A 155-year-old mansion in Adair Park gets transformed into a hip new inn

It can now be rented as an Airbnb for curious travelers, special events, and history-steeped staycations

5076
Adair Park 1043
One of three guest suites features wine-colored walls in PPG “Bold Sangria,” a black-lacquered spindle bed from Anthropologie, and a print of a Marie Antoinette lookalike stretched across canvas.

Photograph by Kelly Blackmon

When you approach the grand brick facade of the 1043 in Adair Park, so named for its street number on Metropolitan Parkway, you’re struck by both the building’s proportions and its history. Atlantans aren’t used to seeing houses 160 years old in a city that was all but incinerated in 1864.

“No building permits exist for it,” explains owner Tracy Galasso, who, along with her boyfriend, bartender Parks Pope, spent more than two years transforming the forlorn mansion—most recently used as a hospice—into a modern inn with three rooms for rent, as well as common areas designed for intimate events. Their efforts garnered them the Urban Design Commission’s 2018 award of excellence for historic rehabilitation.

Adair Park 1043
The library is awash in Behr “Fig Tree,” and the pendant is from Anthropologie.

Photograph by Kelly Blackmon

After gutting the aging residence down to the studs, Galasso was left with good bones, original wood floors, and ornate trim. Interior plasterwork and double layers of hand-packed brick (there’s no exterior wood framing) make the house feel extra solid. Its 10-foot ceilings, eight-foot-tall period-glass windows, and four breezy porches hark back to an earlier time. Galasso and Pope made most design decisions themselves but called in Caryn Grossman of CG Interiors for advice in a few sticking points.

Moody hues from Benjamin Moore, Behr, and Farrow & Ball felt right for the gravitas of the building. With guests in mind (the couple lives full-time on the top floor), Galasso opted for a mix of fun, kitschy, and one-of-a-kind decor, hitting up local shops like Bobo Intriguing Objects, Paris on Ponce, Brick + Mortar, and a host of secondhand sellers. Though her job is in social work, she laughs: “I spend my weekends meeting people in parking lots to buy their used furniture.”

Adair Park 1043
An intimate den continues the mossy hues with Farrow & Ball “Studio Green” and a credenza lacquered to match. “I like when furniture disappears,” Galasso says. The room displays a host of curiosities: portraits picked up on the curb, ceramic mannequin hands, and other odd objects from Kudzu Antiques, Young Blood Boutique, and Highland Row.

Photograph by Kelly Blackmon

Guests can enjoy the many common areas, including a cozy den and a clubby library stocked with design magazines, vintage records, and A-list art books from Warhol to Basquiat. (“I have a crazy uncle who granted me my entire Amazon wish list when I graduated from college,” says Galasso.) A bar fit for a connoisseur can be stocked for weddings or parties. Rate from $99.

This article appears in our Spring 2019 issue of Atlanta Magazine’s HOME.

Advertisement