Private Quarters: Heirlooms, funky fixtures mix in Buckhead...

Home and Garden

Private Quarters: Heirlooms, funky fixtures mix in Buckhead renovation

Renovated Buckhead home features personalized touches and an abundance of family heirlooms.

A columned Federal-style home in Buckhead was built in 1964, and the homeowners purchased it in 2007 and have renovated it over the years. Now, it has about 5,000 square feet, four bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths.--Text by Lori Johnston

The kitchen is one of the most recent rooms to be renovated, with the homeowners bumping out the back of the home to double the size of the kitchen. Lisa Gleim-Jonas searched in showrooms and online for pendant lights that tied together the Carerra marble and black honed granite countertops, white cabinets and Tiffany light above the kitchen table, before finding the set on Overstock.com. The walls are painted Sherwin-Williams' Sea Salt.

In the new Buckhead breakfast room, special pieces include the Tiffany lamp, which was a housewarming gift from family, and the kitchen table, made by Samuel Stolzfus of Lancaster, Penn. The chairs were purchased from Scotts Antique Markets and recovered in fabric that's coordinated with the walls painted Sherwin-Williams' Shagreen. Holly Builders and Remodelers, based in Marietta, added the breakfast room.

Originally the ceiling in Lisa Gleim-Jonas' studio, which was a den, was low and flat. Three years ago, the homeowners bumped up the roof to add a cupola, which allows natural light to flood in while Gleim-Jonas paints portraits. Holly Builders and Remodelers added the cupola and additional details such as the beam.

A fascination with bats meant homeowner Lisa Gleim-Jonas couldn't resist this light fixture while shopping at Scott Antiques Market. She said New York's Paul McCobb, son of the American furniture designer of the same name, made the light fixture out of iron.

In the formal living room, the mahogany sofa is the most meaningful piece to homeowner Lisa Gleim-Jonas. The sofa is from an ancestor's plantation home in South Carolina. The piano also has been passed down in her family.

A darker palette with Sherwin-Williams' Link Gray for the bookshelves and trim gives the family room a more masculine feel, said homeowner Lisa Gleim-Jonas. Reinhart Furniture of Woodstock created the built-in bookcases and window seat. The painting of a Russian farm scene, on a grass cloth wall, is among the Russian art collected by the homeowners.

An artist from Hungary, Zsigmond Palnagy, painted the harvest scene in the dining room. The grandfather clock also is a family piece, handed down from homeowner Lisa Gleim-Jonas to her grandfather. Sherwin-Williams' Porpoise was selected for the dining room to bring out the artwork.

The generations are represented in the dining room, with a tea cart that belonged to Lisa Gleim-Jonas' great-grandmother and a portrait she painted of daughter Libby as a 2 year old. The dining room walls are painted Sherwin-Williams' Porpoise.

Some people think the Italian hand-blown glass chandelier is tacky, but Lisa Gleim-Jonas doesn't mind. "Everybody hates my light fixture. I love my gaudy chandelier," she said. "I see it more as a piece of art." The dining room table belonged to Lisa Gleim-Jonas' grandmother, and the buffet was purchased at Scott Antique Markets. The chairs were wedding presents from husband Bill's parents.

Having the stairwell filled with family photos connects Lisa Gleim-Jonas to her childhood. Her grandmother took beautiful pictures and surrounded herself with them, including from the floor to ceiling in the den, said Gleim-Jonas, owner of Lisa Gleim Fine Art Portraits.

Custom pieces added during the years-long renovations include a cabinet made by Reinhart Furniture of Woodstock for the mudroom, which offers views of the wooded Buckhead lot.

Lisa Gleim-Jonas doesn't display much of her artwork in the Buckhead home, but a landscape in the master bedroom is one of her creations.

When Lisa Gleim-Jonas saw the den, she knew it was the perfect spot for her art studio, since she didn't want to paint in a basement or spare bedroom. The studio - formerly a den just off the family room - has room for her easel, computer, supplies and works in progress as owner of Lisa Gleim Fine Art Portraits. For the walls, she chose Sherwin-Williams' Sedate Gray.

Daughter Libby Jonas, 8, is so proud of her room that she lined up her favorite stuffed animals on the bunk beds. She picked a bright orange for her bedroom, which was recently repainted.

Dr. Bill Jonas and Lisa Gleim-Jonas, with their 8-year-old daughter, Libby Jonas, and dog, Stella, purchased the Buckhead house in 2007. Working with Holly Builders and Remodelers, they have renovated it, room-by-room, over the years.

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A columned Federal-style home in Buckhead was built in 1964, and the homeowners purchased it in 2007 and have renovated it over the years. Now, it has about 5,000 square feet, four bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths.--Text by Lori Johnston

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