Dunwoody home melds practicality with style

When Kerri McBride and her husband, Iku Nakada, decided to settle in Dunwoody, they needed organization, space and practicality for their family of four.

After several years moving from one home to the next, McBride and Nakada decided Dunwoody and the good neighborhood schools met their needs.

Enlarge this image

Sean Drakes/Special

Kerri McBride’s kitchen flows into a keeping room that has two desks for her sons to do their homework.

Enlarge this image

Sean Drakes/Special

Kerri McBride and her husband, Iku Nakada, bought an older ranch home with the intention of renovating it, but their builder thought they should start from scratch. The family now has a five-bedroom Cape Cod.

Enlarge this image

Sean Drakes/Special

Display spaces in their new home give Kerri McBride a place to showcase collections, such as her Steuben glasswork.

HOME TOUR
36th Annual Dunwoody Woman's Club Home Tour. 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1. The four-home tour includes the McBride-Nakada Cape Cod-style residence, another newly constructed house and two renovations. Tickets: $25 advance, $30 door. Information: 770-394-0435, www.dunwoodywomansclub.org.
• Tour seminar: Melanie Serra of Interior Revivals speaks on "Decorating With Color." 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Southern Comforts, 2510 Mt. Vernon Road, Dunwoody.

RELATED LINKS
• Photos: See more of the McBride-Nakada home
• Private Quarters Classic archive
• See our luxury homes channel!
• Home & Garden
• ajchomefinder.com
• NEW! Home Sales Report

---

Step back in time
Search our historic archives for stories on historic homes and more about the Atlanta environs from 1868 through 1939.

McBride, principal for the North Highland Company, a management consulting firm, and Nakada, a vice president at Cisco Systems, moved from Chateau Elan in Braselton. They have two boys, Nathan, 9, and Adam, 12.

They bought an older ranch home in Dunwoody and brought in builder Charles Tice to renovate it. However, the needs of a modern family were too much for a renovation, and Tice suggested they start from scratch. So they razed the home and commissioned Tice to design and build the Cape Cod-style residence in its place. The five-bedroom, five-bath, two-half-bath home also includes a butler’s pantry, central vacuum system and a large walk-in pantry with a work counter.

The couple is thrilled with the results, which will be on view Wednesday during the 36th Annual Dunwoody Woman’s Club Home Tour. They have an open floor plan with lots of space and Craftsman and Mission details throughout that meld with Nakada’s Japanese sensibility.

McBride also worked with a space designer to plan the home’s layout. She did the decorating, with a color consultant helping her choose paint colors.

“I’m a neat freak. I wanted enough storage and everything in its place,” McBride said of the home, which the family moved into in March.

It has three levels but looks like a 1-1/2 stories from the road.

“We wanted to be respectful of the neighborhood,” she said. “But it’s not your typical Dunwoody colonial.”

Decorating style: While McBride loves the contemporary, metropolitan look, she knew it wouldn’t fit in the neighborhood. She calls the resulting style eclectic. She cites as an example a contemporary chandelier over a depression-era walnut table in the dining room.

“It’s what we love and it’s eclectic. It has a Mission and Arts and Crafts influence to it with an Asian influence.”

The home is done in earth tones, creating a calming effect. Light hickory flooring and ample windows brighten the feel.

Coolest feature: The intelligent house system allows the family to control the lights, radio, TV and computer from anywhere in the residence. And when family members leave town for their lake house, they can access the controls remotely in case, say, someone left on a light.

Heart of the home: The kitchen combines Celtic green granite with blond cabinetry. It flows into the keeping room, which has two built-in desks for her sons to do their homework across from her office area.

“It’s the place where we hang out most of the time,” McBride said.

Future project: McBride would like to add more landscaping as well as storage in the garage.

Most cherished item: “When you move around as much as we have, life isn’t about your possessions,” McBride said.

But she notes that display spaces in their new home give her a place to showcase collections such as her husband’s Japanese pottery. A small wooden Christmas tree decorated in a Noah’s Ark theme is a permanent fixture in the home because the family hates to put it away every year.

“Now we have a place for things. And that keeps your sense of history … and they’re like touch points,” she said.

They also have space to hang wood block prints from the late artist Ansei Uchima, a family friend.

Tips for good living

• “Bigger is not always better. You really can get too big.”

• “We’re not people who throw money all over the place. [Our builder] helped us spend money wisely.”

• “Find a builder who’s really going to listen.”

• “Be OK with not following the classic mode. Have the confidence to do what everybody doesn’t do.”