Photo courtesy of Jean Allsopp.
This home at 306 La Prado Circle is Birmingham Home and Garden’s “Inspiration Home” and is open for touring from Oct. 28 to Nov. 21.
For the third time, Birmingham Home and Garden magazine is hosting its “Inspiration Home” in Homewood.
This year’s home is at 306 La Prado Circle and is open to the public for tours from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday from Oct. 28 to Nov. 21. Tickets are $10 and are available online and at the door.
“Everything in the house is for sale,” Editor Cathy Still McGowin said. “Anyone touring the house can access the on-site inventory guide for pricing and sourcing.”
The magazine partners with local businesses to design the home and is an opportunity for industry vendors to “show off their latest and greatest products,” whether that’s new appliances or a new light fixture, McGowin said.
“It’s always fun to see what the architect, builder and designers create when they don’t have a client,” McGowin said. “The Inspiration Home is a chance for them to stretch creatively without restraint.”
The home provides an opportunity to “create a living version of the magazine,” and the whole process usually takes about one year from start to finish, McGowin said.
Inspiration Home
WHERE: 306 La Prado Circle
WHEN: Oct. 28-Nov. 21, 1-5 p.m.
COST: $10
WEB: birminghamhomeandgarden.com/bhg-inspiration-homes
“For me, it’s fun to watch the process from beginning to end,” she said. “When we photograph homes for the magazine, they are already finished, furnished and styled. Watching the Inspiration Home come to life gives me so much more appreciation for how hard everyone works. From conception to move in, there are so many little details that have to come together in a timely manner to make it happen.”
This year’s house actually sold while it was still on the drawing table, which is not always the case but is not unusual, either, McGowin said. The home features a stepped gable roofline and a stone façade on the parapet.
“It was a tricky project,” McGowin said.
Other highlights include: a 20-by-20-foot open air outdoor living room with an outdoor fireplace, a first-floor master suite, three upstairs bedrooms with private baths, an upstairs reading nook and second living room, and generous outdoor living areas with two fountains, a courtyard and an outdoor living room with a fireplace.
Located in the Hollywood portion of Homewood provides a unique style, McGowin said. The home, built in the 1920s, was structured, like the rest of the neighborhood, after the style found in Hollywood, California, a Spanish-style or Tudor-style home.
This year, River Brook Design and Construction designed and built the project. The company is owned by husband and wife team Kevin and Leigh Misso, who launched the business in 2017. Since then, the company has expanded to include “custom luxury new builds, renovations and additions, as well as residential and commercial design,” McGowin said.
The architect is Justin Collier, and the landscape designer is Todd Dorlon with TMD Landscapes. This year’s charity partner is Magic Moments, which provides special moments to children throughout Alabama suffering from chronic life-threatening illnesses.
This is a special year for the magazine as well, as it celebrates 20 years in the publishing business.
“Twenty years is pretty awesome, especially in the magazine business,” said McGowin, who has served as the editor for 12 years. “The design community continues to flourish here.”
Tickets for the event can be purchased online by visiting birminghamhomeandgarden.com/bhg-inspiration-homes/ and by then clicking “buy tickets.”
