Tour a Family Lodge in Georgia That Celebrates the Sporting Life

This handsome farmhouse in Elko, Georgia, is two hours from the owners’ main residence outside Atlanta. And it’s just down the road from Perry, Georgia — designer James Farmer’s hometown and headquarters. He’s also fluent in the hunting vernacular they envisioned for their family’s weekend retreat. “I feel like the hunting theme is congruent with nature,” James explains. "Old books, brown furniture, trophies and taxidermy — it can all flow together effortlessly. It’s not a theme … it’s a lifestyle!”

The warm pine paneling that crowns the ceiling just inside the front door in the foyer is more than just a pretty face. It’s also a time-honored, durable material that builders would have used to add architectural detail to properties like this one centuries ago.

It’s no accident that the pine paneling on the foyer ceiling carries down into palm-patterned grasscloth on the walls. In that juxtaposition, James pays tribute to a geologic feature known as the Fall Line, which cuts diagonally across Georgia and divides the evergreens of the Piedmont (to the north) from the more tropical vegetation of the Coastal Plain (to the south).

James made the most of the narrow foyer by arranging interactions among the pieces positioned against its walls. Peer into the Italian mirror on this side, for example, and a table lamp appears to stand between two of its fellows on this English brandy board. Similarly, a pair of hunt paintings are framed within the mirror's frame.

Vintage Black Forest antlers, an antique lowboy console and a meticulously matched, symmetrical array of brown and white table lamps, ginger jars and transferware platters and plates create a satisfying tableau in the hall between the living and dining rooms. A colorful pile of peaches and nectarines, in turn, add a punch of color to the space.

With apologies to well-intentioned sellers of "books by the foot," reading material as a decorative flourish can’t compete with a meticulously curated library. This dresser includes The Field to Table Cookbook, a contemporary recipe collection for gardeners, foragers, fishermen and hunters.

Recreated from an archival document that dates back to the 1920s, Schumacher’s Lotus Garden — a blend of avian and Japanese motifs — ornaments the lounge’s armchairs, pillows and curtains. More pine paneling and a sisal area rug counterbalance the delicate illustrations with natural textures.

Against the lounge's other wall, an antique secretary teems with traditional blue and white temple jars, transferware, leather-bound books, ginger jars, Staffordshire-style dogs and ornamental Royal Copenhagen-style fish plates. A pair of sporting dog portraits, more vintage porcelain and a pair of chairs flank the arrangement — and it all works, thanks to the symmetry that underpins James’s maximalism.

One can readily imagine the coffee table at the center of the lounge has some colorful stories to tell; unlike the manicured secretary and occasional table beyond it, it has the lovely patina of a well-used antique.

James jokes that there is no "when" when it comes to putting the brakes on a space’s thematic elements. But when pressed he does admit, “I call it a sixth sense. I can tell when I’ve added that one thing too many. I walk out of the room and edit if there’s too much, but I truly trust my gut on when a home or room is ready.”

James told his clients that he imagined the living room in khakis and a white shirt — that is, “suitable dress for any occasion but easily dressed up with a blazer and tie or relaxed with loafers.” It’s useful imagery for non-designers too. “Dress your rooms like you would yourself,” he explains. “If it’s a formal occasion, you don’t wear your pajamas! Our rooms are the sets for the scenes of life.”

Would James consider leopard print a neutral, as some fashion designers are fond of saying? “Absolutely! There may not be an aqua cheetah, leopard or tiger roaming the Serengeti but it’s the premise that it is an animal print,” he says. “They are meant to blend in in nature, so I absolutely think they do in design as well. They blend beautifully with fabrics and patterns and, thus, work very well as a neutral.” And there’s an excellent aqua leopard print in one of the bedrooms too.

Garden stools serve as occasional tables beside each of the plaid-wool-clad sofas in the living room. James is fond of deploying the widely available accessories, but he cautions that all are not created equal: “In this instance, size matters. It’s great to have the right scale with an accent piece like a garden stool; having one that’s appropriately sized for the space shows the design work that goes into it.”

You don’t have to be a sportsman (or the proud owner of a low country lodge) to cultivate this home’s classic look. Try the aesthetic on for size by assembling a gallery wall like the one in the hall beyond the living room. Get started by searching for framed Audubon art prints.

An Impressionistic, folk-art-influenced hunting scene painted on wood hangs on the brick above the fireplace, and the mantel carries the ceiling’s intricate pine down to the wainscoting. The mantel’s styling reflects James’s appreciation of Southern style’s high-and-low mix. Intricate red-and-white temple jars stand beside humbler green glass vessels.

Benjamin Moore’s Jade Romanesque on the kitchen’s upper and lower cabinets whispers of the woodlands beyond the farmhouse. Gleaming brass bin pulls and knobs, pale-veined marble and an ornate runner pair that organic hue with a bit of opulence, while a knotty pine island and an unframed canvas above the stove contribute a sense of ease to the space.

A pair of sturdy pendants created for outdoor use introduce a new metallic texture to the kitchen. “I love the use of copper inside,” James says.

James brought together a variety of wood types in the kitchen’s table, chairs, island and floor to create balance rather than an exact match.

Between serving as an editor-at-large for Southern Living and penning A Time To Celebrate (his paean to special-occasion feasts), James is well-acquainted with preparing a picture-perfect platter. This one owes its appeal to a blend of casual abundance and aristocratic details like a silver cup bearing serving utensils.

James created an intricate symmetrical arrangement of vintage dishes above the bench in the eat-in portion of the kitchen. To frame the stunning view of the lake and the woodland beyond it, he opted for simple gingham curtains. Why draw the eye away from the space’s most magnificent feature?

The creamy white horizontal paneling seen here on the wall between the kitchen and the butler’s pantry is a way to highlight collections like this trio of platters.

If you’re looking to deploy mural-style decoration like the spectacular scenic wallpaper James chose for this dining room, his advice is simple: “Go big or go home! This treatment is meant to create a scene and a backdrop.” This particular paper — Paul Montgomery’s Low Country — is hand-painted to imitate 18th-century woodblock-printed murals.

James incorporated his clients’ own collections as he designed their spaces, “and we added a great combo of ‘yours, mine and ours’ to make this project come together. These clients already owned beautiful pieces that we both incorporated and tweaked.” If your own arrangements could use a nudge in a new direction, consider calling in a new pair of eyes; a fresh take could make all the difference.

The curvaceous bases on both the host and side chairs in the dining room are known as “mutton legs,” a now-classic fluted style that was popular with French furniture makers in the 19th century. Those delicate shapes contrast with the bolder look of the nailheads upholstering the cool gray-green wool and coral-toned velvet to their seats and backs.

James perched vintage green Chinese porcelain ducks on either side of a footed bowl bursting with jewel-toned dahlias and other seasonal flowers. Like porcelain lions (or "foo dogs"), ducks are traditionally presented in pairs. They symbolize happiness and fidelity.

Bedrooms abound in the farmhouse, and there’s plenty of room for both current members of this family and additions in years to come. James developed each space with muted, textural grasscloth and a sophisticated combination of velvets, floral patterns and plaids.

James placed another garden stool beside one of the beds as a supplement to its marble-topped shared nightstand. “It’s beautiful to bring the outdoors in," he says. "I often find garden stools at Scott’s [a monthly indoor antique show in Atlanta and Columbus].” The orange pillows on the beds are another colorway of the Schumacher fabric he used in the lounge downstairs.

In this bedroom the grasscloth is the pale hue of a winter sky. As in the hallway, Black Forest antlers and transferware serve as a focal point on the wall. Octagonal mirrors flank a spindle-topped four-poster bed layered with well-matched gingham, blue fawn and sporting-print fabrics.

This diminutive, appealing dresser tableau is worth a zoom: it features a hand-glazed and pleated table lamp, a sweet summer bouquet in a similarly-glazed vase, a sentimental Spaniel portrait and James's own Wreaths for All Seasons. How's that for layering?

In this bedroom James chose a celadon-toned grasscloth for the wall, a carved four-poster bed, an ecru gingham for the shams and dust ruffle and a heron-patterned fabric for accent pillows. The principle at play here? When you hit upon a winning formula, play with it to your heart's content.

Deeper tobacco tones branch across this bedroom, where the grasscloth and window treatments pull in putty and palm fiber hues. References to nature abound in the quails and long-needled pine on the bedding and curtains to a leopard-inspired print on the bench pillows.

A double gourd table lamp presides over another casual-but-thoughtful arrangement on this nightstand. James created a graduated stack of bedside reads and a trinket dish, then paired a fern with a gleaming cup of cut flowers.