Real estate agent Carol Cahill was showing a client around a Buckhead townhome when it hit her: This was the house she wanted for herself.

"I looked at the client and said, 'I hope you don't like it because I'm going to buy it,' " recalled Cahill with a laugh. "But I knew it wasn't her style. It had too much open space, too many odd angles."

Johnny Crawford / AJC (ENLARGE)

Carol Cahill's purple 'I Dream of Jeannie' room is filled with funky treasures, including hand-made light fixtures and artworks.

Johnny Crawford / AJC (ENLARGE)

The wall above the fireplace has been turned into a piece of art, as well as a spot to hang other works.

RELATED LINKS: • Photos: See more of this home Family restores Norcross home to former glory  Virginia-Highland Tudor comes back to life  Cash is in demand: Down payments grow in importance

Those are two of the features that made Cahill fall for the five-level townhome, one of five tucked in the backyard of a yellow brick mansion on Wieuca Road. The unusual crescent-shaped enclave was designed in the same style as the 1920s house it overlooks.

The narrow drive behind the house leads to Cahill's front door and garage. Inside the covered entry is a marble-floored foyer and one room Cahill calls the "I Dream of Jeannie" nook.

"I loved that show growing up," Cahill said. She re-created her vision of the genie bottle's interior with a rose-colored sofa, pale purple walls, mirrors and crystal lamps.

Dark hardwood stairs wind up to a two-story living room with French doors to a patio. The wall behind the fireplace is painted in shades of pale red and criss-crossed with long swatches of fabric. A platform about 8 feet off the ground holds an antique glass-fronted cabinet and a red torso sculpture. Below it is a baby grand piano. Lamps are made from recycled elements, including pieces Cahill rescued from soon-to-be-demolished houses. To the left of the fireplace is a swing with a wood seat.

"I never had a ceiling so high," Cahill said. "It just called out for a swing."

The stairs continue up to the main level, where the dining room is filled with an antique family table and chairs. The lamp over the table is made of an inverted parasol and chopsticks connected with recycled fabric. The one solid wall is painted with apple trees whose branches spill across the edge of the ceiling. From its faux branches dangle fake red apples. The building's crescent shape gives the kitchen a V formation. Cahill updated the space with black and gray granite counters, new cabinet hardware and white appliances. Along the wall of windows is a granite breakfast bar with stools.

The den doubles as Cahill's folk art gallery. She faux painted the multi-colored walls with various shimmery shades and hung a collection of folks pieces, several of which are mounted several inches away from the wall, giving the flat walls a three-dimensional aspect. Just beyond the living room is a wet bar with a glass bowl sink and a wine rack, as well as a tiled powder room where a colored light rotates around the ceiling and an electric blue light shines through the water when the tap is turned on.

The fourth level is a bend in the staircase that shows off Cahill's pop-art painting of Marilyn Monroe. A set of French doors leads to yet another patio. The uppermost floor has two bedrooms, including the master with its own private patio where Cahill has an array of clay pots for herbs and vegetables. The bedroom sports pale purple walls with a black dresser, black Japanese screen and an original Salvador Dali by the door. A lamp on the nightstand is made of Chinese pajamas. In the bath, two fluted green glass bowls sit atop the counters.

Cahill's imaginative decor is often inspired by unexpected finds. Old birch sticks and a bit of shower curtain fabric turn into a light over the upper foyer. Fishing line and beads hot-glued to the ceiling create the illusion of a rain shower on hold in the second bedroom. The antique china cabinet in the foyer is packed with an assortment of dolls, including a few Barbies.

"I really will stop on the side of the road and pick something up," Cahill said. "People don't expect me to be this wild. And they don't expect to see this in Buckhead — which is why my clients don't see my house until we decide on theirs."

Have a cottage, condo, loft or mansion you want to brag about? Call MetroHome at 678-574-6461 or e-mail hm_cauley@yahoo.com.