olivia sargeant is a northern california transplant who has invested much of her time & creativity into one of athens’ best restaurants, farm 255, one of the only truly farm-to-table restaurants in the country {see the article applauding this fact here} . their employees literally work in the field during the day, helping with the harvest or working with the livestock, then come in and wait tables at night. we are lucky to have them in our town.

olivia is one of the partners in the venture and also the general manager of the restaurant. she lives in a great house- one that i have long admired because of its great second-story sleeping porch. olivia began restoring the house when she bought it a few years ago, first removing the old asbestos siding revealing the original wood underneath.

the interior is still a work in progress, but i love the way she has left some of the plaster walls and woodwork partially restored, showing the striations of old paint and texture. throughout the house, her vignettes and still lives demonstrate her reverence for her simple, special things, whether it is a vintage purse & pretty ribbon, an old hat, her set of watercolors, or a dried okra pod from her farm…enjoy!

“i bought my house 2 and a half years ago, and it’s my first home. quite a behemoth for my first relationship with a home, and i certainly didn’t, and don’t, need all 3000 square feet, but the magic and emotion it communicated to me when i visited i still feel everyday living in it.

the house is a 1914 frederick j. orr home, a fairly well known and quite versatile architect for the southeast region. it’s quiet symmetry, asian influences, deep overhang of the roof, and perfect negative spaces make the architecture sing and the experience meaningful.

my favorite room is my studio, as it’s the smallest space, facing the tree-canopied sunset, and the place i usually locate most of my inspiration. being virtually wall-less upstairs, the room is a phenomenal place to experience a thunderstorm – all windows open and not a drop of rain or a gust of wind really ever comes in.

in general almost everything i own came from my family, or was found. the more modernist pieces were found at a few vintage stores in athens and somehow pair nicely with the older more eclectic things i own, like old photos, weird books, old steamer trunks, handkerchiefs, oriental rugs, etc…

i don’t have a garden because we have a farm, and my energy goes there instead. although i miss having my own environment to grow in, i simply can’t locate the time…”