Photos: Eclectic cottage with courtyard on Druid Hills Home Tour

News

Photos: Eclectic cottage with courtyard on Druid Hills Home Tour

This Druid Hills home was renovated around a courtyard for eclectic beauty.

This renovated Druid Hills Italianate eclectic cottage from 1918 will be featured on the 2017 Druid Hills Tour of Homes and Gardens April 21–23.

Stephanie and John Giegerich hired Viridis Garden Design to help transform their Druid Hills yard. They terraced the backyard and installed fake grass so they didn’t have to mow between each little step. “Once we did that, we said, ‘Why don’t we just make it a putting green?’” said Stephanie.

The U-shaped house forms a courtyard centerpiece that is visible from virtually every room. Comfortable seating with nautical accessories revolves around a giant copper fire pit, from Plow & Hearth, designed to look like the Earth. “For me, the whole house is about the courtyard, ” said architect Mark Fosner.

At the end of the courtyard, a remote-controlled gate can be closed to keep the homeowners’ dog safe and to create total privacy.

Papasan chairs, purchased in 1972 when Stephanie’s parents were in the Philippines, look out onto the courtyard from the adjoining screened porch. Giegerich and her husband expanded the porch and added tile floors when they renovated two years ago.

When the homeowners expanded their 1918 cottage to add a family room off the kitchen, they included a series of French doors that open onto the enclosed courtyard patio. Natural light fills the family room, and the doors promote easy indoor-outdoor flow.

The home originally ended at the kitchen wall, but the Giegerichs added the adjoining family room when they bought and renovated the Druid Hills cottage in 2014 and 2015. Decorated in classic Americana style, the new family room seamlessly flows into the old kitchen space.

The original kitchen had a huge brick oven, and the cooktop was in a big brick flue that vented straight into the attic. While Stephanie and John didn’t expand their 90-year-old kitchen’s footprint during renovations, the space seems much bigger now thanks to design decisions they made, including the addition of sleek appliances like a Bosch oven and Wolf cooktop.

The Thunderbird light fixture in the kitchen, from Rejuvenation, can be adjusted into “a zillion positions,” Stephanie said. When she and John gutted their kitchen during the renovation, she took the opportunity to make her own design choices. “I don’t want my house to look like everybody else’s,” she said.

One thing Stephanie put her unique stamp – or rather, coin – on is the knobs on her kitchen cupboards, as well as on some bathroom cabinetry. They are coins she has collected from places she has traveled.

When she renovated her 1918 Druid Hills kitchen, Stephanie Giegerich finally got to splurge on walnut cabinets. A wall of walnut cupboards creates a focal point in the space and also hides a Thermador refrigerator.

Previous owners had painted the tin ceiling in the sunroom, which the Giegerichs now use as an office. The couple stripped the paint, which emphasizes the pattern in the tin and adds a rustic texture to the office.

A rustic industrial desk and brightly colored rug anchor the home office space in the former sunroom. The desk, made out of distressed oak from a barn in North Carolina, is a product of No Longer Bound, an organization that helps people recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.

A propeller-style ceiling fan in the master bedroom is in keeping with the decor through the Druid Hills home. The original home ended at the master bedroom wall. Previous owners added a closet and bathroom, which John and Stephanie gutted to create a master sitting room, new master bathroom and closet.

In the master sitting room addition, the homeowners’ dog Sully likes to look out into the courtyard from his perch on a pink chair, which was handed down to Stephanie Giegerich from her parents.

A drop-leaf dining table that once belonged to Stephanie’s grandfather found a new home and purpose in her master bedroom. Stephanie and John use family heirlooms throughout the house to personalize and give their home its unique style.

The mirror in the master bathroom was designed to match the light fixture, which is from Turkey.

When Stephanie lived in Turkey in the 1970s, she fell in love with the colorful tiles she saw there. In her master bathroom, she included bright blue and red Turkish tiles depicting sailboats and made in the 15th–16th century Ottoman style.

While other parts of the original 1918 cottage underwent massive renovations, the bedrooms, dining room and living room needed only minor touch-ups. In the guest bedroom, the homeowners simply sanded the floors and added fresh paint.

Tall traditional pane windows form a wall of light, making the small guest room appear large and bright. Stephanie and John outfitted the bedroom with his childhood furniture.

In a second guest bedroom, the quirky light fixture adds the crowning touch to the room’s traditional decor.

Stacked in the corner of the guest room, military trunks passed down to Stephanie from her father and grandfather serve double duty as a nightstand.

The interiors are built on the eclectic combination of nautical, traditional and patriotic furnishings, including many reminders of her father’s time as a student at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

An oil painting of Kolchak, the Russian wolfhound mascot of the 25th infantry division in Hawaii that Stephanie’s father commanded, hangs above the mantel in Giegerich’s Druid Hills home.

Stephanie dubbed the interior design style of her home “Ralph Lauren Americana.”

Throughout their Druid Hills home, John and Stephanie have incorporated nautical elements in their design. In the dining room, a water container from a ship forms the foundation of the dining table. Its smooth glass top accentuates the aged, rustic character of table’s base.

Framed vintage posters mingle with antique chairs from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a traditional china cabinet in the dining room.

From the dining room, steps lead down to a wine cellar. Natural light from the original windows floods the stairwell, and a rustic Aubrey crystal drop chandelier from Arhaus provides dramatic contrast to the simple nautical rope handrail.

Moon Brothers architect Mark Fosner said the original stairwell to the basement was in the middle of the kitchen. “It was the worst place it could be,” he said. So he relocated the stairwell to the dining room, where the 1918 home’s old brick and original windows now create a unique entrance to the basement wine cellar.

Druid Hills homeowners Stephanie and John Giegerich are no strangers to the historic Atlanta neighborhood. The 1918 one-story house they bought and renovated in 2014 and 2015 is their third home in Druid Hills. From April 21–23, the couple will open their doors to the public as part of the 2017 Druid Hills Tour of Homes and Gardens.

1/30

This renovated Druid Hills Italianate eclectic cottage from 1918 will be featured on the 2017 Druid Hills Tour of Homes and Gardens April 21–23.

Today's Gallery Headlines

Georgia Tech BYU Football

PHOTOS: Georgia Tech battles BYU in Pop-Tarts Bowl

Jimmy Carter ‘forever’ stamp

PHOTOS: 2025 AJC Photos of the Year

Coca-Cola first ad

PHOTOS: Coca-Cola ads over time

Alonzo Herndon

PHOTOS: Philanthropists leave mark on Atlanta

More Galleries

Georgia state Capitol Christmas tree

PHOTOS: Capitol lights up for Christmas holidays

World Cup draw party TKTKT

PHOTOS: Fans attend 2026 World Cup draw party in Atlanta

Randy Beck

'No body' homicide cases in Georgia

aajc 110625 anx cobb so equine

PHOTOS: Cobb County Sheriff's Office Equine Therapy Program