Sipping and Seeing

It's 8am, I've only gotten five hours of sleep due to a delayed flight last night, and I'm trying to get my motor revving with some extra strength coffee. Needless to say, the thought of cocktails and bars does not necessarily sound very appealing right now. That said, I have had this particular bar- and home- on my mind as of late.

The English Regency house, located in Atlanta and designed in 1936 by Philip Shutze, is rather unusual thanks to that modern, streamlined penthouse, something that would have been in vogue at that time. Actually, I would say that it's still in vogue today. Shutze designed the penthouse in response to the clients' desire for an observation area, obliging them with corner walls filled with windows and roof terraces. But for me it's what's on the inside that excites me...the curving bar that looks as though it's on a ship's helm. There's a Serge Roche feel to the space what with that plaster detail on the ceiling, those shelf supports, and the ornamentation on the bar itself. And the railing around the bar area and the staircase completes the chic look.

The clients were actually a newly married husband and wife who were of the ripe old age of...22 years old! This had to have been pretty heady stuff for such a young couple. But perhaps it was their youth, their enthusiasm, and their desire for something au courant that inspired Shutze to design a home that was a bit edgy for the time. I don't know about you, but I'd give my right arm to have a bar like this in my home. Actually, I'd give my left since I need my right one to mix a proper cocktail.





(All images from American Classicist: The Architecture of Philip Trammell Shutze)