This article appeared on Saturday, June 04, 2005 in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Fireplace fuels New Salem home design – Potter Mark Issenberg finds peace in mountain retreat

By Jan Galletta Staff Writer
Somewhat like the clay pots Mark Issenberg forms and fires in a kiln, the house he is building in New Salem, Ga., represents a combination of his inspiration and a big stone fireplace that helped shape the home’s design.


The home’s 78-year-old rock fireplace		The home’s 78-year-old rock fireplace is designed for cooking, heating and display. A Massachusetts native,
Mr. Issenberg was a Miami firefighter in the ’60s when he began visiting North Georgia to study with the
late Charles Counts. Thirty years ago, Mr. Issenberg purchased 11 acres on Lookout Mountainas a future site
for the pottery studio he planned to open and in 1996, he bought the adjoining three-acre spread and its
1927 homeplace, he said. Those extras include a covered porch and two decks, one running the entire length
of the rear side of the house. They, like the vast banks of windows and glass doors that fill the south wall
of the home, capitalize on a panoramic view of mountains, valleys and hills around Rising Fawn, Ga.

The kitchen sink was installed in a
freestanding island		Such vistas led Kim Forester, 44, to change some of the architect’s original plans, when the certified kitchen
designer and member of the Forester Sisters music group brought her expertise to the building project.
While earlier earmarked for a corner at the end of the granite countertops, she said the kitchen sink’s position
was switched to a freestanding island. “It’s such a great view, why stand with your back to it?” she said.
The kitchen sink was installed in a freestanding island to take advantage of the panoramic views of Rising
Fawn visible from the windows. Ms. Forester said she selected the knotty-cherry Woodmode drawers,
shelves and cabinets (some with seeded glass) for their sleek good looks and the same unobtrusive quality
that drove her choice of simple cast iron hardware. “I didn’t want anything to detract from Mark’s tile,” she said.


The kitchen’s stoneware 4-inch- square tiles were handmade		Mr. Issenberg’s handmade 4-inch-square tiles — fired stoneware with ash glazes and such
textural enhancement as shell imprints — adorn the wall behind the range and form the room’s
dramatic one-of-a-kind focal point. Nona Martini and Mark Issenberg enjoy panoramic views from the deck
of their Dade County, Ga., home.
While his combination studio and living quarters were being built, he briefly lived in the old farmhouse, but he said
“it was too nasty” to occupy long-term. “I spent a whole year tearing down the old house,” said Mr. Issenberg, 55,
“but in the barn, I stacked all the beams and wood from the floors.” After ground-breaking on his 2,000 square-foot
home 18 months ago, he restored the heart-pine planks and used them to floor the living room of the three bedroom,
rustic-style residence, which is nearing completion. The floor has a mellow golden tone that compliments the
coffee-with-cream color scheme used throughout the home. It is the only element that remains from the original home
other than the living room’s 78-year-old fireplace. “They’re labor-intensive,” he said of the richly hued tiles, which are
made of the same clay he used in the pots, vases, bowls and pitchers that serve as the home’s primary accent pieces
and decorative accessories. But he tapped the artistry of others such as masonic craftsman Talley Moore and sandblaster
Steve Nelligan for such exterior components as the stonework on the home’s base and front-door frame, as well as its carved stones that bear the home’s numerical address and its name, Rock Ledge. Mr. Issenberg estimated the project’s
cost at “$200,000 and growing.”

But for that price, he may be getting a vacationretreat, as well as a residence. He said, “The birds, the view, the trees:
This is what people go to the mountains for on vacation. It’s like I’m on vacation all the time.”


Nona Martini and Mark Issenberg enjoy panoramic views from the deck
of their Dade County, Ga., home.		While his combination studio and living quarters were being built, he briefly lived farmhouse, he said “it was too nasty” in the old but to occupy long-term.
“I spent a whole year tearing down the old house,” said Mr.Issenberg, 55, “but in the barn, I stacked all the beams and wood from the floors.” After ground-breaking on his 2,000 square-foot home 18 onths ago, he restored the heart-pine planks and used them to floor the living room of the three bedroom, rustic-style residence, which is
nearing completion. The floor has a mellow golden tone that compliments the coffee-with-cream color scheme used throughout the home. It is the only element that remains from the original home other than the living room’s
78-year-old fireplace. A massive, mountain-stone affair designed both for cooking and heating, it features a deep firebox with a swing-out iron arm to hold a kettle and a rock shelf to keep dishes warm. In lieu of a mantel, flat rocks jut from the chimney and form display spaces for Mr. Issenberg’s pots. “The house is built on the same
footprint as the former one,” he said, “with the addition of a master bedroom and bath and a few other things.”

E-mail Jan Galletta at jgalletta@timesfreepress.
Staff Photos by Angela Lewis







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