Teardown work in progress in Virginia Highland.

(new: Pictures from the sold out Atlanta premier of Urbanized, a film by Gary Hustwit, third in his design trilogy with Helvetica and Objectified.)

This will be here soon in Virginia Highland. If you aren't familiar with the neighborhood, you might be shocked at how tiny the lot is: .193 acre.


It's very cute I think and in keeping. Dovecotes for the kiddies, stone details, lentils, segmental arches, a couple of curvy roof-lines - I like. Trulia lists it at $1,089,000. That's about 3x what the teardown cost.

It's by John Willis Homes. They are doing a bunch in the neighborhood right now, good work, not McMansioning. I met Mr. Willis at an open house a few weeks ago, lot's of energy and passion for good houses.


There was the "before."


They've kept the old garage. It sits a little crooked, not perpendicular to the street.

The "no garage door" look is what's most charming about the elevation. Around here a visible garage sticks out like a sore thumb. Our garages are out back, if we have one at all. They are pretty good for lawn mowers, not so good for modern cars.


This is what it looks like today.

Bravo to John Willis Homes.