{"id":669678,"date":"2026-05-28T07:32:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/669678\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T07:32:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:32:21","slug":"tour-a-european-inspired-alabama-home-designed-by-paul-bates-and-melanie-poun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/669678\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour a European-Inspired Alabama Home Designed by Paul Bates and Melanie Poun"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated4 min read<\/p>\n

This is a love story that begins with a chair. Not as in \u201cpull up a chair and hear a tale,\u201d but \u201cI\u2019d like to buy this chair.\u201d Which is how Gene Robinson first met his wife, Cindy, who once upon a time worked at Henhouse Antiques, a neighborhood- favorite shop in Birmingham, Alabama. \u201cHe came in to buy a chair and ended up asking me out,\u201d Cindy recalls. She\u2019d noted to the gentleman that the seating in question was part of a his-and-hers set. \u201cIt\u2019d be such a shame to split them up,\u201d she coyly suggested. That day, he bought just the one, but said, \u201cI might be back.\u201d Then he called the shop to invite her out.<\/p>\n

Today that chair sits in Gene\u2019s office, in the home the lovebirds began planning together several years into their six-year courtship. Gene initially found this extraordinary property\u2014four acres of pastoral land in the city\u2019s Mountain Brook village\u2014and he and Cindy began dreaming up plans for their future together in an \u201copen, friendly, easy-entertaining home.\u201d Architect Paul Bates<\/a>, who Cindy knew through a mutual friend, was tasked with designing a home roomy enough for hosting their combined families and grandchildren but equally cozy for just the two of them.<\/p>\n

\"whiteWhite oak cabinetry and a Colorado gold marble island in a centrally located kitchen. Refrigerator, SubZero<\/a>. Range, Wolf<\/a><\/p>\n

Cindy, an Alabama native, had renovated numerous older Southern homes, but new construction was a first for the couple. To make this one feel old, solid, built over time, \u201cthe architects really focused on details that would give it a sense of age, but in a fresh way,\u201d she says, noting the restrained molding, varying ceiling heights, and antique oak flooring. The open kitchen was also a departure for her, but a conscious choice. \u201cI\u2019ve always fought the trend of everybody coming into the kitchen, but I finally said, \u2018Just let them be there. Let\u2019s make it the middle of the house,\u2019 \u201d Cindy says of the oak-and-marble kitchen bookended by an expansive salon to the front and more intimate blue-green keeping room with breakfast nook off the back. Windows on three sides of these primary rooms invite in glorious natural light and accentuate the home\u2019s bucolic grounds.<\/p>\n

\"designer<\/p>\n

\u201cSerene neutrals draw the eye outside,\u201d says interior designer Melanie Pounds, who happens to be Cindy\u2019s daughter. She enthusiastically signed on to work with Bates to create a relaxed, European-style country house inspired by the owners\u2019 travels through England and France. \u201cThis was an exciting, fresh start for them,\u201d says Pounds. \u201cBoth of them are romantics,\u201d adds Bates. \u201cThey wanted the house to feel rambling and unplanned, more happenstance. They love the romance and pureness of that,\u201d he says, noting the use of antique white-oak beams, limestone floors, steel-cased windows, and a stone exterior with mortar \u201cdirtied up a bit\u201d to evoke a humble timelessness.<\/p>\n

Pounds\u2019s soft, natural palette was key to achieving this, but so too was her role as matchmaker, pairing Gene\u2019s acquired favorites with furniture from her mother\u2019s collection (including pieces Pounds had grown up with), plus antiques and art the newlyweds bought together. \u201cBoth Gene and my mom have fabulous taste, so it was fun. My job was to take what they had, make it work together, then fill in the holes,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"louvredLouvred doors to an expansive loggia are painted Pigeon by Farrow & Ball<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In lieu of a formal entry, visitors enter through the loggia or porte cochere. \u201cGene and Cindy like the casual simplicity of friends coming in the back door,\u201d Bates says. Landscape architect Norman Johnson amplified the sense of rural ease with a low stone wall framing a front meadow, through which a pea gravel driveway meanders to a motor court, all flanked by fields of wildflowers and clover. \u201cThey are both gardeners. He loves mowing the meadow, and she loves flowers,\u201d says Bates.<\/p>\n

\"creamCream linen panels (Gray Line Linen<\/a>) form a soft backdrop for a gilded mirror.<\/p>\n

The home is indeed an ode to relationships: the way architecture melds naturally with the setting; how cherished heirlooms nestle alongside newer acquisitions; and, not least of all, mother and daughter. \u201cMelanie sees things differently than I do, pushes me in new directions,\u201d Cindy says, noting her grand, gilded mirror that had always commanded mantels that now demurs over Cindy\u2019s bedroom dresser, or the formal dining-room-ready chandelier her daughter instead hung over her bathtub. \u201cI\u2019ve learned not to resist, because it always turns out well.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for that poor, separated antique chair, the \u201chers\u201d version? It\u2019s found a home here too, recoupled in Gene\u2019s office, happily ever after.<\/p>\n

\"Advertisement<\/a>Porte Cochere Entrance\"an<\/p>\n

An antique urn and Paul Ferrante<\/a> lantern at the porte cochere entrance.<\/p>\n

Salon\"two<\/p>\n

A landscape diptych by Michael Dines<\/a> hangs over a carved European mantel (Chateau Domingue<\/a>). Sofas, Verellen<\/a> (at left) and Dmitriy & Co.<\/a> (at right).<\/p>\n

\"suede\"generous<\/p>\n

Left: Suede seating by Verellen<\/a> outfits a sunny corner of the salon.<\/p>\n

Right: Generous banks of steel-cased windows frame a salon punctuated with a mix of hand-hewn antiques.<\/p>\n

Dining Room \"aA limestone dining room with a round, stretcher-base table by Bobby McAlpine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A limestone dining room with a round, stretcher-base table by Bobby McAlpine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Breakfast Room + Keeping Room \"the\"an<\/p>\n

Left: The breakfast room is painted high-gloss Castle Gray by Farrow & Ball<\/a>. The ivory leather stools are custom. Banquette fabric, Masco<\/a><\/p>\n

Right: An antique wingback chair in the keeping room is covered in cozy wool sateen fabric by Holland & Sherry<\/a>. Floor lamp, Icon Ltg.<\/a><\/p>\n

Primary Bedroom\"a<\/p>\n

The primary bedroom was designed to open to their flower garden by way of French doors. Large earthenware sculpture, Patina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bathroom + Guest Room \"handsome\"in<\/p>\n

Left: Handsome oak paneling and a deep soaking tub (Waterworks<\/a>) headline the owners\u2019 bath.<\/p>\n

Right: In a guest room, an antique daybed and chair in Rogers & Goffigon<\/a> fabric. Lamp, Visual Comfort<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cocktail Terrace\"the<\/p>\n

The cocktail terrace extends off the butler\u2019s pantry, at the ready for refills. Wicker chairs, Patina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Become a VERANDA Design Society Member\"Become<\/a><\/p>\n

This feature originally appeared in the July\/August 2021 issue of VERANDA. Interior design by Melanie Pounds; architecture by Paul Bates; landscape design by Norman Johnson; photography by Brian Woodcock; produced by Rachael Burrow; written by Stephanie Hunt.
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