Visit Italy-inspired Montaluce in Dahlonega

By JULIE B. HAIRSTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/25/08

DAHLONEGA — From the artist's nook window atop Villa Rossese, the roof's red clay tiles provide an earthy complement to the distant terraced hill sparkling verdant in the warm spring sun. Soon, a graceful green lace of fruiting vines will etch those terraces with the promise of a bountiful harvest of grapes. Tuscany? Try Dahlonega, where the Italy-inspired village at Montaluce is rising on rolling hills of former farmland just outside this quaint north Georgia hamlet.

Villa Rossese, decorated by Des-Syn Interior Design, conveys the casual elan of pastoral Tuscany within a classic Italian motif created by acclaimed Atlanta architect Bill Harrison's Harrison Design Associates.

From now until Mother's Day, May 11, Montaluce's elegantly rustic show house will be open for tours.

The show house employs rich, organic colors in natural materials such as silk, cotton and linen to amplify the home's idyllic ambience.

Antique furniture and accessories mirror the vintage tone set by grooved, hand-sanded oak floors, weathered ivory kitchen cabinets and exposed bronze plumbing.

Montaluce, just a jot over an hour north of metro Atlanta, started as the brainchild of Beecham Builders Chief Operating Officer Rob Beecham, a fourth-generation Atlanta homebuilder. Over the past two years, it has evolved into an extended-family enterprise Italian-style.

In addition to a variety of Harrison-designed houses ranging from 1,000-square-foot cottages to villas stretching out to more than 5,000 square feet, Montaluce's 400 acres will encompass vineyards, a working winery and a restaurant, Le Vigne. Prices range from $450,000 for cottages to $4 million for river-front estate homes.

"I live in a Tuscan home. It's my favorite type of architecture. It's appealing to a lot of people," Beecham said. "I can't fly to Italy every weekend, but I can have a place that evokes that."

Sandy Springs residents Gareth and Barbara Genner were the first buyers at Montaluce, drawn to the Beechams' vision of a continental wine community.

Even though the site was virtually undeveloped in January 2007 when the Genners toured it, they signed a contract at the end of their visit.

"We like the area they picked and we did not know of anything else like that on the East Coast," Barbara Genner said. "We just fell in love with the architecture and the whole concept."

Villa Rossese offers a prototype for Montaluce's future home interiors as its housing stock grows from the half-dozen or so standing models to the 300 houses it will contain at full build-out.

In keeping with its setting, the villa is designed to suggest a more leisurely approach to living than entrepreneurial Atlantans are accustomed to observing.

The antique trestle table in the dining room is surrounded with comfy slipcovered chairs that invite diners to sit and chat a little longer. Timeworn threshing baskets on the wall remind them of days before bread came presliced in plastic bags.

A natural stone fireplace in the master suite beckons its occupants to linger, while the master bath's elegant clawfoot tub makes the thought of a long soak at the day's end almost irresistable.

And, of course, no Montaluce home would be complete without its wine cellar. Villa Rossese's 500-bottle storage is on the terrace level, where residents can repair for a friendly rivalry at the billiards table or perch on the patio to revel in the mountain air.

Upstairs, a cheerful children's room makes ample use of whimsy with colorful exotic insects under glass and a collection of antique toys hanging on the walls.

The in-law suite shimmers nearby with the amber glow of harvest season.

With the completion of the winery and the show house, the Genners' long-awaited vision is finally tangible in bricks and mortar. The couple is eager for next year, when Montaluce's first vintage pours into its barrels.

"That will be very exciting," Barbara Genner said.

Tour Info

From now until Mother's Day, May 11, Montaluce's elegantly rustic show house will be open for tours Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The $15 ticket price will benefit the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Holly Theater in Dahlonega.