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.
Oh my, oh my!…what a most fabulous tour…if this home does not get you into the Christmas spirit nothing will…and how great to meet Kelly!!!!
Love the blue and white! I especially love her vintage and antique items worked in so cleverly among her Christmas decor. What a beautiful home!
Oh my goodness! I loved everything! The gorgeous kitchen, amazing chandelier in the family room, great gallery wall with ledge shelves….thank you so much for sharing the tour with us! I wanted to go myself but couldn’t due to family obligations. So glad you could go & then let us be a part of it!
I love so much about her house it’s hard to choose just one thing. I love her use of blue and white all through her home with a touch of red. Loved the dining chairs of blue with cording of red but I also loved the red quilts in the grandchildren’s room. I love the use of antiques mixed with some new also. So sorry I had to miss this tour!!
I loved her kitchen, especially the shelves with the cookbooks. Always a fan of her books!
Love all her blue and white pieces…her home is warm and inviting…
Thanks for sharing and for the giveaway!
Loved the house tour, but oh my, that canopy in the master bedroom is gorgeous!!!!
Love Mary Kay’s books and writing style!!!!
Oh, it’s so hard to decide! The whole house was a feast for the eyes! I think my favorite has to be the snowmen in the hutch! I also have a snowman collection, but not as many as this. I moved into a new house a couple of months ago, and have been trying to decide where to put my snowmen for Christmas. I love the idea of displaying them in a hutch, and I’m going to steal this idea! Thanks for this wonderful tour!
Wonderful tour. The newly remodeled kitchen was my favorite. Loved the tree from the stacked books. Merry Christmas ?
I love the interior brick walls – so homey! Also her use of magnolia leaves, the snowman/woman collection in the book shelves, and the book Christmas Eve. Such a welcoming home!
My favorites were the kitchen and also the whitewashed brick wall.
A charming home! My favorites were the snowmen collection and the bedroom with the twin beds.
Loving the tree with the Shiny Brite ornaments! Also the book tree!
I loved all of her home, but especially the color scheme of blue and white.
I love the whole style or house, the mix of old and new. I love the colors she adds to everything. I also want her bed and the bedding on it.
Merry Christmas
I love Mary Kay’s books! Some of them really make me laugh out loud! I just picked up one of her Trocheck mysteries! The pictures of her house were lovely. I will check out the blog and may even drive over to Avondale Estates.
Kathy’s home is a lovely lived-in style…no staging here! This makes me think of long relationships and good down home values. Thanks for sharing Rhoda. Merry Christmas!
How fun was that! I love her collection of blue and white.
I love her kitchen! The book tree was so cute, too. I have followed her on Instagram since you wrote about her a few years ago. I enjoyed seeing her preparations for the tour. What a beautiful home – thanks for sharing!
Both beautiful homes- the former and current!! Wonderful decorator and author!!