Callanwolde Barn Rehabilitation

Callanwolde is the former estate of Charles Howard Candler, who was a member of the Coca-Cola Company dynasty in Atlanta during the Twentieth Century.

The site contains a 24-room late Tudor Revival style house and several outbuildings including the Barn designed by the noted architect Henry Hornbostel (1867-1961). Hornbostel’s buildings at Callanwolde were designed and constructed between 1917 and 1921. The mansion and outbuildings listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places. The estate is currently owned and maintained by DeKalb County and operated by the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve, restore, and develop the Callanwolde Estate and to be a premier public participatory arts and cultural center. As a part of that mission, Callanwolde has launched the Rick Baker School of Music and Recording to incorporate music recording and sound-mixing into their current musical repertoire.

The Callanwolde Fine Arts Center Barn Rehabilitation transformed an underutilized historic structure into a vibrant music recording studio. The Barn is Tudor Revival which is the prevailing architectural style of the estate. It is a two-story building banked in a steep slope. The exterior features a multi-wythe masonry wall at the lower level that transitions to a stucco-clad wood-framed wall with half-timbered trim at the upper level. The original clay tile roof and gutter were still intact. Exterior doors were plank barn doors, while a non-original sliding door had been added, most likely in the 1950s. Original windows were casement style. There is no internal stair, so each floor served independent functions.

The character-defining features of the exterior were maintained or restored. Throughout, programming requirements were scrutinized and adjusted wherever possible to avoid impact to historic fabric. Mechanical systems were introduced to the building using a split system to reduce runs of ductwork and to minimize penetrations and visual impacts within the building. Because there was no communicating stair within the building, an exterior stair was added on the least visible façade to allow for safe and convenient travel from one level to the next. 

Practice Areas