In an area of fine homes I enjoy this one the most and I enjoy it every single time.
It's for sale.
It's a very fine neighborhood, "south Dunwoody" around Oglethorpe, Silver Lake, St. Martin in the Fields, Our Lady of the Assumption, Peachtree Golf Club. It's not the place to show that you have "arrived," nearby Brookhaven Historic District is better for that.
But there are very homes in a lush setting that make you forget you are a couple of blocks from Peachtree.
It's like a farmhouse in a meadow, a little house on a half acre knoll. It's an irrational, it just doesn't belong.
What do you think? The property tax records say 1950 but I encountered a former resident who says 1930. The records say 1,281 square feet plus some basement and livable attic space.
It seems too crisp for 1930, for 80 years old.
I think it's too small, too intact, too detailed, too "designed" to be a farmhouse.
I think this was purposely designed a bit out of it's era because the owner liked the style. Me too.
The north side is not for show but it's honest and handsome.
Here is the deal of doom:
The dotted rectangle is the buildable area. That's how they are building around here these days.
They'll probably build an architect designed 4,000-6000 square footer that fits in with its neighbors.
And nobody will notice it.
It's not so great out back. The ad says it's unlivable.
But I enjoy gonzo modifications to make an upstairs apartment.
I'm even charmed by the sidewalks and paths.
If you are in the neighborhood - the corner of Windsor Parkway and Lanier, go have a look.
It's for sale, you could always move house. It's not gone yet.
It would see faster with some heavy pruning.
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Oh my I love this house! It is beautiful and if I lived in the area and was in the market for a new house...
ReplyDeletesold!
dee dee
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ReplyDeleteI think it's so cute. I wish they would keep it the way it is!
ReplyDeleteGotta love that spiral - walk the plank!
ReplyDeleteThe style looks like my house which was built in 1928 but is not quite that crisp. It's beautiful, too bad it's days are numbered.
ReplyDeleteIt was the first house built in the subdivision, Oglethorpe Estates, in 1930. There were only two houses built in the 30s and then nothing more was built until the 50s when the rest of the area was developed. It sat at the corner of what were two dirt roads for its first twenty years. What I learned came from the son of the original owner, from whom we purchased the house. He said that his mother and her husband bought the land in the 20s and "camped" on it until her father, a whiskey maker from KY, came down and built it for her himself. The original furnace was coal-fired and the coal chute in the Windsor Parkway side foundation is still there. The chimney was its vent, and remains, most interestingly providing an interior brick wall in the "finished" attic. I don't think they were building houses with coal furnaces in 1950.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame the vines and bushes have taken over like that. The yard is full of heirloom plants. I really hope they're allowed to be rescued prior to its tear-down. There are also some elements of the house itself that I'd like to have, or see salvaged, if it's possible; most particularly, the glass plates that form the window in the main floor's converted porch back room.
I always loved the windows, especially their mullions. When we redid the kitchen in '92, adding the windows there now, I had them custom-made to match the rest of the house, replacing the smaller, higher ones I could only look out of on my tip toes, with two larger windows in the same style, above the sink.
The home has only had three owners: The Bealls, who built it. The youngest of her two sons, who was born there, was retired when we bought it from her estate in 1985. We sold it to the current owner in 2003. We raised three sons during our 18 years in the house. It was a great neighborhood in which to raise a family, and our home was a center of activity and surrounded by really wonderful neighbors. It was a joy watching a large community of wonderful young people grow up there. Seeing so many of them now as such strong, successful adults makes it particularly rewarding.
A well-funded, creative devotee of Victoria Cottage Style / Southern Vernacular could build their new home as an addition behind the existing one, larger than the original structure, probably after tearing off the "back room". It would preserve the home's, and the neighborhood's, history while bringing the property into consistency with the changed standards of the surrounding area. I believe it could be done either with or without reorienting the structure to face Windsor Parkway. I hope if the current owner finds a buyer willing to do that, he'd consider lowering his asking price in order to make it possible. If that happens, folks'll continue to notice the white house at the corner of Lanier Drive and Windsor Parkway.
Thanks so much.
DeleteThe lot is way oversized for my taste, but the house is a beauty (except for the rear decay, of course). I'd love to see what they did with that upstairs apartment space.
ReplyDeleteAlso: if "The only one I care about will soon be a gonner" isn't already a country song, it really should be.