Printer friendly format - Living the Simple Life in Serenbe, Georgia

By Jessica Thuston; Produced by Molly Power Pastor

Living the Simple Life in Serenbe, Georgia

Atlanta shop owners Courtney and Randy Tilinski left the chaos of the big city for a quiet cottage community that celebrates the simple life.

photography: Dominique Vorillon
In the cottage's entry, dark ebony floors and cool gray walls create a simple and contemporary backdrop for Courtney and Randy's mix of dark wood antiques and found objects.

Life has always been about taking chances for Courtney and Randy Tilinski. Eight years ago, the couple went out on a limb and opened their own home-furnishings store. The result is one of Atlanta's freshest furniture, lighting, and accessories shops, Bungalow Classic. That entrepreneurial spirit struck again when the couple made the bold decision to trade the metropolis for small-town life in a new community about 30 miles southwest called Serenbe.

"We really wanted a place where we could just go and get away from the city," Courtney says. "It's so quiet here, and there are bike and walking trails. You feel like you're truly a world away, yet it's only 40 minutes from downtown Atlanta."

While Serenbe's landscape, which is characterized by rolling farmland and a thick forest of trees, was attractive to the Tilinskis, the couple was also drawn to the eco-friendly nature of the neighborhood. With only 242 current homesites, Serenbe will remain natural: The founders have dedicated 80 percent of the 900 acres to green space and have employed a mixed-use approach, combining cottages, lofts, and townhouses with commercial and retail space. The architecture of the homes is intentionally diverse, with Craftsman, Cape Cod, and modern cottages all sitting side by side, in an effort to avoid the cookie-cutter look so prevalent in planned communities.

"We put down a deposit on our cottage the day we came in for a tour," Courtney remembers. "We loved the floor plan, and the exterior was just our style—simple with lots of old-fashioned charm." The couple's architect, Lew Oliver, calls the board-and-batten facade "lite Gothic" because "it's missing the old-timey bric-a-brac trim."

photography: Dominique Vorillon
"I wanted the living room to feel warm and natural," Courtney says, so she chose creamy white linen for the matching sofas and nubby burlap curtains. A piece of rough-hewn lumber serves as the mantel on the locally quarried rock fireplace

Because the house was still under construction, Courtney and Randy were able to tweak a lot of the interiors and inject their personal preferences. "We didn't overanalyze it, we just focused on the finishes," Courtney says. The Tilinskis wanted the cottage to have a "dark, moody feel" inside, so they stained the wood floors throughout ebony and specified black honed granite countertops and a slate backsplash in the kitchen. In every bath but the master, they repeated the slate on the floors and kept the hardware throughout either wrought iron or oil-rubbed bronze. In the living room, they switched the fireplace surround to a natural stone, which imbues the space with a cozy and rustic feel.

For furnishing the cottage, Randy and Courtney turned to their own store, stocking up on some basic upholstered pieces in linen and having curtains made throughout the house in earthy hues. "I like to go home to a calm, relaxing, and peaceful place with not a lot of visual chaos," Courtney says. "We see so much during the day in our business that we both really appreciate a more colorful and layered design, but we can't live with it day-to-day."

photography: Dominique Vorillon
Antique lamps and upholstered barstools help the open kitchen blend with the adjoining dining and living room. Granite countertops and a slate backsplash complement the cottage's dark floors.

The couple carried the ethos of Bungalow Classic home and applied it to their own cottage: Start with a neutral base, and add accessories with a lot of texture, character, and patina. "I don't understand such a 'perfect' world where everything in someone's house is brand-new," Courtney says. "I love character and history, so we furnished the house with finishes like driftwood and metal. We then mixed some rustic antiques with more modern pieces to keep it fresh."

Keeping things fresh is what this couple does best, thanks to their move to this Utopia. "The quality of life here is just incredible," says Courtney. "Every Sunday morning we walk to breakfast at the local bakery. We can get fresh produce from the neighborhood organic farm, stop in at the art gallery around the corner, or go mountain biking on trails not far from our door. With our hectic lives, living like this is such a luxury."

Take a virtual look around the Serenbe community.