Marie-Laure:Layout 1
4/21/10
11:22 AM
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WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY
CLINTON SMITH Ç PHOTOGRAPHED BY
ERICA GEORGE DINES
THE DINING ROOM OF MARIELAURE COSTE DUJOLS AND THIBAUT DEVILLARD IS BOTH RUSTIC AND CHIC. OPPOSITE: COSTE DUJOLS, AT HOME, IN A GARDEN OF HER OWN DESIGN WITH HER WEIMARANERS CHLOE AND EMMA. THE BISTRO TABLE, PEA GRAVEL PATHS AND CLIPPED BOXWOOD EVOKE THE LANDSCAPE OF THE SOUTH OF FRANCE.
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ATLANTAHOM ESMAG.COM
DESIGN DOSSIER
MARIE-LAURE COSTE DUJOLS This French-born, Atlanta-based floral designer and events planner brings a European sensibility to work and life
For Marie-Laure Coste Dujols, flowers are all in a day’s work. One day she can be called upon to conceptualize the design scheme for a wedding while the next has her finalizing details for a rustic kitchen garden or selecting plants for a more formal boxwood parterre. But when she’s not on site with one of her projects, Coste Dujols can be found at her bucolic Riverside compound along the city’s western edge that she shares with her husband, Thibaut Devillard. There, she and Devillard—with whom she also works—raise exotic chickens and quail. And, during summer months, they tend to their organic vegetable gardens, bursting at the seams with more than 30 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. In between working on her own projects around the house as well as those that are work-related (her atelier is located on the property), Coste Dujols is also readying a new retail venture—think Parisian-style floral shop—that’s slated to open later this summer in one of Atlanta’s hottest shopping areas. (Complete details can be found later this month at blog.atlantahomesmag.com). Meanwhile, Coste Dujols and her team continue to create the striking floral designs—both contemporary and traditional— for which her firm is known,
filling some of Buckhead’s most gracious homes and the city’s top businesses (like The Four Seasons Hotel). For Coste Dujols, it’s all in a day’s work. WHEN I GET AN UNEXPECTED DAY TO MYSELF…if I don’t have enough time to go to the mountains, I hike with the dogs along the river at Cochran’s Mill near Palmetto, where Thibaut and I got married the first time around! MY FAVORITE MUSEUMS ARE…the Rodin Museum in Paris, the Dali Museum in Barcelona, the gardens of the Getty in Los Angeles—and many, many gardens. MY HOME REFLECTS…who I am and the way I live. I’ve brought a bit of the French countryside to a Georgia bungalow! MY FAVORITE PLACE FOR QUIET CONTEMPLATION IS…my chicken
coop and my vegetable garden. THE PERSON I LOOK UP TO MOST IS…my husband, my mother and
my good friend Hardy. MY FAVORITE WAY TO ENTERTAIN AT HOME IS…to cook for friends—
large pool parties or intimate dinners in our garden. THE ONE PLACE IN ATLANTA I ALWAYS TAKE GUESTS IS…for a quick lunch at Star Provisions and casual dinners at JCT Kitchen. If we have time, we head to Serenbe. MY SIGNATURE COLOR IS…white, white, white and blue-gray.