with the square footage!
Such a cute house!!!! So homey and wonderful. I love when people aren’t afraid to use wallpaper and lots of patterns. It looks like a Christmas house and reminds me a little of Home Alone