Paul Muldawer is an Atlanta architect with an impressive resume that includes the design of Atlanta City Hall, President Carter’s Inaugural Reviewing Facilities and the Savannah Historic Preservation Plan. He also designed about eight homes in the Buckhead area of Atlanta in the mid-1960s, including his own.
“I get calls every day of people wanting to buy our house,” said Carol Muldawer, Paul’s wife. “It really is a great house.”
Paul had two ideas in mind when he designed their home in 1965. The first was the idea of two houses in one: a children’s house, where their two children could grow and learn in supported independence, and a parent’s house that moved at a slower pace. The other idea sprung from a quote from Italian Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti, who said, “The city is like a great house, and the house in its turn a small city.”
“I love cities, I love urban spaces,” said Paul. “The house has two wings, the wings end at the dining room and they enclose the patio. The patio is the piazza.”
Like European streets often terminate at an iconic building, Paul designed the hallways of their home to end viewing one of their splendid pieces of art, which are varied and many.
“There are surprises as you walk through,” said Paul. “It’s not an open plan. Each space has closure, but there’s connection. When you’re in one space, you see beyond into the next.”
Perhaps the most impressive part of the home’s design is the fact that it has functioned so perfectly for the couple and their family through many stages of life and more than 50 years.
“I said to Paul, ‘how did you know that this house was going to be perfect for us when we got older?’” said Carol. “Paul thought of everything.”
Snapshot
Residents: Carol and Paul Muldawer. Paul is an architect, planner and artist, and Carol is retired from working on political campaigns and in offices for Mayor Andrew Young and President Jimmy Carter.
Location: Buckhead
Size: 4,000 square feet with four bedrooms and three bathrooms
Year built: 1965
Project consultants: Architect Paul Muldawer
Favorite architectural elements: Large windows, high horizontal windows that let in light while preserving privacy, skylights and “two house” layout, where two sets of bedrooms are at opposite sides of the house, joined by the dining room.
Interior design style: Mid-century modern, mixed with folk art elements
Favorite interior design elements: Art displayed throughout the home.
Favorite outdoor elements: Deck that overlooks hardwood forest
Resources: Furniture and decor from Thayer Coggin, Drexel Heritage, Harry Bertoia, Bloom Furniture Company and Warren Platner. Art by Charles Mitchell, Caleb Nichols, Ed Moulthroup, Robert Motherwell, Zoltan Buki, Gregory “Mr. Imagination” Warmack, Chris Beck, Herb Creecy, Lucinda Bunnen, Howard Finster, R. A. Miller, Tom Chambers, Tubby Brown, Jetter, Chris Roberts-Antieau, Kenneth Cole, Paul Muldawer, Carol Muldawer, Alan Muldawer, John Riddle, Jay Jones, Josef Albers, Yaacov Agam Tom Francis and Marc Chagall.
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