July 16, 2025
From Atlanta Style & Design, Summer 2025.
For years, Susan and Bill Varner had been keeping an eye on idyllic land on the Tennessee River. Formerly farmland, Arcadia Peninsula had been divided into a small number of unique estate lots in Knoxville, Tennessee. “We used to boat by the tract of land; Bill really wanted to build there,” says Susan Varner. “The land has views of both the river and the Great Smoky Mountains, as well as access to the river—all within a quiet neighborhood.”
When they finally got the chance, they purchased one of the three larger 7-acre lots with a plan to build a stately home. They already had a team lined up to design what they hoped would be a warm, contemporary version of an old English country manor. Both Johnson Architecture and June Chamberlain Interiors had collaborated with the Varners on previous homes in Atlanta and East Tennessee. With the trusted team in place, the Varners met with the professionals to explain their concept, using a single inspiration photo as the jumping-off point. “I showed them a magazine photo of a stone dining room in a European home,” Varner explains. “I don’t know why, but the room drew me in and made me feel like home. I wanted to replicate that feeling. They [the designer and architect] can crawl into my brain and come out on the other side when I can’t articulate what I want. The beauty of this team is that they all work together and respect each other throughout the collaborative process of building a home.”
“The main architectural story of the home is the push-and-pull of strong elements, such as the stone used on both the exterior and the interior, combined with softly curved elements, such as the plaster barrel ceiling in the great room,” says designer June Chamberlain, who worked in concert with senior designer Lisa Uihlein to design and furnish this home. “I nodded to the soft-versus-strong architecture in the interior design. While the Varners had an inspiration photo but not a particular style in mind, we let the look evolve, combining new elements and furnishings with a few antiques and some art deco pieces.”
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