The road to Fairview, Tennessee, from Nashville is a quiet one, curving through forests and farmland, the cacophony of Music City dissolving into birdsong threading the air. Off one of these gravelly roads, tucked out of sight, sits a 60-acre compound built by Bob Butler, an architectural designer and founder of the design company Profile + Principle in Nashville. What was initially meant to be a place to explore architectural concepts has become a mixed-use compound that includes Snow, a micro, wellness-oriented retreat, and Adelaide, a midcentury-inspired home that he shares with his partner, Melody Geer, and their two dogs, three cats, and two horses.

Having grown up in the bush in Australia, Bob wanted to buy an expanse of land to revisit his roots. And so, in 2019, after building a home in East Nashville—one that was also featured in Dwell—his business thriving and Melody by his side, Bob decided it was time to find property to escape the bustle of city life and use as a “playground” for his architectural ideas. He wanted a varied landscape with rolling hills and some kind of water.

He and Melody found all of that in the first property they visited, which had a lilting hill, gurgling creek, natural springs, and fields for horses. In May, the 50-acre plot of two adjacent properties officially became his. (An additional, 10-acre segment was added a year later.)

Bob immediately got to work on a cabin, the first of Snow’s three main structures. The others—a tree house nestled in a tangle of woods and a 1901 farmhouse that he renovated—would follow, as would a creek-side sauna and hot tub. But Bob wasn’t thinking about becoming a retreat host when he broke ground. At the outset, he was simply experimenting with a range of influences, which spanned from rustic Japanese architecture to “Brazilian architecture’s use of concrete and Mexican use of brick and glass and metal,” he explains.

Constructed out of cedar and pressure-treated lumber topped with a tin roof—which Bob chose when considering cost and because these materials “take on a natural look as the sun hits certain spots”—the cabin has an interior that features a kitchenette, small seating area, and sleeping loft. With it complete, Bob turned his sights on the farmhouse—and improved the flow between it and another house that had been connected to it in the ’80s by previous owners. Challenging himself to maintain the disparate structures, he turned the result, he confesses, into a somewhat “odd-looking,” rustic clubhouse; he used charcoal paint to distinguish the original building. Upon entering, one finds a foyer flanked by a working bar made of plywood and held up by breeze blocks, midcentury elements also used in Holiday, Melody’s East Nashville salon and bathhouse, which Bob helped design. Around the corner is a commercial-style kitchen equipped with all the needed appliances; picnic tables provide plenty of seating.

While the clubhouse required strategizing, the tree house, Snow’s final structure, was a more straightforward project. Perhaps best suited for the adventurous, it includes a narrow trail that guests wind down and a pair of suspended bridges they have to balance on to reach it. The hike is worth it: Floor-to-ceiling windows conjure instant solace.

As construction progressed, so too did Snow’s purpose. “Because I feel like I am practicing meditation, wellness, and therapy by being out here working,” reflects Bob, “the property just naturally is that.” Spurred by Melody’s influence and her experience running Holiday, the pair decided to turn Snow into a retreat.

A hearty mix of guests has been hosted so far, including couples celebrating anniversaries and local chefs leading culinary experiences. Bob and Melody have been careful about whom they pick to enjoy Snow—citing that this isn’t the place for rowdy bachelorette parties, for which Nashville has become particularly popular. Instead, they’ve predominantly welcomed locals and hope to open the site up for ceramics and other creative workshops in the future. You might spy Snow on Airbnb, though Bob plays around with how often he keeps the space available. (Interested parties might have better luck connecting with him directly through his website.) Regardless, with the sprawling landscape, the couple haven’t been terribly disturbed by their guests.

Though Bob found much of the work on Snow meditative, construction was nonetheless an arduous business. He and Melody began to consider how nice it would be to have somewhere to rest on-site, rather than endure the trek home, sparking the idea for Adelaide. Residing on the top of a hill, the new, 2,000-square-foot structure has unobstructed views of the landscape and a pool, hot tub, and kitchen garden.

“I like to make things look like they’re floating, so there are cantilevers and different levels and angles where you’re not sure how they’re supported.”
—Bob Butler, designer and resident

While Adelaide is another midcentury interpretation, Bob says that the design for his new home is fully organic. Working with the grading of the hill, he looked to the landscape to inform the home’s footprint, window placement, and outdoor areas. Whereas Snow is more rustic, Adelaide overtly pays homage to classic techniques of the style, featuring playful injections of color seen in bathroom and kitchen tiling, accessories like lampshades, and even the fireplace material.

A post-and-beam-style construction fashioned on a grid, the house is broken into three distinct living spaces, with glass hallways that articulate transitions between them. “The hallways are meant to be like that little reference point of ‘I’m going to this other pod or tree house,’’’ Bob says. Inside, to the right of the entrance, a guest room is used as a crafts room where the couple experiment with fragrance development and other creative pursuits and where Melody has a sewing station. To the left, a full bath adorned with square, lemony-yellow Daltile bathroom tile nods to Bob’s affection for geometry and color. From here, a glass hallway pulls guests farther into the house and offers views down the valley.

The bright main gathering space consists of the living room, kitchen, and elevated dining area. Thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows, nature is again on full display. Poured-concrete floors run throughout the home, and though furnishings are relatively minimal, built-in cabinetry and shelving in the kitchen and dining area allow the couple to showcase favorite objets d’art, records, and coffee-table books.

On to another glass hallway and you enter the primary bedroom, which is sunken and cozy. A vintage vanity by Victor Wilkins for G-Plan sits in the corner. The floating top of the vanity served as a core inspiration for the unique rooftop of Adelaide. Lastly, the primary bathroom features a separate shower and sunken tub—a must, given Melody’s bathhouse and Snow’s spa amenities.

With the grounds finished—at least for now—Bob and Melody relax into the spaces they’ve created and find themselves gardening, taking long walks, and making meals. “It slows you down, living out here, because you have to be a bit more intentional,” Bob says. “This has been just creating what I feel like the valley wanted me to create and what I wanted to create naturally.”

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Profile + Principle / @profileandprinciple

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