By Peyton Jenkins
The three story wood-working facility with a built-in freight elevator located in the garage did not happen to be Dave Woodruff’s favorite room in his new home. Instead it was the guest bedroom off the foyer that featured family heirlooms such as an old mirror and sewing table, collected from his and wife Nancy’s parents’ homes.
“Even though it was a brand new house, we wanted it to feel old,” he said. “Everything was intentional, and it even took us seven months to pick the right hardwood flooring.”
As wood is a major hobby of Daves’ Many pieces in the home were of Daves’ own creation, such as the newel posts because wood is a major hobby of his. He used African mahogany and made them in his workshop.
“When I asked the company how much they were going to cost they told me $1,700,” Dave said. “So I said ‘fine I will do it myself.’”
SNAPSHOT
Residents: Dave and Nancy Woodruff and their 12 year old golden retriever Molly. Dave is the Senior Vice President of McGriff Insurance Services, and Nancy is a homemaker.
Location: Five Points in Athens, GA
Size: 8,500 sq ft. 4 bedrooms/7 bath. The couple has 4 children, so they planned out one less room intentionally in hopes that the whole family would not be in the house at one time.
Year built/bought: 2020, moved the house that was previously there and started from scratch.
Design team:Tyler Davis of Athens Building Co.; architect Richard Dooley . Tyler mentioned that the hardest thing about the homebuilding was making sure the amount of impervious material was lower than 40% as with Athens ordinances. They managed to make a grassy slope in their driveway to have it reach 39.99% and there can be no more add ons or even a porch added to the home.
Architectural style: Craftsman
Favorite architectural elements: Natural lighting and open spaces stand out to the couple. “It’s a pretty bright house, even on dark days,” Nancy said. She did not want the home to feel “sectioned off”, but instead wanted there to be a flow between rooms. They decided to make the planks on the ceiling go in the direction of the roofing to make the home feel taller and less cut off.
Interior design style: Craftsman style with a mix of dark woods, light blues, whites and plenty of natural pieces. Nancy said she wanted nature to flood in with flowers and bird decor.
Favorite interior design elements: They picked sheetrock gray for the interior walls, and featured many windows to allow for it to always be bright when in the home. The mahogany doors inside are dark brown as compared with the almost stark white walls to allow for some differentiation.
Favorite Item: Dave’s favorite item is a painting in the first guest bedroom downstairs. The painting is of Nancy’s childhood home, a brownstone located in Savannah, Georgia. The frame is made of repurposed wood from the roof of the brownstone.
Resources: Some dressers, chests, doors and newel posts are partly made from Dave’s woodworking shop with equipment byFelder Group in Austria. Many items are sourced from antique shops, and others are passed down from family.
Decor tip: Take the time to think about the colors and furniture, Nancy said. “Grab a swab from Home Depot and throw it on the wall and see if it works,” Nancy said.
Special features: One special feature of the home is the three story wood-working facility. When asking the builder Tyler the most difficult thing about that project was he mentioned the water runoff that came from University Drive under the home. “We had to bury that [water runoff] and run it around the woodshop since the woodshop goes 10 feet underground,” he said. “It took us a total of 60 days before we put the foundation in.” The stained glass on sliding doors of the pantry has been passed down through Dave’s family, and he designed the doors to allow for the glass to be represented.
Dave Woodruff poses for a photo on August 31 in front of his hand made newel posts in his Athens home. He made eight in total from african mahogany. He made several adjustments to each one to ensure perfection in size with the banister, all done in his own wood-working shop in the home. Photo/Peyton Jenkins
The homeowners wanted to reuse as many materials as they could in their new home to make it feel lived in and settled. The guest bedroom on the main floor, and it features a painting of the wife’s parents’ brownstone with the frame made of the wood that was on the roof of the parents’ home. The bed was also constructed of wood used from an old bed of one of their late grandparents. Photo/Peyton Jenkins
When picking the hardwood flooring, the Athens homeowners opted for one made of many old wooden panels. They liked the scratches in the wood because it reminded them of their old house where the four dogs they used to have would constantly be scratching on the ground. The wood was reused from old barn houses, keeping in tune with the theme of feeling old yet new. Photo/Peyton Jenkins
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