For years, our city’s rapid residential growth has often felt defined by speed — build quickly, sell quickly, repeat. But a new project by Lotus Building Group in East Nashville pushes back against that mentality, approaching speculative homebuilding less like a transaction and more like a creative collaboration. How very Nashville.
The result is a more than 4,000-square-foot residence layered with natural stone, custom millwork and original works by local artists, transforming what was once a modest 600-square-foot structure into a highly curated architectural experience.
“This was really meant to be a showcase piece for us,” says Lotus Building Group founder Keegan Fioravanti. “We wanted to knock it out of the park on the front end and create something that felt creative and intentional.”
Visitors enter through a dramatic black marble and limestone checkerboard foyer that immediately signals the home’s more expressive point of view. White oak flooring, Roman clay walls, sculptural lighting and heavily-veined stone create a tactile material palette that feels at once refined and grounded. Throughout the home, architecture and artwork feel intentionally intertwined rather than treated as separate layers.
That philosophy reflects Fioravanti’s own unconventional path into construction. Before founding Lotus Building Group in 2018, he began building woodworking displays for Whole Foods out of what he describes as a “10-by-20 shed,” eventually expanding into cabinetry, renovations and full-scale custom construction.
“I really wanted to do a much more design-forward build,” Fioravanti says. “I got tired of seeing the same white cabinets, white countertops and white walls over and over again.”
Natural wood, custom detailing and tactile materials shape nearly every room. A sculptural curved white oak island anchors the kitchen beneath slabs of bookmatched Calacatta marble, while terracotta tile, checkerboard stonework and layered textures create moments throughout the home that feel more European boutique hotel than traditional spec build.
“I believe in building 100-year homes,” Fioravanti says. “Something beautiful, but also something built to last.”
That long-view mentality extends beyond aesthetics. Interior walls and floors were soundproofed. Durable masonry and limestone detailing were selected not simply for visual impact, but longevity. For Fioravanti, craftsmanship remains central to the company’s identity, as does creating opportunities for younger tradespeople to work alongside veteran artisans within the growing Lotus team.
“A lot of our guys are artists in what they do,” Fioravanti says. “We want to create an environment where people can grow creatively and take pride in quality work.”
Designer Monica Belanger was brought onto the project after the home had already been framed, though she typically prefers collaborating earlier in the architectural process so the interiors can evolve alongside the structure itself. Still, she immediately connected with Fioravanti’s vision for a more expressive, material-driven home.
“He had a pretty clear idea that he wanted this to be extra and use a lot of stone throughout,” Belanger says. “I took the stone and used that as my starting point.”
Belanger, whose own transition into interiors followed the renovation and eventual sale of her Forest Hills home — later purchased by singer Maren Morris — reworked portions of the layout, including redesigning the kitchen while layering dramatic finishes, bold tilework and sculptural moments throughout the residence.
In the children’s bathrooms, playful color-blocked tile installations contrast against the moodier tones elsewhere in the home. Hidden doors, a sunken living room and richly layered materials create moments of surprise and intimacy throughout the sprawling footprint.
“This project gave us the opportunity to kind of go ham creatively,” Belanger says with a laugh.
The home’s art collection, curated by Ryan Rado of Rockwall Gallery, became equally essential to shaping the emotional tone of the project. Works by Nashville artists including Brian Wooden, Tony Sobota, Georganna Greene, Matt Lloyd and Rado himself were integrated throughout the residence, giving the home a distinctly local sense of identity.
“I think you’re investing in the collective culture of the place you live,” says Rado, who met Fioravanti when the two worked at Whole Foods together. “It adds authenticity to your home when you engage with work that’s being made near you.”
Rather than approaching the artwork as traditional staging, the team treated the pieces as part of the architecture itself. Certain works directly informed the atmosphere of specific rooms, including what Belanger laughingly describes as a “smoking nun” piece anchoring one of the front spaces — “a little naughty,” she says, and reflective of East Nashville’s balance between polish and irreverence.
“There’s nothing like hearing an artist’s story and feeling connected to it,” Rado says. “Then their work becomes part of your story too.”
Some of the pieces sold alongside the home, something Fioravanti hopes to continue incorporating into future projects as Lotus expands further into more collaborative, art-forward development.
The approach appears to be resonating. The home sold within hours of hitting the market, though the project’s impact seems to extend beyond a quick sale. For the team behind it, the house represents something larger: a vision for a more collaborative, design-conscious and culturally connected future for residential building.
“We’re kind of a gaggle of misfits in a way,” Belanger says. “But we all care really deeply about quality and integrity, and I think that shows in the project.”
