Photograph by Jessica Ashley Photography
Dana Lynch woke up in a panic one night, worried she was combining too many elements in the kitchen of the house she was building. “I realized I had specified a plaster wall, three different stones, four completely different cabinet materials and finishes, four different metals (not including the stainless appliances), and a wood floor and wall color,” she says. Expecting her husband, Bill, to object to the layered approach, she was surprised when he trusted her instinct. The happy end result: a sophisticated kitchen that mixes a lot of finishes but still seems soothing and organic—a metaphor for their home as a whole.
Photograph by Jessica Ashley Photography
Photograph by Jessica Ashley Photography
Photograph by Jessica Ashley Photography
The Lynch house is surrounded by rolling farmland that looks like a Hollywood set, but is part of the bucolic Serenbe neighborhood south of the city. After honing their expertise for decades as “serial builders” (her words), Dana and Bill tapped into her love of sophisticated farmhouse style for this new family home. “I made Bill drag home 50 pounds of design books about Belgian farmhouses the last time we went to France,” she quips, citing her inspiration for the home’s European flavor. She adds, “And I planned all this two years before Restoration Hardware was doing that look.”
The couple enlisted kindred spirit Ryan Duffey, an Atlanta architect who shares their love of natural materials, to help design the custom house. Ryan’s plan called for a stucco-and-cypress exterior topped by a wood shingle roof. The two-story main building is flanked by two wings, housing the master suite on one side and the garage on the other. The U-shaped structure creates a charming courtyard in the middle, and its rambling layout evokes a pastoral grange.
Photograph by Laura Negri Photography
Photograph by Laura Negri Photography
Photograph by Laura Negri Photography
Inside, the rooms reflect Dana’s love of a neutral palette combined with a passion for textures and materials: wood, stone, leather, worn metals, hand-hewn plaster, and iron, just for starters. “I completely die over brass these days—the real thing, pitted and green, nothing faux,” says Dana. “I am trending more toward color, but color in its natural element for the most part, such as a gorgeous stone slab. Natural elements just feel the most honest to me, and I know they will stand the test of time rather than look trendy.”
Photograph by Laura Negri Photography
Photograph by Jessica Ashley Photography
Photograph by Laura Negri Photography
Photograph by Laura Negri Photography
She includes touches of glamour, too. A fine art collection greets visitors in the foyer, and swanky lighting permeates every room. “I have to admit I have shiny object syndrome,” says Dana. “Anything Lucite can come live with me…anything.”
Photograph by Laura Negri Photography
Photograph by Laura Negri Photography
Dana began her career as an attorney but these days is devoted to her interior design practice. Her skills will soon be on display at the Organic Living Magazine show house in Serenbe and a myriad of projects in the forthcoming Pinewood Forrest neighborhood (in conjunction with film studio mecca Pinewood Atlanta Studios). Already, she has designed custom houses all over metro Atlanta, combining her lawyer’s attention to detail with her instinctive passion for beauty. And she has stopped waking up in a panic about taking a few chances. Says Dana, “I have learned to embrace and welcome asymmetry and imperfection.”
Photograph by Jessica Ashley Photography
This article originally appeared in our Spring 2017 issue of Atlanta Magazine’s HOME.
