Classic home with modern makeover on Tour of Kitchens


If you go

What: Junior League of Atlanta's 17th Annual Tour of Kitchens, featuring 14 residential kitchens (seven properties on tour each day)

When: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on March 29 and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on March 30

Cost: $35 in advance, $40 at the door

Info: 404-261-7799, jlatlanta.org (select Fundraisers and Tour of Kitchens)

Scott and Livia Hostetler’s home is on the Junior League of Atlanta Tour of Kitchens, but there are bonuses to viewing the property, which has undergone a major makeover with a modern focus.

“What’s unique about this renovation was it wasn’t just a kitchen. It wasn’t just a bathroom,” said Scott, who owns an firm specializing architecture and planning for homes/buildings plus landscape architechture and interior design with offices in Atlanta and overseas. “There are a variety of different renovations that took place over the years.”

Glass walls, a bathroom sink and toilet that appear to be suspended in the air; a Gaggenau modular cooktop and contemporary German lacquer cabinets in the kitchen; a home theater with a 100-inch screen; and combinations of metallic paint make a memorable impression among guests.

Snapshot

Residents: Scott and Livia Hostetler and their daughters, Anja, and Zara, 4. Scott is chief designer, president and CEO of Hostetler Zhang Studer (HZS USA).

Location: Atlanta

Size: 5,500 square feet, five bedrooms, five baths

Year built: 1999

Year bought: 2006

Renovations: The Hostetlers are wrapping up their renovation which began in 2009. The first phase created a third-floor home theater, which also has a Sony projector and leather automatic recliners, office and wet bar with a Sub-Zero refrigerator and sink. The second phase removed the non-loadbearing walls to create an open floor plan on the main level and created a contemporary kitchen and main floor bathroom. The bathroom has a floor-to-ceiling glass wall with a shower on one side and a sink that appears to be suspended on the other side. The tankless toilet also is mounted on the wall. On the exterior, a new grand staircase was made from Georgia and Tennessee flagstone, the roof was reshingled and gutter guards were added. The final phase focused on the nearly 1-acre lot. "We actually removed all of the ivy, which was a major undertaking," Scott said.

Architectural style: Classic

Favorite architectural elements: Expansive glass walls in the great room and main floor bathroom. In the great room, a folding door system, called the NanaWall, can completely open up the back of the house. In the bathroom, the glass wall creates the illusion of spaciousness, he said.

Cost of renovations: $350,000

Design consultants: CSI Kitchen and Bath Studio, Atlanta Wood Masters, Adrian Aguilar Painting, Bobcat Atlanta, Rose Stone Masonry (Cleveland, Tenn.)

Interior design style: Modern interpretation of classic. "It's quite modern inside and it's open with a lot of light," Scott said.

Favorite interior design elements: Niches and wall cutouts with shelves display the art the couple collected while living in Hong Kong in the early 2000s and traveling through Southeast Asia. Their favorite pieces include a reproduction of a terracotta warrior, an ebony wood carving of a woman and a stretched canvas painting from Bali, Indonesia.

Resources: Furniture from stores including Cantoni and Huff Furniture and Design.