After much labor, Druid Hills home ready for showcase

Lilly Cannon compares a home remodeling project to giving birth: It’s far from pleasant and you might even swear never to do it again, but the end result is absolutely worth it.

She and her husband, Ben Logue, should know. After buying their traditional brick Druid Hills home in 2002, the couple with two children has spent the years since in a massive remodel.

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SEAN DRAKES/Special

Lilly Cannon, Ben Logue and their children, Conner and Sophie, have seen their house go through a massive remodel since its purchase in 2002.

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Sean Drakes/Special

In the living room, a Hepplewhite chest of drawers shares space with a Chinese altar table and Lilly Canon’s thought-provoking sculptures of ‘anti-Barbies.’

HOME TOUR
2009 Druid Hills Tour of Homes and Gardens and Artist Market. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday. $20 in advance, $25 day of tour; $10 single house. For tickets and details: 404-524-8687 or www.druidhills.org/tour.

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First, they updated the existing home, built in 1929, by overhauling its plumbing, air and electrical systems. Two years later, they added a new first-floor kitchen and family room and a master bedroom upstairs. Then came a garage and art studio on the back of the nearly 1-acre property, where artist Cannon creates.

Their home, along with five others, will be showcased Friday through Sunday on the Druid Hills Tour of Homes and Gardens and Artist Market.

All told, the house has expanded by a few thousand square feet, but it retains its cozy feel through Cannon’s eye for all things eclectic, interesting and charming.

In the living room, a Hepplewhite chest of drawers shares space with a Chinese altar table and her thought-provoking sculptures of “anti-Barbies.” Daughter Sophie’s pink-striped bedroom is accented with wooden angel wings. The foyer is lined with Cannon’s mixed-media creations; family photos line the second-floor walls. The artist has also carefully placed her collection of wishbones around the property, symbolizing hopefulness.

Logue says they spend most of their time in the family room, with its leather sectional, farmhouse kitchen table and doors leading to the backyard. Their airy, light-filled home is often the site for “Friday Fun Night” with friends and their children.

“I always wanted to have a home where my kids’ friends wanted to come and hang out,” said Logue, who often runs his commercial real estate company from the house. “On any given day, we never know who might be here.”

Added Cannon: “It’s not fancy, but it’s really a family house.”

Their style: Decidedly eclectic. The home evokes a gallery with artwork by Cannon and others lining the walls, but it is chock-full of secondhand items such as storage trunks, iron beds, found objects and more. The kitchen’s farmhouse feel (in table and deep sink) is accented with slate countertops and a corkboard Cannon made from wine corks.

“It’s a historic home, so we couldn’t change the facade,” Cannon said. “We wanted to keep elements of traditional but have it be eclectic on the inside because that’s more our style.”

His-and-her spaces: The garage-studio at the rear of the property houses his-and-her sanctuaries. For Logue, it’s a pristine garage with built-ins and a space to work on motorcycles, while Cannon creates and teaches art in her adjoining studio space with 16-foot ceilings. A deck overlooking the woods is a peaceful place.

“It makes me feel like I’m in a treehouse,” Cannon said.