Local architect to feature designs at Rowdy Rooster
Cynzia Sanchez’s unfinished painting sits in her office at the Gillen House Bed and Breakfast on Monday, March 24. Her portraits hang throughout the Gillen House and have been showcased at Rowdy Rooster. “I have not painted hardly any in the last few years,” Sanchez said. “I've done portraits. Most of the commission work I do is portraits. But new work, no.” (Photo/Emily Slepsky)
Anastasia “Staz” Davis wanted a home suited to her lifestyle, one that could accommodate her motorcycles and horses.
So she met with local artist and architect Cynzia Sanchez at a clearing in the woods where the house would one day stand, describing her vision.
With a sketchpad in hand, Sanchez began to draw.
The result was a custom-built home on 31 wooded acres in Maxeys that includes a drive-through garage and a barn that rekindles her lifelong bond with horses.
“My long-term vision was always to build a barn house, a house that had a barn underneath and a house upstairs,” Davis said. “But I also am very involved in motorcycles and mechanics with motorcycles, and therefore the decision (was) to do the half of downstairs a barn and the other half a garage.”
The project is one of several featured in Sanchez’s first architectural showcase, taking place from 2-4 p.m. Sunday at the Rowdy Rooster.
The event will feature framed architectural designs and digital walkthroughs, each accompanied by notes on the creative process behind the builds.
Designed for clients across Oglethorpe and beyond, the other featured projects include a kitchen renovation in Stephens and a backyard space in Marietta, complete with a pond and fire pit.
The show marks the first public display of Sanchez’s residential design work, highlighting a different facet of her artistic vision.
“A lot of people don't even know I do this,” Sanchez said. “So, that's the purpose of it.”
Known locally for co-owning the Gillen House Bed and Breakfast and her portrait paintings, Sanchez has always walked the line between fine art and architectural design.
She studied architecture at Georgia Tech but took a detour — running a moving company, raising three kids and returning to school at age 48 to earn a master’s in painting from SCAD in Atlanta — before embracing design full-time and relocating to Oglethorpe County.
When she renovated her own home in 2019 and hosted an open house, visitors took notice. One asked her to design a hair salon. Another requested a remodel. Word spread quickly.
Since then, she’s taken on 45 projects, most of them in Oglethorpe County, each reflecting her client-centered philosophy.
“I believe that a house really needs to reflect the personality of the owner, and it's what they want, how they live, what is their every day, how do they function,” Sanchez said. “Because a house is not just for show. It's for your every day, it's for your comfort and how you function and all of that.”
Each project, Sanchez said, begins with asking personal questions.
“I want to hear the emotional part of why you want this,” Sanchez said. “I’ll get it for you because that's my job. It’s to make your life easier.”
That philosophy echoed through every phase of Davis’ home design.
Davis met Sanchez in 2019 while booking a stay for her mother at the Gillen House. The two instantly clicked and became “best friends at first sight.”
When Davis discovered Sanchez’s background in architecture, she knew she’d found the person to bring her vision of home to life.
“She will adapt her philosophy of something, or idea, to what the client desires are, what their dream is, what their vision is,” Davis said. “Many architects, especially larger firms, they want to do the cookie-cutter thing, which is easy for them, and quick and fast, and they make more money. So with Cynzia, I never felt that was the case. She was always very concerned about my dream.”
Though the house is already functional, Davis is still working on interior finishes. Even so, she said her favorite space is the bedroom, an unexpected addition suggested by Sanchez. It suspends above the lower level, encased in windows that open out to the forest.
“I had never considered overhanging the bedroom, and that was all her vision, her idea,” Davis said. “And that actually made the house a little bit larger and gave me a treehouse bedroom.”