A Modern Atlanta Home Tour had a major impact on James and Candy Sarvis’ decision to build in Buckhead.
The couple discovered their builder, Cablik Enterprises, during the tour a couple of years ago. Now their home, which replaced a dilapidated house from the 1950s, is featured on this year’s Modern Atlanta Home Tour on June 8-9.
The building process, from May 2011 to June 2012, evolved from a binder of magazine clippings with design concepts that the couple had collected and a dining room light that looks like a piece of origami. Their appreciation of cantilevered design in past projects by their architect, Dencity, helped create their glass-filled, two-story home that embraces a tree-filled setting.
“For me, I just have to be outdoors,” Candy said. “I can just pull those doors back and it’s just seamless inside and out. Even when the doors are closed, from the inside out, you just feel like you’re outdoors.”
Snapshot
Residents: James and Candy Sarvis. He is a vice president for Delta Air Lines; she is an executive in state government
Location: Buckhead
Size: Three bedrooms, three baths, about 4,000 square feet (including the garage)
Year built: 2012
General contractor: Cablik Enterprises, based in Atlanta
Architect: Staffan Svenson with Dencity, based in Atlanta
Architectural style: Modern. The butterfly-shaped roof appears to be lifting off from the house. The cantilevered staircase in the entryway hovers above a reflecting pool and the suspended entryway is lit up at night.
Favorite architectural feature: The extensive use of oversized glass.
Design consultants: Burns Century Interior Design, based in Lawrenceville; Lighting Loft in Atlanta; Core Landscape Group, based in Atlanta
Interior design style: Minimalist and serene. Even in their previous homes, the couple preferred modern furniture with clean, straight lines. "Because we've lived in a loft, we've just learned how to decorate with only things we really needed. There's not going to be a lot of clutter in our house," Candy said.
Favorite outdoor feature: Seeing the trees from every room. "The trees and the land in this area is just phenomenal in terms of how established the trees are," Candy said. "We just really wanted to feel, as silly as it sounds, like we were in a tree house when we went to bed. I guess we are kind of kids at heart."
Design tip: If you want to design a home with a particular architectural style, it can be attainable, if you plan for it. "I would really like to inspire some of these younger couples. We were one of them when we would go on these tours and think, 'Oh we love this house, we would never have something like that.' And we do," Candy said.
