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.
I love Dr us of blue and white with dried flowers and magnolia.
The home is very elegantly decorated! I loved the antique Snowmen collection in the dining room cabinet. I also loved the Christmas tree made out of Mary Kay’s books! She has created a home that is very cozy and inviting! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
All her Christmas decorations are beautiful, but I love how homey, cozy and livable her home is. 🙂
I love their kitchen! Especially the light fixture over the island. Over the years I have gone on “tours” of her homes (including the beach cottages) on your blog, so I was very excited to see you had a tour of her new place. Beautiful!!
It is so beautiful!
I love the exposed brick and that porch is something I would live on!!!
Favorites are always hard. First thought was kitchen. But maybe the red and white guest room.
Kathy’s entire home looks like a dream, but I’m in love with that cozy guest room and magnificent master bedroom!! Her kitchen looks like a cook’s idea of heaven!!
So many unique idea in this home!!! i love how they set the dining room table an then filled the china cabinet with the snow man collection!!! I picture doing that with my Christmas village collection next year. I also loved the guest room with the two different red and white quilts and the lovely pineapple post beds! I enjoy Mary Kay Andrews books….wonderful reading on a cold winter day in Atlanta! Thank you for the great tour, Rhonda. Warm hug, cat
I love the blue and white ware through out and the use of native/natural greenery! The pops of red add the holiday cheer to a lovely home. The vintage touches add a touch of whimsy to the decor. Thank you for sharing with us.
Those red and white patchwork quilts are lovely.
The thing I loved most about Kathy and Tom’s house is that my house now looks plain! We are both of the more is more style of decorating! Show off your collections!
My favorite things were her office with her books stacked like a Christmas tree and her husbands office with the picture of the cocker spaniel. I love dogs do of course I noticed the dog.????I love all of her books and I have gotten other people hooked on them.
Love the KITCHEN!!!
I love her use of greenery and plaid everything. Being an avid quilter, I most loved the red and white quilts in the beds. That Santa at the fireplace was a close second.
Well, it would be hard to choose what I love the most about Kathy’s amazing house…maybe the “Kisses” and “Mistletoe” shams or the blue & white collection or that incredible kitchen or the name “Squirrel Hollow”…I mean, how fun is that?! Thank you for sharing your photos of that awesome tour!
How to choose? As an interior designer, I admire her exquisite taste. Especially love the blue & white & all the magnolia leaves. So Southern & classic!
That house had me at the shiny blue front door?
I loved the white nativity scene, the Christmas tree with the vintage items underneath, especially the tricycle. I too loved the guest room with the pillows “kisses” and “Mistletoe”. It was lovely to walk through in the pictures. Thanks for sharing.
I would love to have toured that beautiful home! Even better,, I would love to live in it!—dream.