James Haverty Smith – Sponsor – Terry Love (11/06/2025)

“Dreams of Dubai” – an Architect and Realtor in the world’s fastest city

James Haverty Smith, an Atlanta native, is an award winning architect who, in 2017, was recruited to move to Dubai, an architect’s living experiment, a city and region that has redefined what is possible in design, engineering, and urban imagination.

Spurred on by his wife  Mary Anne Walser, a lawyer and top performing Realtor, the two moved to Dubai. For almost three years in Dubai, UAE and Aaman, Jordan – Jimmy, a partner in the Atlanta office at Perkins + Will, served as Design Director at the firm’s parent company, Dar Al Handasah’s Dubai office.  Mary Anne got her Dubai real estate license and began a daily blog,  ‘ You Say Dubai…’   Together they enjoyed the adventure and challenge of making their way in a vastly different world.

Now back in Atlanta, Jimmy is retired and enjoys making art; while Mary Anne is back at Atlanta real estate, working for Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. They are here to share with us what they experienced and learned during their time in Dubai.