Modern On Their Mind
Bucking tradition in the suburbs of Atlanta, an art-loving couple and their architect best friend created a relaxed contemporary showcase for their family's 21st-century lifestyle.
It began life as just another McMansion surrounded by many-gabled houses in faux-historical styles. So its rectilinear geometry and industrial-modern materials naturally piqued curiosity, not to mention surprise (the new building was constructed inside the shell of its predecessor, and the old facade was dropped only after the new home was finished). People now stop to take pictures. Strangers have wondered whether this is a welcome center for the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area—or a supermarket. "A man saw our kids playing and knocked to ask if it was a children's hospital," says Bonnie Fishman of the house her family calls the Fishtank. In Marietta, Georgia, bold modernism grabs attention.
This major reno-transformation was created for the Fishmans (Eric's an anesthesiologist, Bonnie's a marketing consultant) by Russell E. Sherman, a project architect at WRNS Studio in San Francisco. Best friends with Eric since seventh grade, Sherman actually introduced the Fishmans and met his own wife at their wedding. Intimate familiarity with his clients helped him "make a house that was specific to them," the architect says.
The challenge of the project was twofold, he explains. First, it would be home to an exuberant family. "It's also this gallery-slash-entertainment house," Sherman continues. The Fishmans frequently host benefit parties for organizations like Atlanta's High Museum of Art. Often, when they expect 75 guests, 120 show up, all eager to get a look inside (the Fishmans' own impressive collection consists primarily of post-1960 photography).
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