You all know her as Mary Kay Andrews, her pen name known to many fans around the world. Her given name is Kathy Trocheck and she is the NY Times best selling author that you have all loved and read for years. I think I heard her say that this is their 3rd home in Avondale Estates, a suburb of Atlanta, outside the city. They’ve lived in Avondale Estates for 30 years and are entrenched in this charming historic community. Last weekend, there was an Avondale Estates Christmas tour of homes and Tom and Kathy’s home was on the tour, so of course I wanted to take it all in. There were 6 homes in all on the tour and I took Mark with me and we thoroughly enjoyed it all. He loves this stuff too, lucky me! It was a beautiful Winter day and we so enjoyed touring these gorgeous historic homes.
Kathy was signing copies of her books at the community center so we got to say hello to her before the tour.
You may remember that I photographed Kathy’s former Avondale Estates bungalow 3 years ago and shortly thereafter, they bought this current house and moved in.  The first house is so charming too, so take a look at it.
Tom and Kathy’s current home is a 1926 English cottage that was renovated by the previous owners in 2008. The Trochecks remodeled the kitchen and screened the back porch in their 2 years in the house and it is just amazing now. Â I can’t wait to show it all to you! Â Y’all know that I always think the more pictures, the better, so settle in for a long post for this one!
To borrow some of the script from the Christmas home tour, here’s a good description of the home.
Opening up what was an original bedroom, the kitchen includes a Wolf range, marble counters and a “mantel” with antique corbels. The newly built Butler’s pantry was inspired by the antique Welsh cupboard in the kitchen. Â Kathy is a lifelong “junker” while Tom is an amazing craftsman, a good combination. Â Some of the best estate sale finds include the barn with wooden animals in the sunroom, the Restoration Hardware seating on the back porch, and the armchairs covered in Ralph Lauren fabric in Tom’s office. Â Kathy’s office where she is Mary Kay Andrews showcases her framed book jackets and bestseller lists. Â The Trochecks’ home is a Christmas Wonderland with an eclectic collection of vintage decorations and greenery from their garden. Â The front door and entrance hall greet each guest. Â The living room tree is decorated with vintage shiny bites while a collection of Santas and pixies are nestled in the TV armoire. Â The dining table is an amazing Christmas tableau with the “Great Wall of China” as a backdrop. Â
I hope you enjoy this wonderful tour of Kathy’s home! Â It’s just beautiful and with her eye and mix of antiques and vintage collectibles, it’s a feast for the eyes. Â I know her grandchildren must love being there! Â I’m not going to chat through the post, just enjoy the beautiful pictures.
Kathy’s office.
Master bedroom
Wasn’t that so much fun to see?! Â A big thank you for Kathy for letting me share her gorgeous home with al of you. I knew that you’d so enjoy seeing it all and she has such beautiful things displayed so well. I love her mix of traditional antiques with blue and white collectibles and lots more! Â Her keen junking eye has served her well!
Another special treat that day was meeting blogger Kelly, with Talk of the House. She lives in South Georgia and she and her husband were there for the tour. Â We ran into each other in the red and white guest room and it was so fun to meet her. Â I just love and admire her gorgeous home too! Â She did multi-posts on the house, so take a look at her pics too. She got things I missed and has lots of details about Kathy’s home.
The light fixture in the beautifully wood panaled living area was gorgeous.
I’ve been looking forward to this post all week, her home is beautiful!! I love her master bedroom and the Christmas Tree of books! Thanks for sharing Rhoda, have a great weekend!! Our should I say Weekender…wink, wink!
I love the entire house but the kitchen is my favorite room!
Beautiful home! My favorite room was the red and white bedroom, but I loved all the blue and white, too.
I love all of this! The kitchen was so warm and cozy, and I loved her Christmas tree. Thank you for sharing this- such a beautiful home. (What I loved most is that it is beautifully decorated, but not overly styled. Real life happens here, and that is what added so much warmth and character that is often missing in photo shoots. Loved it!!
What a glorious tour! I could move right in and be perfectly content! So much lovely inspiration. Thank you for sharing Rhoda. May the blessings of the season be yours.
I loved that China cabinet with all of those trees!!!!!
I was so excited when you told us you were going to post her new home!! Everything about it is amazing. I love her traditional mix of furnishings, colors, and decorative items. Just imagine having all of your own novels in your house. How cool!
I love all the blue and white and mixes so well with the red of Christmas.
The house and decorations are gorgeous! I love the blue,and white throughout!
Love the whole house but especially like the porch area – the decorations have everything looking so warm and cozy!
i love the touches of blue and white. I inspired. I had stalled out as far as decorating my own home, but the ideas are really flowing now. thank you for lighting my fire again. It is all very beautiful. I would love to see it in person.
I like her master bedroom and the back porch.
Thank the wonderful tour! I came over from Kelly’s site. I also enjoyed looking at the tour you did of their past home. I love the lived-in look of both homes. I’m also impressed with how many doors were left open. I went on a home tour recently and the guide would say behind this door is such and such, and behind this door is such and such. But, we were never allowed to open any of the doors, drawers, cabinets, etc.!!
I love the “collected over time by the unique people who really live here” feel to this house. I like the room with the wood paneling and fanciful crown molding most of all. It’s a beautiful home. I would love to see it without Christmas decorations too!
I can’t wait every day for your blogs! This was one of my favorites! How fun to get to tour these homes through your blog. My favorite room was the sun porch! Love all the magnolia greenery!
I love all the blue and white, especially the plates around the fireplace! So pretty!!
Her home is like a museum…..how I would l have hours to study every inch of it! Thanks Rhoda!
Be still my heart! I could move right in and adore all that blue & white, the rugs and the whitewashed brick. It would be hard to pick only one thing I love about her home, but I think the Parisian cafe stools in the kitchen just make it special.
The wallpaper in the bath – more blue & white – is also inspiring. I didn’t miss the entry mat with blue & white jars, too! Just amazing. Thanks SO much for sharing this one. It’s got to be one of my most favorites of your posts recently. Hope I get the books for 2017 reading!
Thanks!
It’s so hard to choose just one of anything, much less a room. I do love the twin beds with the red and white bedding, and I love the little table and old chairs, with the table set…Too sweet!
You know, you are going to think I’m weird, but something that stood out to me was the basket with the wheels (with wrapping paper inside) I don’t normally covet from others, but I would love to have one! My mother used to say “Oh, I wish I had that and they had one better”
Thanks for sharing this amazing home & Merry Christmas!