My weekly errands now take me north of Paces Ferry, south of the Chattahoochee. It's as upscale as Atlanta gets. It's woodsy, hilly, curvy, remote but close in, almost like being the mountains. It's the scene for bodacious tear-downs.
I now drive by this one each week and my brain just can process it. It's not optical illusion. The bigger one demonstrates what high ceilings do for you. The small one isn't small.
In Ashford Park the lots are a bit smaller.
Update September 13.
I took a few more pictures. The smaller house is a bit further back from the road but not much. Here it is. This is the size and scale of the original houses on the street. Very nice I think. Probably has 8' ceilings and thus not cool today.
This stretch is a victim of bad timing. If the boom had continued, the "little" house might be gone by now or the big house would have bodacious landscaping to compensate.
But for now.
Those just make my head hurt. There are some similar examples around here.
ReplyDeletewow! Both older houses look tiny. I have to admit though, that my new house made the cottage next to me (now torn down) look like that. Sigh...the price of progress?!
ReplyDeleteTerry - there is one like these in my neighborhood on Forrest Dr. between Lindbergh and Lakeview on the East side of the street. You can't miss it.
The little white house, next to the little duplex? The little ones are the exceptions these days in many neighborhoods. Some of the little one are terrific inside.
ReplyDeleteI ride past the Mount Paran one all the time and never noticed the drastic scale difference. I'm sure I will now...
ReplyDeleteThat is soo interesting! It looks very strange.
ReplyDeleteBut.....looking closer, the small house seems to be further set back from the road. Terry, when you have the time, could you possibly take another photo, now in front of the small house. Please endulge me, thanks.
Isn't there anything like a 'building commitee' who oversees plans of new builds in your area? Where I live, the whole country, has commitee's that keep things in 'order and PROPORTION'. I have to say, I wish they would be a bit more flexible.
Being an interior designer and lamp designer, I am very sensitive to scale and proportion.
I love your posts on your local architecture, big and small projects.
Best,
Ron ( empel collections)
I drive by this house almost on a daily basis as it in on my carpool route, and although the new house is quite large (and certainly larger than the house it replaced), I do think that there is some distortion from perspective in this photo.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue is that the house was about 60% built (a spec house), and the builder ran out of money and had to sell it 'as is'. I think someone got a very good deal on it, but I also think that they have not invested in the landscaping that is so desperately needed to ground this house more to its environment.
Oh my, what times. Nothing wrong with either of the 'smaller' homes.
ReplyDeleteRecently had a client with the exact situation in the 1st pic. Plenty of space for large evergreen hollies, cryptomeria and canopy trees.
2nd pic would be more difficult due to less space. And would take time, waiting for growth of plantings, to be effective. But not impossible.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
The big house isn't bad and some landscape TLC will help. In the boom economy the little house would have been a goner.
ReplyDeleteThis is the only one of my several photos that turned out. There is some distortion. Big next to little isn't necessarily bad at all.
You have to be there. It's still a jarring view, size-wise, style-wise, economics-wise.
Fun place to drive, there is always a visual surprise around the next corner: might be 60's rancher or a new mini-Blenheim Palace. There is much beauty but "harmonious" is not the proper description.
For local drivers another jarring view is the nearby dead-tree-urn-house which needs a little rescue.
Ron, Atlanta is new but over the last 40 years preservation of good historic buildings has become more common. But except for a few "frozen" neighborhoods (e.g. Druid Hills) and not particularly strict zoning, and a few neighborhood covenants, things are pretty wide open. And by and large it's not too bad around here.
ReplyDeleteThis just isn't right. Those poor teeny houses. I feel sorry for them. They look so sad next their big beautiful neighbors. -c
ReplyDeleteI sooo love the little ones. Why do people need this much space? I think us humans need to be closer to one another, not further apart. I'll take a low ceiling over a high one any day.
ReplyDeleteThis post reminds me of a line from the book "A Man in Full"...he describes this road in Atlanta as having "breasts of lawn". I can't drive down there without thinking I agree.
Wow...you've really captured a stark contrast here. I kind of like the juxtaposition, to be honest. The beach stretch on Amelia Island has a lot of charm to it...lots of old, and lots of new, and no real regulations. Makes for an interesting drive.
ReplyDeleteI prefer a mix too. I prefer streets that aren't frozen. I'm just saying this is a startling eye-catcher, emphasis on startling.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see another example, look at the first house to the left as you enter Sweet Bottom Plantation in Duluth, a beautiful neighborhood that is modeled after New Orleans, Savannah, and Charleston. I have only seen this home on Bing Maps, never in person, so maybe someone in the area could check it out, or search Sweet Bottom Drive NW on bing maps and go to Birds Eye View
ReplyDelete