Built in the 1920s, this Buckhead grande dame holds her stately ground, looking for all the world like a well-preserved dowager surveying the Peachtree Heights West neighborhood from her perch on Andrews Drive.

The former owners of the house would feel right at home. Walking up to the house they might wonder, "Is there something different?" But the perfectly matched facade of limestone, brick and slate would assure them it was only memory that was fading. Certainly the house was as it had always been.

Hyosub Shin / AJC (ENLARGE)

The new music room on the main level of the house is larger than its predecessor and has French doors that lead to a limestone veranda.

Hyosub Shin / AJC (ENLARGE)

The living/theater room sits on the lower level of the three-story home. The Parkers' home on Andrews Drive will be featured among four others for 'Buckhead in Bloom,' a home tour.

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But indeed the house has had a dramatic transformation with the addition of a second gable to the facade and the associated construction that went with it. The seamless transition between old and new provides testimony to Rebecca and Robert Parker's careful planning and concern for preserving the character of the home they bought in 1993.

The Parker home is one of five Buckhead houses dating from 1910 to 1952 featured on "Buckhead in Bloom," the Atlanta Preservation Center's home and garden tour April 6. The homes were all selected to show how historic homes may be adapted to modern living without losing their period character.

"While out house hunting, I looked at 38 houses," Rebecca said. "This was the one that was right for us. There was so much light and the room layout presented a beautiful flow."

Design of the house is credited to the architectural firm of Pringle and Smith. The architects designed many houses in Peachtree Heights and on Valley Road in the 1920s and '30s, and some details were repeated from home to home. The sun room, for example, features a herringbone-patterned brick floor the late Sen. Paul Coverdell once remarked he had only seen in three places — his house down the street, this house and the White House.

Robert noted, "One of the great attractions was the lot on which the house is situated. It's just under 2 acres and one of the flatter lots in Buckhead. We had two young children at the time and thought this would be a property on which the children would have room to run and play. We loved the house from the outset, but we knew we'd want to renovate and expand it a bit to achieve some architectural and aesthetic balance that we believed to be missing in the original design."

That original design included one large front-facing gable at the entrance. "We decided as part of the renovation process to expand the house southward and add a second gable of the same size to better balance the facade," Robert said. A small music room was removed, and the three-story expansion included a gym and new guest quarters on the pool level, a veranda and enlarged music room on the main floor and an expanded master suite on the top floor.

This addition was accompanied by the renovation of many existing rooms. The dining room grew by almost half, but in looking at it now, a visitor cannot tell where old stops and new begins. Raised panels, dentil molding and beautifully framed doorways are all so meticulously matched that one can't imagine the room could have been any other size.

The gracefully proportioned new music room features a deep bay window that captures the morning sun. A set of French doors leads to a limestone veranda with balusters of an original design created by the Parkers and their architect, Norman Askins. Limestone scuppers gently direct rainwater into the garden below, and sweeping stairs lead guests down to the garden level.

From beginning to end, each aspect of construction was carefully considered. Brick was removed from the back of the house to be used to extend the front façade so the run would be perfectly matched. A painstaking and months-long pursuit of matching brick to clad the back and side exteriors was aided when longtime neighbor Deenie Mason remembered the delivery of the brick in the 1920s and recalled the name of the brickworks.

The arched windows and their limestone surrounds from the old music room were removed and saved to be reused in the renovation. Their form became a leitmotif in the new and refreshed rooms. Carefully reproduced by a master carpenter, the arches appear in new mahogany-encased windows throughout the house and in smaller details like the arch over a bookcase and the guest room shower enclosure.

Living through the two-year renovation was an adventure. Robert remembers, "The children were 12 and 14 then. We were prepared to live in the home during the renovation because we had been operating on the assumption that it would be a 12-month project."

Rebecca adds, "That turned into a 24-month construction period. The plan was I would be here every day to carefully control what was going on in the house. Various art and antiques would have been difficult to move, and I wanted to make sure everything stayed in good shape. For example, the east wall of the dining room has a panel of French wallpaper, 'Bay of Naples' that was issued by Dufour in about 1821. Because it was too delicate to remove, we had it protected with plastic and a specially made plywood box that kept it from being damaged during the construction."

The renovation included updating and modernizing many of the functional components of the house. Taking out the walls of the lower level permitted the installation of high-speed Internet cables throughout the house and updates to the electrical service. The main-level kitchen was expanded to incorporate an informal dining and work area. The kitchen ceiling (which had been lowered in an earlier renovation) was restored to its original height, and the kitchen was completely updated and modernized with mahogany cabinetry.

The Parkers say they are not collectors of "things," and there's a clean simplicity to their gracious rooms. They do admit to one collecting passion though, art, and their walls are hung with oil paintings from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. A particularly striking piece is a large 17th century painting, "Narcissus," which hangs on the mahogany paneled walls of the entrance hall.

Their revitalized home feels right as it continues to hold its stately place in the neighborhood. They appreciate the home's connection to the neighborhood, as well. Rebecca says, "We have run into people who tell us about their visits to this house over the years. I had one woman tell me, 'When we were young, my husband asked me to marry him in the backyard of your house.' I love that."

THE PARKERS' TIPS FOR SURVIVING A RENOVATION:

1. Have a good sense of what you want to accomplish and your time- and cost-related tolerance.

2. Plan the project thoughtfully, budget it in detail and minimize change orders.

3. Insist on high-quality subcontractors and an experienced and well-organized on-site supervisor.

TO VISIT THIS HOME:

The Parker home is one of five Buckhead houses dating from 1910 to 1952 featured on "Buckhead in Bloom", the Atlanta Preservation Center's (APC) home and garden tour. The houses are located on Andrews Drive, Argonne Drive and Chatham Roads.

Date: Saturday April 6

Time: noon to 5 p.m.

Tickets: $40 general public; $30 for APC members. To charge tickets in advance, call 404-688-3353, ext. 11, or visit the Cathedral of St. Philip Book Store, 2744 Peachtree St. Tickets can be purchased by check or cash at four Harry Norman, Realtors offices; Smith & Hawken in Buckhead, and Boxwood Gardens and Gifts, 100 E. Andrews Dr.

For more information: 404-688-3353 or www.preserveatlanta.com.