This Photographer&#39;s Life

For more information on this great house (and upstairs pictures), please check out Erin Yabroudy's blog.

Water Bill Update+ Dutch Colonial Masterpiece!

Blayne Beacham July 5, 2012

Wow! My water story went viral! I was on AOL, Yahoo the Huffington Post and on TV three times! The people from Fox & Friends even called me!

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See that nice screen shot of me? ha ha.

Well, I wish I could say that all the publicity fixed the problem. It didn't. The City of Atlanta Department of Wetershed Management DID replace my meter, so that's a huge step in the right direction. They also said they would erase the $6,00o bill that I got last month. That was human error that occurred after they put on the data logger. They also erased the next two highest bills, which were for several thousand dollars. That leaves me with a $900 balance. I still don't think that is fair since I have been overplaying them for a year. It also does not totally solve the problem of why the bill has been so crazy. I had another plumber come out (the 4th) to confirm there were no leaks. Now I have to get a 5th plumber to come out at the same time as a person from the city, which is called a water audit. After the audit I have to go back to the water board appeal hearing. I am so tired of dealing with this. I have put at least 40 or 50 hours into dealing with this for the past year. I am just so ready to have a normal water bill and get back to life as usual.

Moving along...

I shot this amazing Dutch Colonial home a few weeks ago. It is located at 537 Hillside Drive with interior design by Mandy Culpepper. Listed by Erin Yabroudy and Wendy Wood Leebern.

It's been a while since I was totally floored by a house... and I was thrilled to pull into this driveway!

It feel like you are in Europe as soon as you hit the gravel.

I started outside photographing the grounds. It was all so lush and perfectly landscaped.

Loving this bench!

You know my favorite color is orange!

No, the house does not come with this super cute dog!

I could take a snooze on this hammock, especially after my late night last night watching fireworks at Cherokee!

There is a treehouse! My entire adult life I've wanted to build myself a treehouse... although I would NOT run water to it! (re: my $9,000 water bill).

I love this picture because of that swing... If I knew where that was from I would def register for it. Awesome!

When I was finished with the grounds I headed inside...

The foyer reminds me a little bit of our famous Neel Reid House on Andrews.

Office with fireplace off of the foyer.Another view from the office back into the foyer.

This is the view right as you walk into the front door. Love the carpet!

This is the dining room to the right of the foyer.

I love the kitchen! Any type of exposed shelving always gets me... and the stainless steel island... oh my.

This kitchen opens to this amazing breakfast room, which opens to the porch. Those chairs are fantastic!

This is the view looking back into the kitchen. Great looking!

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The formal living room is off the kitchen and the library. The red is such a bold choice and works so well. I'm also slightly obsessed with the bird painting above the fireplace (it looks kind of like the shirt I am wearing on the news in the screen shot at the top of this post).

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This hallway leads from the kitchen to the great room. That's a great coffee table/ottoman.

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This is my favorite room in the house. I'm a sucker for cathedral wood ceilings... AND cow rugs... and framed American flags. Duh.

Loving the color of the walls and the fun pillows!

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"Beacham Series" Party Tomorrow Night + Catch Up!

Blayne Beacham April 18, 2012

I'm sorry ok. I know I have been gone forever. If it makes you feel any better, the latest issue of "The Beacham Series" is finished! Thank God. It is a massive amount of work for three people to do... but Laura and Rod and I managed to finish it up and are convinced it is "the best one ever" (quoting Glennis). Tomorrow night is "The Beacham Series" party, but before we go into that, lets play a quick game of catch up. Here's what's happened in the past month...

Glennis and I went to the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World conference in Orlando. According to beacham.com, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (www.LeadingRE.com) is the largest network of top independent local and regional brand-name brokerage firms in the residential sector of real estate. The 550 firms affiliated with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® are represented by 4,600 offices and 140,000 associates in more than 30 countries worldwide. The organization's leadership is demonstrated by the fact that its affiliates comprise 15 of the top 25 real estate companies in the country. Collectively, LeadingRE affiliates produced nearly 800,000 home sales valued at $225 billion in the U.S. in 2010. In addition, LeadingRE locally-branded affiliates hold the Number One position in sales in 40% of the top 96 markets in the U.S., more than any national franchise organizations. For complete information on LeadingRE statistics, visit http://stats.leadingre.com/. <-- BIG DEAL. :)

We won first place in the Property Brand Advertising category of the marketing contest!

We also got second place in the "New Media" category... so many thanks to all of you for reading this blog... Thank you! Thank you!

Glennis and I worked the whole time, but we took a few minutes to stick our feet in the pool...

and celebrate our wins with a Miami Vice.

Jimmy and Charlotte were very proud of us!

Once we got back I went straight into picking a cover for "The Beacham Series."

Rod and Laura and I went over to Janey Lowe's listing at 94 Peachtree Way and started scouting shots.

We loved this porch shot...

We also loved this picture going into the family room. Isn't that archway pretty?

Here is Rod setting up for a shot through the front door.

There I am holding the reflector. :)

After we picked the cover we had to get the ad designed for the WINNER OF THE AD SPACE COMPETITION: Calligraphy by Kristen Flournoy Hay

We were thrilled that she won, and we love her ad, don't you?

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After the ad was ready, we sent the magazine out to Tucker Castleberry to get printed.

That was a cause for celebration at Local Three!

I spent last week at Tucker Castleberry making sure all the colors were right.

The magazine looked amazing... So I left it in Kent's capable hands and went to Palm Beach with my love to see his family.

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We had such a nice time, and I came back refreshed and ready for "The Beacham Series" party tomorrow from 5:30 to 8 PM.

House 3

The party is at Janey Lowe's listing on 94 Peachtree Way. The house is such a treat. According to Janey's remarks: Stunning to the studs renovation & restoration of this 1900 era home designed by Frank Neely & Davey Construction. Photographed & published nationally. Sweeping front lawn leads to porch with redwood floors. Bright family kitchen with walnut island, highest end appliances, 2 dishwashers, 2 refrigerators, hand-painted custom cabinetry, walk-in pantry, bfast area, all opening to a fireside den. Handsome study w/exquisite hand stained built-ins& brass lighting. Mstr bdrm suite with its own sitting area, dual walk-in-closets, 3 large other bedrooms. Herringbone brick patio & fireplace. 2 car garage w/full guest house.

Here is the amazing news: this house is already under contract! So, this really is your last chance to see it!

Here are a few photos just to get you in the mood to see an amazing house.

fireplace detail

entryway

I hope to see you all tomorrow night! Email me if you have any questions. [email protected]

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Farms are cool. So is Widespread Panic.

Blayne Beacham February 1, 2012

I've always fancied myself a little farm-ie... Screen Shot 2012-02-01 at 3.29.52 PM

Here I am in college with my rabbit, Napoleon. I bought this little guy without telling my mom... not smart. Then he grew to be like 8 lbs and would chew up all the wires/hardwoods in my apartment. I really loved him and was able to tolerate it, but as soon as I moved back in with my mom on Habersham we had to find Napoleon a new home. Bummer.

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Here I am holding a goat. Classic. If I had a back yard big enough you better believe I would have my own goat. How cute is he??

And who could forget the great chicken experiment of 2010?

I got 8 of these little fellows... and 5 of them were... well, fellows. That left me with three of the meanest hens you've ever met.

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See, she's plotting to peck my eyes out. Kidding... kind of. It turns out chickens don't really love being raised in the city on a concerte slab. They would much rather be out in the country... like me.

If I had my own farm I could own all the crazy animals I wanted, thus I was THRILLED when Nan Haverty asked me to go shoot her new farm near Serenbe. (Hey, you never know when the opportunity might present itself and you just NEED to buy a farm.)

8275 Chochan Mill was exactly what I was looking for in a farm property. I love that wide front porch!

Here is the barn, which is located just steps from the main house.

Of course I had to get a peak inside. Don't hate me, but I am not a huge fan of horses. I had a scary experience riding one once when I was little and have never really had any desire to climb aboard... that being said I do think they are beautiful and love watching them... from afar. BTW, there is an artist studio in the attic space of this barn, so go ahead and sign me up for spending time in there!

There are acres and acres of horse paddocks behind the house. We walked back so you could see the home, barn and garage/guest house. The homeowner told me that every night she pours herself a glass of wine and walks around the property checking the fences. I'm sorry, but how pleasant does that sound?

I was really impressed by the inside of the house. It was so bright and comfortable!

Isn't that great?

Digging this fireplace in the master!

This is the perfect place to cook meals for your family while they are out tending the pigs!

My favorite part of the house is the huge back poch overlooking the fields. I would love to sit out here at night with a glass of wine. Apparently when I move to the country I am also going to start drinking a lot of wine. :)

I asked Jim-Bo if he could ever see himself moving to the country. He didn't answer... but he did buy me a nice little ticket to Widespread Panic at the Tabernacle last weekend (wood tour, for those of you in the know).

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City Mouse + Country Mouse = Two very in love little mice.