A House on the Lake

A new vacation home in Georgia gets an earthy, organic farmhouse feel perfectly suited for large family gatherings.

- Written by Victoria Van Vlear | Photography by Robert Peterson

Can a home design be too good to be true?

A few years ago, interior design mother-daughter team Beth Meyer and Abby McLane helped an empty-nest couple design and build a second home in Georgia. “It was before Covid, and then during Covid lots of people from California were moving here,” Beth says. "A couple came and asked [my clients] if they'd like to sell. They'd only been there a year, but they said sure. So they bought it totally furnished.” Beth's clients still wanted a second home as a gathering space for family, so they approached Beth again. This house is the result.

FULLY FUNCTIONAL

They started with a large lot in a community outside Atlanta. But the couple didn't want the house itself to be massive. "Their last vacation house was larger, but they didn't want a huge main house for this one," Beth says. The house is very spacious, and the couple has plans to add several outbuildings to the property, including a guest structure and recreation house. "This community likes to do that, it's like a homestead," Beth says.

Having built one vacation home already, the couple could narrow down exactly what they wanted for functionality.

"This is where the family gathers for holidays," Beth says. The communal spaces are larger, with the expectation that the family will spend most of their time at the house together.