Chai Style Home: Penthouse Art Knows No Bounds
Lorri and Rick Horder left for a month-long trip to Europe while designer Amy Spanier placed a bounty of art, all complete for their return.
After 37 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now with the AJT, , Jaffe’s focus is lifestyle, art, dining, fashion, and community events with emphasis on Jewish movers and shakers.
There’s no attempting to categorize the vast confluence of genres and artists that Lorri Goodman Brown and Rick Horder merged into their 5,000-square-foot Buckhead penthouse which holds special sway as the place of their nuptials.
As to the décor, the Horders went on a month-long excursion to Europe, and gave the keys to interior designer Amy Spanier, who spent days with her installers placing every piece with precision. Spanier said, “The Horders have a stunning collection of just about every genre from Expressionism to Pop, Realism, outsider art, photography and everything in between.”
Rick has been an attorney for 50 years and was recently featured in Atlanta Magazine’s “Best Lawyers” for his expertise in environmental law.
Lorri stated, “I came into the marriage with a good bit of art. Our tastes are not identical, but we do overlap. We negotiate what gets displayed. Moving into the condo, we picked a large number of pieces and many more than we thought would fit. Amy fit it all into perfection. We had so much overflow, she hung dozens of paintings in the long hallway on the penthouse floor.”
Tour this “power art” couple’s collection as they so graciously enjoy entertaining and sharing the history behind it.
Marcia: How did you blend your two collections?
Rick: I have been a collector all my life – not quite a hoarder (despite my last name) but have collected lots of things. Coins, clocks, sheep figures, English teacups. I became interested in art in college at the University of Florida and traveled to Europe to visit art museums as a main attraction. I started collecting Inuit carvings and prints, art glass, turned wooden vessels, folk art; and then went “off script” building a confident, robust collection. We are not rule breakers, but we are far from static.
Marcia: How would you characterize your taste?
Rick: I buy what strikes me and catches my eye. I don’t worry about matching styles or whether it will fit. I purchase it because I like it visually and find it otherwise interesting. I usually don’t agonize over a piece. I have taken time when a piece is expensive from my standpoint, but not usually. I collect turned/carved wooden vessels that are different, and some of my folk art is pretty unusual.
Lorri: We buy a number of pieces together, usually while on trips. We bought a metal sculpture together in Lake Como. In Santa Fe, we each purchased a piece from Taos artist Inger Jirby. Most furnishings in the condo are modern with clean lines although we do have some traditional antiques. I have pieces from my parents like the painting of Chinese children and a glass mid- century modern lamp.
Rick: Lorri has a great eye. She also very much knows what she likes and what she does not like. She does not agonize over a piece.
Marcia: Walk us through a tour of your “cultural capital.”
Rick: In the foyer, we start with paintings by California artist America Martin. We actually had the columns removed here to open up the space. Oh, and I love otters, as you see throughout. We have five large Chihuly lithographs. Where most think of him in terms of glass blowing, after an injury prevented that, he began drawing and painting. We like his use of color, and his bigger pieces enliven our main living areas.
Some of the more unusual pieces are from Rwanda, “Land of a Thousand Hills,” Inuit carvings from Canada, and an original modern figurative by Itzchak Tarkay from Israel. I especially like our Salvador Dali which is serene, not at all like his surreal dripping clocks.
Then we collect outsider art — Mattie Lou O’Kelley, Woodie Long, African American quilters from Gee’s Bend, Sybil Gibson, and Bernice Sims whose piece is on a U.S. postage stamp.
Lorri: Over the master bed, we have a painting by New Mexico artist David Escudero. In our hall is a dream painting by Australian Aborigine artist George Tjungurrayi. Another unusual medium done with colorful volcanic rock is by Bob Landstrom.
More locally we have Steve Penley’s “Rembrandt” alongside his “study,” interestingly facing the opposite way, Georgia’s Steffen Thomas, whose sculpture stands in front of Colony Square, a Thorton Dial, and work by Atlantan Dr. Jim Sutherland.
Rick: Then outside our unit in the hall, we have another 50 pieces. Many of the neighbors come up here to enjoy the art.
Marcia: Do you entertain up here among the clouds? How do you use the outdoors?
Rick: We were married outside under the cupola at the Borghese in 2021. It was a beautiful sunny day, overlooking a heavily treed area. My best man was the same best man at my wedding in 1973.
Lorri: We have four decks up here. When spring comes, I’m the resident gardener and plant herbs and flowers.
Marcia: Amy, so you had your “hands full” up here?
Amy: It was quite a challenge to mix over 100 works of art, with different themes, mediums, and styles. Art is essential to my life and my life’s passion. That’s why I was able to bring this all together harmoniously.
Marcia: Last word:
Rick: Lorri is younger by nine years, is very social and we have lots of friends between us. Fortunately, we like each other’s friends, so we host a lot of dinners up here. I would say we are thoughtfully layered with no crisp white walls, and nothing much in moderation.
Lorri: If I gave the green light, Rick would still continue to collect. We do collect wine.
Rick: In the last 20 years, I have become more selective – mostly because of space limitations and learning we cannot own everything we love, but you can still admire it. As for me, I cannot draw “a lick!”
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