Standing in her kitchen, wearing a skin-tight Herve Leger dress and Brian Atwood stilettos, Shelly Justice says that the house she grew up in was nothing like the house she lives in now.

“I came from a very humble home,” says the CEO of talent management company CMT Agency, of her early days growing up as a country girl in Athens, Ga. “We had 20 acres that were mostly pasture, and we owned cows and a horse. My mom always brought stuff home from flea markets and my dad would fix it. We did it because we had no money really. They taught me the value of hard work and that you get what you deserve.”

Hard work—and a huge dose of creativity—is exactly what Justice brought to the drawing board when she and her husband, Mike Kohlsdorf, an operating partner

BACK PERCH Shelly Justice and her dog, Jake, enjoy the view from her lakefront porch, where guests sit fireside on chairs by Gloster Furniture beneath a bicycle-spoke wall sculpture.

Talent guru Shelly Justice joins forces with Dencity to create a glamorous,

art-filled home in Sandy Springs.

By Travis Neighbor Ward Photography by Galina Coada for Fotorep

POETIC JUSTICE

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in the private equity firm Francisco Partners, decided to build their own home. They hired architect Staffan Svenson of Dencity LLC, the local firm renowned for its contemporary residential work, to design it, but Justice did the interior design herself.

“I read design magazines all the time,” she says. “I know what I like as soon as I see it… and I’m not afraid of anything.”

Her fearlessness also paid off when she launched CMT Agency during the height of the recession in 2001. In the 13 years since, the agency has steadily grown to include 40,000 models, actors and staffers in 47 countries, who often work as

brand ambassadors and trade show professionals for companies that need attractive and engaging people to demo products (a job that Justice did for years). It has also been named one of Inc. 5,000’s fastest growing companies three years in a row.

Earlier this year, Justice formed CMT Global Inc., the parent company to CMT Agency and Fotorep (which is directed by Mark Cook and represents a broad spectrum of photographers, hair and makeup artists, and stylists). This summer, she diversified it again by launching Salt Model & Talent—a fashion, editorial, runway, TV/film and commercial print

ECLECTIC ELEGANCE Italian limestone, a double-sided fireplace by Montigo, sofas and a rug by Roche Bobois create an elegant yet cozy place to relax while dinner is cooking in the adjacent open kitchen. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls lead from the living areas indoors to the porch.

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CHIC DREAMSFrom top: For the walk-in closet, Justice had 15 5-by-7 white faux-fur rugs custom cut to fit the floor. She chose purple and white stained glass from Armstrong Glass Company for the countertops; in the master bedroom, the bed frame is wrapped in embossed crocodile skin from Edelman Leather, while the wall behind it is covered in Phillip Jeffries Ltd. Chinese Red grass cloth. A fireplace, overscale wooden masks and a painting of a nude by Steve Penley complete the picture.

agency with a modeling division directed by Madeleine Almering, an Elite Model Management veteran.

“Salt is a boutique agency,” Justice explains. “There’s a need for it in Atlanta, and there’s not a lot of competition. With what’s happening in this city, why shouldn’t we compete with New York and L.A.? People are excited. The phone is ringing off the hook.”

So how did this CEO juggle a new business launch with building a home from the ground up? When Justice was first planning her house, her top priorities were a minimum of 4 acres of land, water and woods, as well as modern lines and bright colors. “I love Florida design. I don’t like traditional, provincial or country style. I don’t like old or creaky. I’m more minimalistic,” says Justice.

The sprawling house is a heady combination of interlocking volumes, sleek materials, details such as ribbon windows hearkening to the modernist movement and sensual decor. From

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FREE AS A BIRDThe living room includes a glass-walled room just for Justice’s Senegal parrot Baci, featured prominently in this painting she commissioned from artist Adam Grosowsky. (Nordstrom has commissioned over 80 paintings from him for their flagship stores.) Justice found the purple loveseats and end table at vintage consignment stores.

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the moment you cross the limestone walkway suspended over a water feature (that resembles a moat) leading to the front door, you have the sense that you are passing into a private realm where the connection to nature never ends. On the exterior, the siding is made of cypress and Egyptian limestone from Marmi, but many of the walls are almost entirely glass.

Inside, the spaces are loft-like and expansive, and Justice’s sense of play reveals itself throughout.

The kitchen, dining room and living room all open up to each other, as well as to a series of connected decks facing the lake beyond. It’s striking and glamorous, from the Brazilian rose quartz countertop in the kitchen to the white faux-fur carpet in the master closet to the bed frame wrapped in embossed crocodile skin from Edelman Leather. Even when she mentions the fact that you have to take a half flight of stairs to reach the living room, she

KITCHEN CONTINENTALGlamour is extended in the kitchen where Justice and Jake relax. Curved custom cabinetry by Kingdom Woodworks is painted in Sherwin Williams’ Chinchilla and countertops are made of Brazilian rose quartz fabricated in Italy, as well as leathered New Cambrian granite. Italia white leather swivel stools, and a Waterworks backsplash of repose glass veneer add to the sex appeal. A Sub-Zero freezer and warming drawers, plus a 40-inch Wolf gas range, make it a cook’s dream come true.

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says with a grin, “I told Staffan that I wanted to step down into it, like the living room in The Brady Bunch.”

Although the house only has three bedrooms, it includes a wine cellar and a commercial-grade, two-lane shooting range in the basement to complement the couple’s passion for hunting birds and shooting sporting clays. When she’s not working or helping to promote charitable events, Justice spends much of her time with Mike, golfing, fly-fishing, traveling or just hanging out with their black Lab, Jake. “I was always kind of a tomboy,” she says, “And I’m not a quiet-time person. I’m always doing something.”

Surprisingly, they don’t own a second home, and she doubts they ever will. “We don’t like traveling to the same place twice,” she says. “But, I would never move away from Atlanta. Ever.”

SPACE CASEFrom top: The guest bedroom is like a jewel box with its gold onyx floor, wall of frosted glass and custom hanging lights from The Lighting Loft; the expansive wine cellar is tucked down a stairway in the basement.

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DESIGN DETAILSTYPE

Single-Family Home

LOCATION Sandy Springs

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNStaffan Svenson of Dencity LLC

dencity.us

INTERIOR DESIGNShelly Justicecmtagency.com

RESOURCES Adam Grosowsky

Privately commissioned painting in the living room

Armstrong Glass CompanyGlass countertops in closet

CortenSteel door separating the master

bedroom and bathroom

DuChateau Floors Zimbabwe wood flooring in the

master bedroom

Gloster FurniturePorch seating

The Lighting LoftCustom hanging lights in the guest

bedroom

MarmiEgyptian limestone exterior siding

Phillip Jeffries Ltd.Chinese Red grass cloth on wall

in bedroom

Roche BlancCrema Marfil limestone tiles in the

master bath

Roche BoboisDining room table and chairs

Sherwin-WilliamsChinchilla paint in the kitchen

Schonbek Da VinciSwarovski crystal light fixture

in dining room

Steve Penley Painting in the master bedroom

Tai PingDining room rug

Todd MurphyPainting in the dining room

“I DON’T LIKE TRADITIONAL, PROVINCIAL OR COUNTRY STYLE...

I’M MORE MINIMALISTIC,” SAYS JUSTICE.

THE DARK SIDE A Swarovski crystal light fixture by Schonbek Da Vinci takes center stage in Justice’s dining room above the table and chairs by Roche Bobois and a Tai Ping rug. A painting titled “Flag” by Atlanta artist Todd Murphy sets the backdrop.