Getting the Details Right

A couple of months ago I was presented with an opportunity that has taken all of my time, focus and effort. I was contacted by a couple who were in the  process of having a home designed, which they wanted to evoke the look and feel of a popular Natchez Antebellum home, The Rosalie. Unfortunately, (or fortunately for me) the designer they were working with was used to churning out basic stock type builder plans, and really didn't understand or listen to what her clients were telling her. 
   Three thousand dollars into this process, they had a plan that was over sized, poorly proportioned, and missed every architectural point of the Greek Revival home that inspired the clients.
    I took one look at the elevation and wanted to cry myself. Nothing about it was right, except it happened to have four columns on the front. I wanted so badly to do justice to such a beautiful Antebellum home, that I offered to refund not only my design fees, but the previous designers too, if I pleased them enough with my interpretation to let me build it as well. 
   After the design contract was signed, I made a quick trip to Natchez to refresh my memory of Rosalie, and to photograph the exterior details for incorporation into our plans. One of the trickiest elements is to keep the proportions of such a grand house intact, while scaling down the square footage enough to bring the design into a realistic budget range. As the work progresses and I add photos of the project, I'll let my readers decide if I was successful.



  The original Rosalie, overlooking the Mississippi River in Natchez Mississippi



 A preliminary rendering of "Rosalina"

 

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